Abstract:

The basic idea behind the term lifelong learning is simple. It is that deliberate learning can and should occur throughout each person’s lifetime. (Knapper & Cropley, 2000, pp. 1-2) It is a process, a continuum, a philosophy and not something that can be packaged, concluded or limited. To learn for life lies at the heart of any program which wishes to value individuals and increase their skills and abilities while also affirming their contribution and capacities. (Macaskill, 2003, p. 33) Furthermore it is suggested that human beings have a basic need to learn and that they are lifelong learners and that the provision of education across the lifespan is one way by which people can satisfy this basic need. (Jarvis, 2004, p. 38).

Following this need of education and learning over a lifetime, a network was created to find out which topics are most important to the stakeholders in the wine business. This paper focuses on the implementation of a knowledge-sharing platform as well as a learning platform for vintners in the wine growing regions of Austria (Lower Austria, Vienna, Burgenland). Within the frame of the ERASMUS+ Project The Wien Lab 16 interviews were conducted in the mentioned areas of Austria, to identify the interests and needs of the stakeholder group. As part of this research those interviews were analyzed and the most relevant topics elaborated. As a next step within the project frame it is the aim to create content that will be accessible online trough the project platform. The content will be produced in cooperation with the vintners and students from the participating Universities.

When speaking about cooperation and relationships between Universities and Industries, Universities play three major roles within the innovation system. First, they undertake a general process of scientific research and thereby affect the technological frontier of industry over the long run. Secondly, they partly produce knowledge that is directly applicable to industrial production (prototypes, new processes etc.). Thirdly, universities provide major inputs for industrial innovation processes in terms of human capital, either through the education of graduates, who become industry researchers or through personnel mobility from universities to firms. (Schartinger, Rammer, Fischer, & Fröhlich, 2002, p. 303).

As competitive pressures increase, firms in general are often placed in positions where they have neither the time nor resources to internally develop the knowledge needed to achieve competitive success through product and process innovations. A common and frequently viable option in this situation is the acquisition of knowledge from outside sources via alliances or other forms of external collaboration. One specific example where the university–industry alliance is already widely used, is the technology supply chain. Such alliances are increasingly employed as a means by which firms acquire critical external knowledge. Most often in these alliances, the university is the technology source, and the industry firm is the technology recipient. (Lloyd Sherwood & Covin, 2008, p. 163).

In conclusion, this paper suggests in which areas Universities and the wine business can work together and how the available knowledge can be shared between the stakeholders. The projects webpage is used as tool to spread the created content and to initiate interaction within the wine business network of Austria.

Keywords:

Knowledge alliance, wine business, live long learning, industry cooperation.