Rock The Greens Hub comes within the scope of the vegetarian and vegan booming niche market in most European countries . This trend towards healthy living, also the consequence of all the various meat scandals, start having a real impact on the European restaurant scene. The number of vegetarians and vegans is growing steadily in many countries. Rock The Greens Hub is a project deeply rooted locally in Normandy, Veneto, Leon, Budapest , Tartu , Izmir, Lodz with a strong European ambition. Partners both from the VET environments and Hospitality businesses decided to tackle the meatless plant based issue in Hospitality. Our goal is to guarantee that these particular guests are treated with a food offer at the level required in professional catering . Partners fully respect perfect neutrality with regards to the pros and cons of the issue and will not take side but will strive to address the new booming niche market through training current and future professionals of the trade : CVET , IVET , unemployed people , beneficiaries also coming from disadvantaged groups, for them to be aware of the issue and gain culinary techniques typical of vegetarianism /veganism. Therefore our project comes within the scope of the characteristics of the EU 2020 strategy: smart, sustainable and inclusive. French, Hungarian, Italian , Estonian, Spanish, Polish , Turkish partners work on the creation of a learning unit framework in view of ECVET broken down into versatile modules to be introduced in mainstream VET pathways whenever relevant . We will undertake a training of trainers and business mentors scheme. At least 14 trainers and mentors will experiment the scheme which will be available for valorisation when assessed at European level. 80 VET beneficiaries will be involved in the piloting of the learning units and 14 of them will fully experiment the ECVET system for a development beyond the project time lapse. A network of businesses, mainstream conventional and vegetarian restaurants, accredited to a specific label which is being created throughout the project, both committed to offer traineeships and to develop a customerwise approach to vegetarianism. A first pioneering group of 18 European businesses will experiment the labeling process with a prospect to develop the network in the short and longer terms. Our project fosters the way a trade can address a new market stemming both from a social and economical demand and therefore be more competitive , by working hand in hand with training environments to tackle this issue. Our innovative experimentation has then an interest beyond the plant based issue and it can concern other trades.
The Rock the Greens Hub project brought together French, Hungarian, Estonian, Spanish, Polish and Turkish partners around the issue of vegetarianism and veganism in the catering sector, with the main objective of strengthening the capacity of the sector to meet the customers' demands, whether they are vegetarians, vegans or fléxitairens, by offering high-quality products. The partnership aimed to strengthen the links between catering companies and vocational education and training institutions, by creating flexible learning pathways open to all learners, as well as training resources for trainers, teachers and internship tutors. This strategic partnership was born from a common observation: more and more customers are following a plant-based diet or wish to find quality vegan and vegetarian dishes in restaurants, while the training offer of the catering staff has not changed. Our ambition was therefore to contribute to the training offer for food and beverage trades to allow restaurants to meet consumer demands and favor training institutions' competitivity and adaptability to the job market. During the 36 months of project implementation, Rock the Greens Hub brought together a large number of stakeholders, from the business community and from the vocational training sector. Together, we have worked towards a series of tangible results: - A skills framework (curriculum) on vegan and vegetarian cuisine and sales strategy, allowing teachers, trainers and internship tutors to introduce the topic of plant-based cooking in VET pathways, - A series of 6 online training modules for trainers and internship mentors, - A Guide for trainers and tutors, to enable them to get accustomed with the RTGH tools and use them with their learners, - The Rock the Greens Hub quality charter and labeling process, leading to the development of a network of restaurants and training institutions that understand the importance of the vegan issue and wish to integrate the RTGH principles into their business strategy. These concrete project deliverables were accompanied by learning and training activities, including: - a training-of-trainer activity aimed at presenting the tools and resources developed, update and experiment via an evaluation activity according to the ECVET model, - a learning and assessment activity for learners, replacing the mobility of learners initially planned, but keeping the same objectives (having a common culture and understanding of the use of the curriculum and the implementation of the ECVET evaluation), - mentoring sessions between business and teachers / trainers, allowing the exchange of good practices in vegan cuisine, As well as transversal activities: - communication, dissemination, and exploitation of results (including creation of communication material and dissemination channels) - evaluation, quality approach, adaptation measures taken in the context of the covid19 crisis, - impact studies, research - coordination of activities, project management, organization of meetings, administrative and financial management. Results and impacts achieved: - a training offer more suited for the market requirements and the needs of professionals; - strengthened links between the hotel and catering sectors and vocational education and training; - awareness and better understanding of the ECVET system by trainers and internship supervisors and the opportunity to implement it in a specific course (facilitated by the Trainer's Guide); Long-term benefits: - increased awareness of the importance of the vegan and vegetarian market among companies in the countries concerned, which were informed during awareness-raising events, information sessions, or via online dissemination channels. - a strengthened capacity of the partners to face unforeseen events and to adapt, demonstrated in the way in which the partnership managed the situation generated by the covid19 crisis. - skills development in terms of management of Erasmus projects for all the partners and especially for the newcomers in this type of partnership (Hungary, Turkey). - sustainable partnership networks between representatives of the IVET and the CSPS and the mentors and chefs of the restaurants.