Abstract:

Higher education –University level- is an absolute must for knowledge development both in the technological field and in the humanities area. University is deemed, at least theoretically, to lead the path towards the human being progress through the accomplishment of competitiveness in the economy and the mastery in social sciences. However, european countries are not sufficently investing on the higher education systems clearly jeopardizing excellence and skills.
In the other side, Vocational Education and Training is the perfect tool to educate and train all those professionals that our industries and economy system require in the most specific and practical activities.
However, nowadays Vocational Education faces challenging issues like the necessity of replacing the older labour force whilst avoiding gaps in the transfer of knowledge between generations of workers; or new working systems and procedures, the ever increasing complexity to handle high technologies and production methods or the difficulties to get the necessary investments to upgrade education standards through severely restricted public budgets and funds.
These two educations environments work close from each other although they are very seldom connected by a steady relationship for the purpose of transfering ideas or collaboration, coordination or alternatively flows of creativity and enrichment.
In this paper, following directions already stablished in the Bruges Communique (VET EUROPEAN CONFERENCE MEMBERS 2012), an educational project in the Vocational Education and Training environment to be developed jointly with the University is proposed. A specific module on Surface Transportation (road and railway transportation) will be designed to embrace main features of the professional tuition and several key contributions from the related department at University level.
Despite the proposed module would not be allocated outside the Vocational Education and Training official schemes, thus degrees woud not be changed, inputs from the university level will enhance the course with theorical robustness so as to set up an attractive, innovating and enriched educational offer.
Design of this project, thus, is aimed to gather benefits from the theoretical corpus from the University summed up with the practical side of Vocational Education and Trainings systems all in a sole educational package.

Keywords:

Vocational education, training, university, collaboration, benefits, joint-venture.