NEARVET
Network of Excellence for Applied Research in VET
Applied research is widely referenced today in European policies and recommendations, as well as in the public debate over the evolution and relevance in different sectors, including Vocational Education and Training (VET). However, there is no consensus about what “applied research” means in the VET community.
NEARVET starts from a wide and competent partnership and community, composed of National VET institutions, company representations, applied research institutes, and well-established European networks to co-define an authoritative approach towards building a specific meaning, valid and usable for the wider VET sector.
About the Project
“There's a lot of debate about terminology ... The universities say that what VET centres provide isn't research. Personally, I don't care what you call it. We're providing services to SMEs and industry that help them to solve practical problems. For us, that's what Applied Research is.” (Unai Ziarsolo Tknika centre, Spain)
ARRIVET (Applied Research Results in Vocational Education and Training, international magazine), states “Applied research addresses any person who is interested in solving practical research problems of business and industry, with particular focus on those committed to the dialogue between production and instruction, the professional and the vocational.” (https://arrivet.org/index.php/arrivet/index)
If applied research in VET is critical - who are the applied researchers? What are the needs of these applied researchers? How are those needs to be met?
Brochure
These are the fundamental questions that the ambitious NEARVET project will try to answer. EU countries need to invest in their innovation systems at the national and regional level, to be competitive in a globalized economy. According to the Joint Research Center of the European Commission, VET needs to incorporate research-based knowledge, playing an active role in the processes leading to more or less pronounced levels of job polarization. The innovation literature has tended to overemphasize the role and effectiveness of university-based Research & Development (R&D), to emphasize knowledge creation rather than knowledge diffusion and exploitation, and to prioritize research universities than other types of educational institutions (VET) and opportunities. Further, innovation includes social innovation in the organization of firms and production, as well as financial innovation creating value in firms brought about by well-educated and trained staff. Accordingly, investment in high quality upper secondary and higher-level vocational education and training are extremely important factors for innovation.
NEARVET will develop an innovative programme of systematic inquiry and development in the field of Applied Research in VET, through which it will identify the high-level skills required to plan, conduct and supervise applied research projects in VET as well as a set of tools, resources and networking capacity building to put those into practice. The project will attempt to stimulate and consolidate synergies between VET providers, industry and academic stakeholders, enhancing understanding of industry’s problems while bringing change in the workplace, fostering innovation. NEARVET will reach out directly to over 200 among VET practitioners, local companies and academic staff and over 500 people through the Community of practice.
Objectives
NEARVET aims to co-develop, test and validate a complete and sustainable system of applied research in VET which is strongly integrated with the business ecosystems, in countries and transnationally.
The project team will realise its ambitions through a highly participative work programme, that will:
- elaborate a Methodological Concept, within which it will draw upon state-of-the-art methods in the co-creation and validation of applied research methods in VET
- identify in the NEARVET Blueprint the competences required to act effectively in the performance of applied research in VET
- foster exchange and cooperation through the NEARVET Network and its community of practice,
- co-create and validate a set of practical resources and methods, through the establishment and facilitation of a digitally-enabled NEARVET platform and Hub
- develop a comprehensive legacy framework, supporting transferability and sustainability in a long-term perspective on applied research and experimental development in VET provision
Digital Hub
The NEARVET Digital Hub offers a framework for practitioners involved in progressing applied research in VET to access opportunities, to exchange and cooperate on applied research project ideas, partners search, knowledge exchange and innovation transfer.
The Digital Hub includes:
- Digital and interactive learning material and resources, including through a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) addressing the required skills based on the NEARVET Blueprint;
- Peer learning, exchange and capacity building actions with and for VET trainers, teachers, intermediaries, managers, brokers, and their peer in the private sector, company representations, universities and research institutes. They will be the members of the NEARVET Digital Community of Practice;
- Open access Online Research Journal, offering open data, preprint and open peer review features. Separate sections will be devoted to priority sectors evidenced by the research throughout the project, aiming to foster sector-specific synergies.
Library
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The project brings together 12 partners from 6 European countries, forming a transnational cooperation partnership with a balanced regional geographical representation of the Erasmus+ Area.
