DIGITALPROMOTING OF THE GEOSPATIAL SKILLS: INTRODUCTION INTO GEOSKILLS PLUS PROJECT OF THE LEONARDO DA VINCI PROGRAMME
1 Dutch Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency (NETHERLANDS)
2 Belgian Order of Surveyors (BELGIUM)
3 Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Agency (BULGARIA)
4 Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (LITHUANIA)
5 Council of European Geodetic Surveyors (BELGIUM)
6 European Association of Geographers (BELGIUM)
7 Flemish Association for Geographic Information (BELGIUM)
8 GEO Employment Market (NETHERLANDS)
2 Belgian Order of Surveyors (BELGIUM)
3 Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Agency (BULGARIA)
4 Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (LITHUANIA)
5 Council of European Geodetic Surveyors (BELGIUM)
6 European Association of Geographers (BELGIUM)
7 Flemish Association for Geographic Information (BELGIUM)
8 GEO Employment Market (NETHERLANDS)
About this paper:
Appears in: EDULEARN14 Proceedings
Publication year: 2014
Pages: 7587-7596
ISBN: 978-84-617-0557-3
ISSN: 2340-1117
Publication year: 2014
Pages: 7587-7596
ISBN: 978-84-617-0557-3
ISSN: 2340-1117
Conference name: 6th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies
Dates: 7-9 July, 2014
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Dates: 7-9 July, 2014
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Abstract:
“Exchange of best practices for transfer of innovation of GEO VET education to meet changing labour market needs in Europe following EU GEO policies” (Geo Skills Plus) is a European Commission funded project under DG Education and Culture, Leonardo da Vinci programme (Project No 2013-1-NL1-LEO05-12278). It began in October 2013 and will run until October 2015.Initiated by the Dutch and the Geo Employment Market Foundation (SAGEO), the GeoSkill Plus Project is an ambitious project aiming to match labour market needs with geo education offer in Europe.
The aim of this two-year project is to enable European countries to exchange best practices and innovation with each other regarding the mismatch between Europe’s geospatial vocational education and training and the geospatial labour market. There is a growing need for well-trained students at all levels – vocational, bachelors, masters – in the field of geospatial technologies. This is because there are a growing number of jobs available in land surveying, mapping data collection, data processing, data delivery and turning data into information.
With the increase of jobs, the geospatial education community has to be able to keep pace and produce enough qualified graduates. In order to tackle these issues the Geo Skills Plus consortium was formed. The Geo Skills Plus project will host activities such as workshops, roundtables, surveys and desk-top studies, where the European geospatial community will be involved.
The plan is to identify and set up optimal ways to Raise Awareness of geospatial studies and increase student enrolment. Geo Skills Plus will also identify gaps between the supply of geospatial jobs and the demand for qualified graduates in different European countries, and set up ways to bridge the gap. Ultimately a Cooperation Model will be created that identifies all stakeholders and offers them the steps necessary to improve Europe’s position in the global geospatial market. The project will take innovative practices already existing in Europe and redefine them so that they can effectively be implemented in a few 'pilot' countries: Belgium, Bulgaria and Lithuania.