The Market Menu Project

To develop practical vocational training modules for the fisheries and aquaculture sector to cover all aspects of the industries.

Co-ordinators:

Fiskeridata
Tore Berg
T-huset, Vesterhaugveien 1, 9513 Alta
Finnmark
details
Tel:+47 78.44.09.22
Fax:+47 78.44.09.21
Email: tore@fiskeridata.no

The project finished in 2002

1. Outline

In the fisheries sector in Europe, there is a great need for developing methods and systems that support life long learning. Many of the workers in this sector have left the education system before obtaining formal qualifications or certificates. It is therefor very difficult for them to continue their education. At the same time many jobs in the fisheries sector are becoming more and more complex. New technology on the fishing vessels and in the processing industry require skilled workers. Therefore there is a need for new forms of vocational training that support life long learning. At the same time, fish quotas are becoming smaller. There is a large demand for fish products of good quality in Europe and in the rest of the world. Therefore it is of utter importance to utilise as much of the raw material as possible and to know as much as possible about the market demands.

In the Leonardo project "An Ocean of Possibilities" in 1997-99, a placement project for young workers in the fisheries sector, we discovered that many companies and older workers were interested in using the project for their training needs. The way the project was organised, with training with partners in many European countries, the project met the needs of a European industry that is very dependent on trade across the country borders. But in order to support lifelong learning, we concluded that the placements will have to be easily accessible for the companies and workers, and built in modules so that the training can be tailored to each persons needs. The training also has to be efficient/cost effective.

We believe that a network of specialised partners in the fisheries sector will be able to offer a system that can meet these demands.

2. Outcomes, including dissemination methods

The main outcomes of the project was a set of descriptions of targeted, theme based, short training-/work placements with partners in Norway and other European countries. The descriptions contained information about the content of each placement, the duration, the host organisation and other practical information.

The project aimed at making placements more accessible for the schools and companies. By making well-described and quality assured targeted modules, the users can put together their own training programme in accordance with their individual needs. This is of great importance in the future need of lifelong learning.

The Market Menu was primarily promoted through the project's own web-site and is currenctly linked to the web-site of all the involved partners, schools, companies and other organisations.

The project also produced printed promotional materials. The report from the project is currently available both in paper version and in electronic form on the Market Menu Project website.

3. Partnership

The partnership comprised of primary partners in Norway, Ireland, Portugal and Italy that have a substantial experience with vocational training. Together with secondary partners with solid knowledge in matters concerning fish and language the overall partnership constituted a team that developed and offered relevant and flexible training modules.