Skill Training Alliance For the Future European Rail system - STAFFER

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Overview

Title

Skill Training Alliance For the Future European Rail system - STAFFER

Abstract

Rail is recognised as a major enabler of the European Union’s strategic objectives concerning smart, green and sustainable growth. It is expected to serve as the backbone of the continent’s next generation mobility system as it is currently responsible for less than 2% of the transport sector’s final energy use. It already plays a key role in both Europe’s economy and society, but also has the potential to contribute much more. The sector is concurrently experiencing a severe skill shortage and a need for re/upskilling. A large share of rail’s workforce is expected to retire by 2030, while the job attractiveness is anticipated to increase. In turn, the major transformation process rail is undergoing - driven by research and innovation - requires suitable skills and competencies. Additionally, the European rail sector is affected by fragmentation amongst its different stakeholders (i.e., operators, infrastructure managers, suppliers, etc.). 

Based on the identification of current and future skills needs for the whole rail sector, STAFFER develops and validates suitable training and education paths and curricula for effectively increasing employability and career opportunities of employees in the EU rail sector. Cross-European connectivity programmes and work-based internships for students, apprentices, and staff will be implemented based on the STAFFER Blueprint for skills’ recommendations. STAFFER will deliver human capital solutions for all levels of the rail value chain while gaining a holistic view of the sector as a system of systems and unifying the European rail community. 

Status

On-going

Duration

Start: 01-11-2020

End: 31-10-2024

Sector

Rail supply and transport industries (NACE codes H49.1, H49.2, C30.2)

Countries

Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain

Scope of the project

STAFFER seeks to establish a rail stakeholder partnership - the Sector Skill Alliance - to develop a well-rounded Blueprint strategy that recognises present and emerging skill needs in a timely manner; the goal is to substantially contribute to achieving the Single European Rail Area. Such a strategy will facilitate overcoming the fragmentation of the rail sector and help both industry and VET institutions design and realise concrete actions needed to satisfy skill needs. Achieving these milestones will reap benefits beyond the project's lifetime and the organisations involved in the Alliance. 

Objectives

STAFFER’s objective is to identify the main existing skill gaps in the sector and assess the future rail industry skill needs. It also has the mandate to map EU vocational education and training (VET) institutions and technical universities that offer rail-related curricula and propose curricula adaptations, as well as design of new training and educational programmes that could address emerging technological developments and trends. 

Short description

 STAFFER seeks to: 

1. Proactively identify the skill needs of and demands for different parts of the rail industry, based on skill forecasting (supply and demand). 
2. Identify and promote successful sectoral upskilling schemes, including a benchmarking of existing tools, best practices and knowledge. 
3. Identify training and curricula requirements according to the European Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET) framework and the related European Qualifications Framework (EQF) levels. 
4. Improve and update training and curricula, offered both by rail companies and formal education and training institutions, and develop new education programmes. 
5. Foster both transnational staff exchanges and mobility within the rail sector, as well as the development of transnational railway education and learning opportunities. 
6. Improve the attractiveness of the rail industry and careers for talented people (i.e., recruitment and retention), including the identification of strategies for overcoming recruitment difficulties and widening the talent pool for a more diverse workforce. 
7. Identify, implement, and secure necessary political support measures by mobilising stakeholders and policy makers at EU and national level. The blueprint results will be rolled out at national and regional level, for example through large-scale skills partnerships under the Pact for Skills initiative. There will also be synergies with other policy frameworks, such as regional smart specialisation strategies, industrial clusters or Centres of Vocational Excellence. 

Read more on the project’s website: https://www.railstaffer.eu/about-staffer/

 

Key findings

The available results are: 

1. the identification of current and future skills and competence needs from the point of view of rail operators and infrastructure managers, and from the point of view of rail suppliers. 
2. the identification of emerging occupational profiles, in relation to a future vision for the rail sector, from the point of view of rail operators and infrastructure managers, and from the point of view of the rail supply industry; 
3. the development of a long term-methodology to assess and monitor the skill needs to be used for training programmes updates after the end of the project 
4. the map of the main education providers (VET and higher education) and of the existing education programmes and courses in European Countries: https://www.railstaffer.eu/existing-rail-training-initiatives/  
5. the identification of Qualification Standards (QS), indicators and relevant measurement procedures for the evaluation of existing training programmes and the continuous monitoring of new curricula that will be implemented within the project.  

The results to be achieved in the second phase of the project are: 

1. Recommendations for existing and new training curricula that will impart skills required for the manufacturing, operating, and maintaining of rail products, as well as more general ICT skills essential for the digitalisation of rail transport. 
2. Development and adaptation of training paths and curricula, at different EQF levels and work-based in the rail industry. 
3. Creation of an integrated sectoral skills strategy for rail operators, infrastructure managers and suppliers. 
4. Validation of mobility and training programmes for effectively increasing employability and career opportunities. 
5. Implementation of training and mobility programmes. 
6. Understanding of the marketplace and the promotion of the apprenticeship marketplace deployment at local, national, and European levels, by enhancing its effectiveness for rail job seekers. 
7. Development of a long-term strategy and action plan.