Food for Thought 2.0 – The Upskilling of VET Catering & Hospitality Learners in Sustainable Food Production and Cuisine Practices project focuses specifically on further strengthening key competencies in VET and supporting the uptake of innovative approaches & digital technologies

FFT 2.0 focuses on raising awareness of food related environmental and climate-change challenges & the development of future-oriented VET curricula that better meet the needs of individuals and industry. The emphasis is on teaching sustainable food production & cuisine practices in an interactive and participatory manner to VET learners (15-18 years) and the development of innovative, age appropriate teaching and assessment technology tools to engage learners and thereby, meet contemporary sectorial requirements in the catering & hospitality industry.

The significant focus on innovative practices and engaging content means a key priority of this project is the use of innovative and immersive teaching and assessment tools to ensure content regarding sustainable food production and cuisine practices is engaging to learners of 15-18 who are digital natives. The project will involve the development, piloting and use of a range of interactive tools for teaching & assessment in the VET catering & hospitality sector which will be made available as open educational resources with online trainer guidelines.

Food for Thought 2.0 proposes to engage with learners that are relatable, such as animations, vlogs & social media. This dynamic learning environment & creation of appropriate, immersive & innovative digital tools will motivate & strengthen the learners’ competences in the area of sustainable food practices to promote education & behaviour change as demanded by the EU labour market and strengthen their future employability prospects in the sector.

Food for Thought Objectives

ONE

To undertake an industry needs analysis in 4 partner countries to identify content gaps and preferred innovative technology-led teaching and learning mediums.

TWO

To enhance the labour market relevance of catering & hospitality VET by utilising an immersive, technology-led, innovative teaching medium and encourage more informed and upskilled learners with a broader focus on sustainable food practices in food production and cuisine practices.

THREE

To strengthen key competencies of learners and trainers across 4 EU countries through the delivery of Food for Thought 2.0.

FOUR

To deliver modern, relative, learner driven & immersive delivery methods for learners across Europe building capacity in the next generation catering & hospitality staff as well as generating more ‘green & sustainable’ informed managers & consumers.