With our project named “Exchanging Best Practices In Europe To Encourage Apprenticeship And Training In Bakery Sector “ Talents4bakery, we aim to exchange, transfer, and implement good practises, experiences and curricula among partner organisations to be able to encourage young people to be trained in Bakery sector starting from vocational high schools and colleges and to provide the current and future labour force to the Bakery Sector. Our primary aim is to examine the good practises in the partner countries and have a better understanding about Bakery trainings in the partner countires to check how to implement these examples in vocational schools and colleges. In order to provide required width in the spectrum of needed expertise we are planning to offer Bakery training as the following: Step 1: Guidlines for Basic Bakery Training in a digital era Step 2: Redefining EU standards for Bakery training programmes (This study is going to be done with decisionmakers in the partner organisations) in partner countries and these redefined and upgraded standards are going to help us train the bakers of the future more professionally and contribute to the economic development of the country. We also see this project as working to support: • Vocational education which is being supported by our learning provision • Vocational education providers working with the Bakery sector • Labour force and learners (specifically young people) who would like to develop themselves or build a career in Bakery Sector. • Partner organisations who are responsible for vocational education provision We will focus on: 1) To undertake a comparative analysis of how partners are conducting Bakery training vocational education to support young learners and labour force 2) To examine the examples about the delivery of Bakery training in partner countries and the published reports, research, studies about Bakery. 3) To discuss with partners how to transfer Bakery trainings into vocational high schools and colleges in a gradual way starting from basic level. 4) To reidentify the EU standards and systems with our partners and implement these standards and systems into our vocational education systems (on organisational and country basis). And we will be able to find out how equivalent these current and redefined standards with the sector needs. 5) To start the process of implementing this basic Bakery training in the vocational schools and disseminate the activities in our countries with our network (all partners). For this project we created a partnership between Germany, Greek, Austria, Belgium and Turkey to contribute to the vocational education system at EU level while increasing recognisability of Bakery training in vocational education level (at vocational education schools and colleges), disseminate and ensure that it finds its equivalence at the EU standards. Our partners have strong expertise in the field of Bakery sector with project based and professional experience. They have training models, lesson plans, qualification frameworks, implementation labs and will provide research and promotion of the relationship among the VET schools, centres, companies and with other research departments and links with the sector representatives.
In the bakery sector - as in other sectors - there is an growing shortage of apprentices and skilled workers. The project consortium had set itself the goal of promoting exchange and strengthening the quality of training. With the EU project we tried to create a new closeness between the educational institutions, discover commonalities and learn from each other. With the aim to develop a common understanding of standards and modern training methods, to achieve an impact among the stakeholders, to improve and modernise training but also beyond that in the bakery trade as a whole. An exchange on best practices and innovative methods in training were in the spotlight. The project consortium wanted to focus on digital tools. The demand for change is great and yet there is a need for greater awareness of the need for action among all stakeholders involved in training, at all levels. The project consortium aimed to raise this awareness and trigger impulses. For this reason, two guidelines were created in close exchange, which compiled a collection of jointly developed criteria, ideas, methods and also a selection of good examples from practice. In order to provide trainers and teachers with innovative tools and suggestions for incorporating them into training measures and curricula. To offer trainees a contemporary and attractive learning environment that meets the growing demands of the labour market. In addition, the project should provide the basis for projects that build on it, so that processes that have been initiated can become permanent and achieve a sustainable effect on training in the bakery sector.
The labour market, especially the recruitment of young people, is facing great challenges because demographic change and digitalisation are bringing massive changes. In Germany, and also in other European countries, the value of bread in public respect is on the rise again. People are willing to accept longer distances for good bread. Customers desire original food from artisan bakers who still bake properly - and freshly every day. For apprentices, the bakery sector offers secure and varied jobs with excellent career opportunities and perspectives. An apprenticeship in the bakery trade opens doors all over the world. However, the skilled labour demand goes far beyond what the current labour pool can offer. One reason for this is also academisation, as more and more young people are preferring to study and are not considering a craft apprenticeship in the bakery trade. There is a need for well-trained young people not only in Germany but in many other European countries. The Transnational Project aimed to focus on the importance of the bakery trade for young people and the need for modern practical vocational training. In order to strengthen vocational training in one of the oldest trades and thus also the economic stability of the entire sector in Europe. Because the traditional bakery trade is also affected by the transformation processes and must find answers in order to remain future-proof. All partner organisations had the common goal of inspiring young people for the bakery sector, to qualify them in the best possible way and using modern methods and techniques in order to train the skilled workers of tomorrow for the sector. Against this background, the project coordinator had asked European bakery schools for a joint Erasmus+ project in order to promote the exchange of European schools, to share experiences and to gain new knowledge together. It was the first Erasmus+ project aimed at the exchange of European bakery colleges with the goal of improving the quality of training across national borders.