LCAMP: The Centre of Vocational Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing kicks off
12/09/2022
The kick-off meeting of the LCAMP: Learner Centric Advanced Manufacturing Platform for Centre of Vocational Excellence (CovEs) took place on 7-8 September in San Sebastian (Basque Country). The meeting was hosted by the project’s coordinator, TKNIKA, the Innovation and applied research Centre of the Basque Country, gathering representatives from the 20 partners (VET providers, Industrial Associations and VET associations) that are members of the consortium.
The LCAMP project aims to support and empower regional Advanced Manufacturing for the Centre of Vocational Excellence to become more resilient, innovative and better equipped to train, upskill, and reskill young and adult students to successfully face the digital and green transitions. Furthermore, LCAMP supports regions to grow and be more competitive through their VET systems.
On the first day, partners had the opportunity to meet in person after the project’s official launch on 15 June 2022. The project coordinator, TKNIKA, opened the meeting with a revision of the project management guidelines. The afternoon was dedicated to discussing the objectives of the future Learner Centric Advanced Manufacturing Observatory (WP3) which is led by Mécanic Vallée (France). This observatory will gather experts (business and education) from different countries to gather and study advanced manufacturing tendencies from a VET perspective. This session was followed by a discussion on the first steps to creating the future European Platform of Vocational Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing, (WP2) which is led by EARLALL (EU).
A specific session was organised to explore the opportunities for collaboration with the ADMA TranS4MErs EU-funded project, which builds on the European ADvanced MAnufacturing Support Centre (ADMA) ‘s efforts to anchor a future-proof and sustainable Manufacturing industry in Europe. Tamara Wierks, from the Irish Manufacturing Research and ADMA TranS4MErs project coordinator, introduced the project’s vision, and potential opportunities to collaborate with the LCAMP project.
On the second day, partners met at Miguel Altuna VET Center premises, a centre specialising in Artificial Intelligence. The day was dedicated to better understanding how to create services on qualifications/training offer on micro-credentials for Advanced Manufacturing (WP5), a work led by DHBW-Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (Germany) in cooperation with KIC-Knowledge Innovation Centre (Malta). What’s more, two workshops were organised, one focused on how to set up a factory lab for advanced manufacturing training through internationally connected Learning factories (WP6), led by Miguel Altuna (Basque Country) and a second one, on innovation, applied research, and connection with SMEs organised by TKNIKA, AFIL – Associazione Fabbrica Intelligente Lombardia (Italy), CAMOSUN College (Canada) and AFM-Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, the Spanish Association of Manufacturers of Machine Tools, accessories, parts and tools (Spain).
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Finally, partners zoomed in on how to better implement the dissemination strategy, bringing together new ideas on how to broaden LCAMP’s visibility and reach. The LCAMP’s communication channels will be announced in the coming weeks.
The next project meeting will be hosted by Mécanic Vallée and Campus des Métiers et des Qualifications d’Excellence Industrie du Futur in Toulouse (France) in January 2023.
