- To attract younger generations to the sector, informing them about the profession, the job market, and the challenges it faces; - To equip future footwear employees with relevant knowledge and skills related to footwear manufacturing from design till finishing, but also with competencies related to circularity, green economy, and sustainability in eco-design; - To promote students’ soft and transversal skills, increasingly important in the modern workplace, such as online teamwork, communication, positive attitude, analysis capacity and problem-solving, etc.; - To develop an innovative training approach and learning tools to be applied in VET contexts, related to the footwear industry or not; - To bridge the existing gap between the training offer and the industry needs; - To promote synergies and cooperation among businesses, universities, research centres and other relevant stakeholders operating in the footwear sector, contributing to the attractiveness and competitiveness of the sector; - To prevent school drop-out and maintain students’ interest and motivation; - To contribute, on a larger scale, to the renovation and modernisation of the footwear sector, maintaining its value and competitiveness.
The ShoeGAME project addressed two of the main challenges faced by the footwear industry right now: on one hand, its aging workforce, mainly due to the lack of the attractiveness of the sector, and, on the other, the inadequacy of the training offered to the current challenges. By bringing the sector closer to the real, by including relevant topics such as circularity and green economy, sustainability and providing digital and technological skills, also very important in order to keep up with the modernisation of the sector, the manufacturing sectors will become more attractive to younger generations. In parallel, the results produced by the project directly targeted this need, by informing students about most of the typical professions and occupations in the industry and presenting them with all the possibilities it offers. The project had three main target groups: i) students who are at the age to take the decision to enter VET studies, who the project intends to inform and motivate to proceed with their studies in the field, ii) students who have already taken this decision and are currently in the first year vocational training, and iii) teachers and tutors in VET system.