ELP Transport is a Strategic Partnership aimed at developing innovative outputs in the field of Vocational Training for Local Public Transport System (LPTS), developed transnationally and on the basis of a coordinated action among research, LTPSs businesses, VET providers and local communities. Due to the ever-increasing urbanization and digitalisation, the urban mobility sector is affected globally by transformation dynamics. In this context, Local Public Transport plays a strategic role. The planning of networks and local public transport systems in an integrated, digital and sustainable way, allows the development of the smart cities of the future. Development, innovation, intramodality and interconnections for passengers and goods also and especially at the urban - and therefore local level - are among the majors challenges for European transport to make services more efficient and sustainable. ELP Transport comprises seven partners form Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia and Cyprus, countries that share similar Transport Modes splits. It is coordinated by Conerobus Service a Service Industry linked to Conerobus, the LPT Service Provider of the Ancona metropolitan area, in Italy, which, starting from an internal needs assessment, very recently signed an Agreement with the Politecnica University of the Marche Region – Dept.of Management in order to develop a Mobility Academy focused on ongoing training of workforce specialised in the complex environment of LPTSs. The other partners well represent excellence in research, regional planning, social innovation and VET provision. The Consorci de la Ribera is a public body created by an association of two counties placed in the Region of Valencia (County Ribera Alta and County of Ribera Baixa) which is made up of 47 municipalities. The aim of Consorci de la Ribera is to manage collaboration agreements with both counties in the field of tourism, environment and cultural heritage, energy, socio economic development. Universitat Politècnica de València is a public Higher Education Institution actively involved in international cooperation and mobility projects. The Transport Department is in charge of teaching courses related to transport and logistics planning and mobility studies. The University of Zagreb is the flagship educational institution in the country with 31 faculties, 3 art academies and various university centres and departments. Faculty of Traffic and Transport Sciences has made the first Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) for cities in Croatia and neighbouring regions. Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia - Institute for Business Education (CPU)' mission is to supply business with high quality, modern and applicable knowledge enriched with national and international experiences and good business practice examples according to the ‘’practice to practice’’ principle. Centre for Social Innovation in Cyprus not only is a gateway to also the Greek context, but it has a transversal role in bringing social innovation at the core of the educational and methodological approaches of the project. Given the fast pace of technological and social innovation concerning LPTSs, these are very challenging environments that need specialized workforces with expertises in different field, spanning from technical to managerial competences. There is a renowned problem of skills mismatch in the public transport sector (Davydenko I. Et al., 2009), depending mainly by the complex environment and strong work-based experience required. In order to respond to these challenges the project will: - take further research on skills gaps in LPTSs extending the Rodrigues methodology to different; - comparable scenarios and produce a skill report on an LPT expert; - develop a new vocational profile in line with the skills report and a relative training programme (blended eLearning + work-based), with a strong work-based approach and innovative user-centric educational methodologies. - develop a monitoring tool for skills mismatch and emerging labour market needs in the Local Public Transport System in order to update skills gaps, vocational profile and training offer on a continuous base and develop further vocational profile as necessary; - establish a business-research international network aimed at: - Reducing unemployment, especially among people with an higher education diploma and/or a degree in economic, technical and engineering subjects in partner territories; - Supporting innovation, cooperation, peer-learning and the sharing of experience; - Promoting the work-integrated learning; - Promoting new skills required by the labour market; - Strengthening cooperation and networking between organisations and citizens; - Transfering the results of the projects to other national contexts (similar at first and new after appropriated applied researches) at EU level.
The main objectives of the project were: 1. collecting data to define and develop a job profile supporting innovation in the LPT sector and the relative learning outcomes required at European level responding to different context-specific scenarios; 2. provide the LPT sector with training resources able to respond to innovation needs in the LPT in the participating partners and contexts; 3. develop a tool at initial stage with inputs from a transnational perspective to monitor skills mismatch in the LPT sector and update the profile and training resources according to changing conditions; 4. develop a transnational business-research network able to exchange and compare data and practices. These should contribute in supporting up-skillink and re-skilling to contrast skills mismatch and ultimately unemployment in the LPT sector, support innovation and adaptation of a fundamental public service, both to increase sustainability, efficiency and inclusion.
As testified by this Year of Skills, the competence gap is a growing problem in all sectors, and for several reasons it is particularly felt in the local public transport system, called upon to respond to fast changing social, economic and environmental challenges. The project idea was born in 2018 within the collaboration established between Conerobus (LPT company of the Ancona province) and the Polythecnic University of Marche Region, already in place in the framework of the Mobility Academy https://www.mobilityacademy.it/. At that time and during the development of the project idea it was clear the need to strengthen the collaboration between research and the local public transport sector in order to develop integrated solutions supporting the digitalisation and sustainability transition required in the sector and above all to respond to growing needs within a central service provision as the public transport in terms of personalisation, inclusion, efficiency and responsiveness to fast changing conditions. The pandemic has only increased this awareness. The competence gap was recognised as a fundamental aspect to respond in the long term to the above challenges.