Belfast Metropolitan College have launched their new £1.12 million European digital construction project, ‘ARISE’ in the 2 day KICK OFF meeting 1st and 2nd September 2021.
The new project aims to revolutionise the learning process by changing the face of delivery and recognition of sustainable energy skills in the construction sector.
ARISE’s mission is to support the twin transition of the construction sector and to contribute thereby to the European Recovery and Resilience Plans 2021 -2027.
The project aims to do this by providing the construction sector workforce with digital and sustainable energy skills of the future, along with demand side guidelines for marketable appreciation of skills and exploitation of benefits thereof.
The nine partners in the project consortium are: Belfast Metropolitan College, Northern Ireland, Technological University Dublin, Ireland, Institute for Research in Environment, Civil Engineering and Energy, North Macedonia, ISSO, Netherlands, Conseil des Architectes D Europe, Brussels, IBIMI Institute for BIM, Italy, Building Changes, BV, Netherlands, Copenhagen School of Design and Technology, Denmark and Instituto Superior Technico, Portugal.
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On the opening launch day on Wednesday September 1, Belfast Met Innovation Manager and ARISE Programme Manager, Paul McCormack gave an introduction and outlined the challenges and objectives for the 30 month programme.
Louise Warde Hunter, Principal and Chief Executive of Belfast Met also addressed the opening day audience, saying: “Today’s ARISE launch reinforces Belfast Met’s commitment to engage in international partnerships and applied R &D, working in innovative ways with industry to meet the emerging skills needs of the economy at home and abroad.”
Also among the other opening day speakers was Ms Jennifer Boyer, Vice President of Sustainability at Technological University Dublin.
Ms Boyer commented on the project stating:“The ARISE project creates a positive impact by addressing real world challenges in the construction sector through the upskilling of individuals to reach their infinite potential. ARISE leverages learning post Covid, by offering bite size educational units through a digital mobile curriculum to enable learning opportunities that are accessible and sustainable in our daily lives.”
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ARISE aims to revolutionise the learning process by monetizing skills development and learning exchange with a digital system based on skills recognition rather than accreditation.
The training and transaction system developed by the project will reward learners as they achieve competence at a certain level with the crypto currency for skills exchange. This reward based on skills and time credits will be stored in an Individual Learning Account and can be used as digital points accumulations.
The training method aims to make the learning process attractive and effective, facilitating its accessibility through a mobile (smartphone) and a user - friendly web based platform.
ARISE will apply digitalisation and the earning of learning credits in a "step by step" recognition of competences, as an accelerator to empower demand for sustainable energy skills in the construction sector, and as an enabler of formal certification. This system will be employed based on blockchain procedures to instil transparency and trust.
The project led by Belfast Metropolitan College with eight other European partners was launched this week. Within 30 months, until February 2024, partners will work on the development and demonstration of the innovative on demand training scheme for digitalisation towards sustainable energy skills.
Source: Written from press release.
