The Food For Thought project brings together 5 European partners each with specific expertise in the provision of catering & hospitality training & curriculum development. The main output will be the development of an openly accessible modular training course focused on the local food system & sustainable food practices. CONTEXT & BACKGROUND Catering & hospitality VET provide the skills & knowledge required to work in one of the largest & fastest growing industries in EU. The hospitality sector makes a major contribution to the EU economy, supporting 16.6m jobs AND representing 7.8% of the European workforce. Further, the sector is critical for indirectly supporting a broad supply chain for example the agriculture & tourism sector & thus the competitiveness of rural & regional economies. One of the vital skills needs for the sector is the requirement for learners to “think globally, act locally”, to gain a better understanding of the local food system & adopting sustainable food practices in their training & careers. In recent time’s menu trends have shifted mirroring how customers have become more interested in environmental sustainability for example the demand for artisan, organic & vegan menus & an increased appetite for locally grown foods. OBJECTIVES 1. To undertake Comparative Needs Analysis in 4 partner EU Countries mapping skills & knowledge requirements which will influence the design and content of the Food For Thought training course. 2. To enhance the labour market relevance of catering & hospitality VET by designing an openly accessible modular training course in local & sustainable food practices . 3. To initially strengthen key competences of 200 learners & staff across 4 EU through the pilot delivery of the curricula & course materials 4. To introduce modern training delivery methods (interactive case studies, video recipes, podcasts) & open access pedagogical resources (e.g. online toolkit) for staff and learners across Europe building capacity in the catering & hospitality sector. PROJECT RESULTS & PARTICIPANTS 150 participants (Lecturers, across Europe who deliver catering training as well as stakeholder organisations, sector representatives and sustainability ambassadors (employers, sector skills councils, government departments, local food producers) in Food For Thought demonstration workshops (to support the validation and diffusion of project outputs, and evaluate the effectiveness of curricula materials) 200 VET learners to participate in pilot delivery of Food For Thought course through the Online Toolkit 500 participants involved in the research for the collection of evidence on trainee chefs skill needs. This will include sectoral and workforce representatives VET providers and field experts, 1000 hospitality training providers to access online toolkit (IO3) 5000 individuals outreached by dissemination activities. METHODOLOGY & F ACTIVITIES Food For Thought will involve three distinct project phases as follows: 1. Preparation: Detailed work plan fine-tuning; definition of procedures for risk, quality & impact evaluation, budget control and time management. 2. Implementation: Development of intellectual outputs, organisation of multiplier events. 3. Follow-up and closure: Evaluation of project impact, sustainability measures. The project lifespan is planned as 36 months with 7 work packages as follows WP1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT & PREPARATION WP2: QUALITY ASSURANCE WP3: IO1 FOOD FOR THOUGHT LEARNING OUTCOMES AND LEARNING UNITS ( WP4 IO2 FOOD FOR THOUGHT CURRICULA AND COURSE MATERIALS WP5 IO3 FOOD FOR THOUGHT ONLINE TOOLKIT WP6: COMMUNICATION, DISSEMINATION & EXPLOTATION (Responsible Partner SWC – P1) WP7: EVALUATION RESULTS, IMPACTS & LONG TERM BENEFITS • Improved level of skills for employability in the hospitality sector specifically in relation to their understanding of local food production and farm to table sustainable cuisine practices • Existing employees already employed in the hospitality sector will improve their professional development specifically to match customers’ demands for sustainable menus and their increased appetite for locally grown foods. • The VET providers involved will enhance their training offering through the integration of the Food For Thought learning outcomes and units into existing and new training courses for trainee chefs • Participating organisations will have an increased network of stakeholders in the hospitality sector from across Europe which can be accessed through partners existing relationship • Support the European skill shortages within the sector in response to both technological & societal changes which are driving new demands, for example in food services where high-quality chefs are strongly missing.
The Food For Thought project brought together 5 European partners each with specific expertise in the provision of catering & hospitality training & curriculum development. The main output will be the development of an openly accessible modular training course focused on the local food system & sustainable food practices. CONTEXT & BACKGROUND Catering & hospitality VET provide the skills & knowledge required to work in one of the largest & fastest growing industries in the EU. The hospitality sector makes a major contribution to the EU economy, supporting 16.6m jobs AND representing 7.8% of the European workforce. Further, the sector is critical for indirectly supporting a broad supply chain for example the agriculture & tourism sector & thus the competitiveness of rural & regional economies. One of the vital skills needs for the sector is the requirement for learners to “think globally, act locally”, to gain a better understanding of the local food system & adopting sustainable food practices in their training & careers. In recent time’s menu trends have shifted mirroring how customers have become more interested in environmental sustainability for example the demand for artisan, organic & vegan menus & an increased appetite for locally grown foods. OBJECTIVES 1. To undertake Comparative Needs Analysis in 4 partner EU Countries mapping skills & knowledge requirements which will influence the design and content of the Food For Thought training course. 2. To enhance the labour market relevance of catering & hospitality VET by designing an openly accessible modular training course in local & sustainable food practices . 3. To initially strengthen key competences of 200 learners & staff across 4 EU through the pilot delivery of the curricula & course materials 4. To introduce modern training delivery methods (interactive case studies, video recipes, podcasts) & open access pedagogical resources (e.g. online toolkit) for staff and learners across Europe building capacity in the catering & hospitality sector. PROJECT RESULTS & PARTICIPANTS 150 participants Lecturers, across Europe who deliver catering training as well as stakeholder organisations, sector representatives and sustainability ambassadors to take part (employers, sector skills councils, government departments, local food producers) in Food For Thought demonstration workshops (to support the validation and diffusion of project outputs, and evaluate the effectiveness of curricula materials) 200 VET learners to participate in pilot delivery of Food For Thought course through the Online Toolkit 500 participants involved in the research for the collection of evidence on trainee chefs skill needs. This will include sectoral and workforce representatives VET providers and field experts, 1000 hospitality training providers to access online toolkit (IO3) 5000 individuals outreached by dissemination activities. METHODOLOGY & ACTIVITIES Food For Thought Project involved three distinct project phases as follows: 1. Preparation: Detailed work plan fine-tuning; definition of procedures for risk, quality & impact evaluation, budget control and time management. 2. Implementation: Development of intellectual outputs, organisation of multiplier events. 3. Follow-up and closure: Evaluation of project impact, sustainability measures. The project lifespan was planned as 36 months with 7 work packages as follows WP1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT & PREPARATION WP2: QUALITY ASSURANCE WP3: IO1 FOOD FOR THOUGHT LEARNING OUTCOMES AND LEARNING UNITS ( WP4 IO2 FOOD FOR THOUGHT CURRICULA AND COURSE MATERIALS WP5 IO3 FOOD FOR THOUGHT ONLINE TOOLKIT WP6: COMMUNICATION, DISSEMINATION & EXPLOTATION (Responsible Partner SWC – P1) WP7: EVALUATION RESULTS, IMPACTS & LONG TERM BENEFITS • Improved level of skills for employability in the hospitality sector specifically in relation to their understanding of local food production and farm to table sustainable cuisine practices • Existing employees already employed in the hospitality sector will improve their professional development specifically to match customers’ demands for sustainable menus and their increased appetite for locally grown foods. • The VET providers involved will enhance their training offering through the integration of the Food For Thought learning outcomes and units into existing and new training courses for trainee chefs • Participating organisations will have an increased network of stakeholders in the hospitality sector from across Europe which can be accessed through partners existing relationship • Support European skill shortages within the sector in response to both technological & societal changes which are driving new demands, for example in food services where high-quality chefs are strongly missing.