Artistic quality will be crucial for the future success of furniture design. It is essential to promote design-driven innovation in industries to strengthen the competitiveness in the furniture sector. Also to increase the skills and competences in design tools, business, ICTs and regulation of the students of the fine arts will make them more competitive according to the needs of the current market. Teaching students these subjects will transform them into highly employable skilled staff ideal for the labour market. They will be able to design and manufacture products for this sector understanding the industry’s specific safety and mechanical needs. The main objective of ARTURE is the development of a strategic partnership among 3 different kind of actors: Higher Education Entities and VET centres in the field of Arts, Furniture industries and Technical Institutions that support furniture industries, in order to facilitate the exchange, flow and co-creation of knowledge addressing the vocational skills mismatches in the following areas: -Fine arts and design -Furniture manufacturing -Technical aspects for furniture regulation (specifications and standards) This strategic partnership will be performed by the development and validation of teaching material based on the principles of ECVET and through e-learning and validating the results across a pilot test. During this process, some objectives and intellectual outputs will be achieved: -Define skill needs regarding concepts in ARTURE strategic partnership. -Design and develop a Joint Curriculum based on the knowledge pillars of: Fine Arts, Furniture design and furniture manufacturing. -Develop a Multilingual cloud based repository template for placing training material regarding aesthetic design, manufacturing regulation and concepts of fine arts and methodologies of applied arts. This web tool will be developed as a template to provide in the near future (upon completion of the project) a transfer of knowledge to other traditional sectors. -Develop a cloud based database template for connecting HEI and VET providers of product design and fine and applied arts and the manufacturing industry. This output will foster the networking among the different actors. Also, it will be able to contain data from actors of different manufacturing industries. -Protect the learning materials under open licenses. Through this operational plan, ARTURE will be able to provide the means to eliminate the existing lack of knowledge and skills between professionals in the furniture industry with trades related to the fine arts, and artists active in trades that relate directly to industrial processes and the business of furniture.
The European furniture sector is a key driver of sustainable growth with a significant contribution to Europe’s overall economic health, competitiveness, creativity, innovation, employment and export. Producing good quality furniture products requires on the one hand excellent technical knowledge and competences and on the other hand artistic and aesthetic aptitudes. The consortium has identified that designers and artists need to improve their knowledge of the technical aspects that relate to furniture manufacturing processes, while manufacturers need to understand the importance of aesthetical aspects. The aim of the ARTURE Project was to create a strategic partnership between VET and HEI in the field of art on the one hand and the organisations that support furniture industries on the other hand. The partnership sought to facilitate the exchange, flow and co-creation of knowledge to address the vocational skills mismatches and shortage of skilled workforce. To attain this, the project had the following objectives: -Development of an Enquiry Framework employed to consult stakeholders on the industry’s needs. -Analysis of the survey to identify competences and training needs. -Development of e-Learning materials, available through an e-Learning platform to be used for the Vocational Education and Training of personnel in the furniture sector. -Development of a Networking Portal containing a database for connecting VET and HEI providers of product design and fine and applied arts and the Furniture Industry. -Assess the quality of the learning materials developed and the impact on student learning. -Development of a Joint Curriculum at Level 3 between providers of Arts and Furniture manufacturing sectors. The consortium was led by Buckinghamshire New University.The latest Research Excellence Framework (2014) concluded that 56% of its outputs are World Class or Internationally Excellent. AKTO from Greece is a member of CUMULUS, which is the only global association that comprises recognised universities serving Art and Design education and research. CETEM from Spain is a research centre and training institution expert in furniture design, regulation and standardization. CETEM is one of the best-known providers of e-Learning courses through its own web platform, e-learnia. Searchlighter Services from the UK works in collaborative contexts, with a track record in research concerning good practice in employment and training. “Universal Certification Solutions – Unicert” from Greece is a modern Personnel Certification Body, licensed to certify individuals in Informatics and PC Usage, by the Greek Ministry of Education. Firstly, an Enquiry Framework was developed involving a wide range of stakeholders in order to identify the relevant questions that should be posed to actors in the areas of art, design and furniture manufacturing. Secondly, based on the Enquiry Framework, a large-scale survey was conducted and conclusions presented in a Report. Thirdly, based on the conclusions of the survey, learning materials were produced for 15 modules to support the training of designers and manufacturers. These were made available through an E-platform. Fourthly, a Networking Platform containing 252 organisations (VET/HE Centres and business associations) was developed to facilitate the communication and exchange of experience between providers of education and trainers and the furniture industry. Then, users tested the E-platform and conclusions of piloting were used to enhance the content and the mode of delivery of the learning materials. The Survey involved 367 respondents from three countries. The Learning Materials are structured in 15 modules for specific learning outcomes, containing PowerPoint presentations, manuals and video-materials that could be used by learners in VET. The Networking Platform contains 252 organisations that have expressed interest in using the platform for training. The Curriculum developed for the Aesthetic Furniture Designers and for students of fine arts and artists contains a Guide for Trainers that has been used by the lecturers who developed the piloting of the modules. This will have a significant impact on 320 students from the UK, Greece and Spain who will be using it from September 2018. -Longer-term benefits Teaching and learning ‘Furniture Design and Manufacturing’ in the three organisations from the UK, Greece and Spain that have been involved in developing the project will be now based on the brand new modules created in ARTURE. Through the Networking Platform, it is estimated that about 300 users per year will be using some of the learning materials available through the Project webpage and E-portal. As a result, many more furniture designers will have enhanced competence in designing products that are aesthetically pleasing, and at the same time, are easier to manufacture and produce from sustainable materials using advanced manufacturing processes.