AIRMOB is a European initiative building a skilled workforce for Innovative Air Mobility. By establishing regional clusters and a European Community of Practice, the project enhances skills, fosters industry collaboration, and promotes IAM sector growth through tailored curricula, internships, and professional development.
Context
AIRMOB (Developing Skills and Capabilities for Innovative Air Mobility) is a large and complementary consortium that is setting up five regional clusters in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Tükiye. This group will evolve into a European Community of Practice (CoP) committed to providing the diversity of skills required in the emerging sector of Innovative Air Mobility (IAM), a critical investment towards our current and future quality of life.
The project focuses on the provision of excellent vocational education and training (VET) aligned with the sector’s needs, capacitation of young students, upskilling and reskilling of the workforce, sharing of resources, and improving conditions for collaboration in upwards convergence, all contributing to address major European goals and priorities.
The project includes an analysis of the IAM sector’s needs and opportunities, forming the baseline of roadmaps for high quality VET curricula and resources. The analysis will also facilitate VET-industry win-win collaborations, promote the attractiveness and acceptance of VET and IAM, and develop a thriving CoP for knowledge sharing and exchange of best practices.
The AIRMOB pathway to excellent VET includes the design of joint curricula and training courses, professional development of teachers and trainers, internships, mobilities, and other multi-level collaborations relying on the countries and partners’ diverse expertise to meet the needs of the IAM sector.
Aim
Based on the above-described needs and potential for excellent VET, AIRMOB has developed a strategic framework for the southern European cooperation in VET towards the offshore renewable energy industry through the CoP – Community of Practice. The partnership will ensure sustainable collaboration in each CoVE to foster a sense of belonging and ownership among member-partners and promote a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
To achieve the ambitious goals set for the project, the consortium has defined a set of specific objectives, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and respective targets:
- OB1 – Characterize the IAM sector in Europe, namely the stakeholders, enabling technologies, regulatory constraints and conditions for scale-up, considering the deployment of IAM technologies, design of IAM operations including UTM and UAM, development of urban and peri-urban infrastructure for IAM safety, environmental, privacy and social considerations, regulatory frameworks, strategies for Smart Specialisation.
- OB2 – Identify the current and forecasted needs and capabilities in terms of skills (VET provision) and labour force (occupations) directly and indirectly related to the IAM sector, and focusing on the various types of skills (technical, operational, digital, green and soft skills), workforce skills gaps, trainers’ skills gaps, life-long learning opportunities, the potential of VET institutions offers across member-partners.
- OB3 – Develop, test, and provide innovative VET curricula and resources based on a learner-centred approach with flexible programmes.
- OB4 – Establish effective collaboration between VET, Industry, Academia/Research and Policy stakeholders at the regional CoVEs level and at the transnational level through the Community of Practice (CoP) for the EU IAM sector and practical actions.
- OB5 – Develop a long-term vision and action plan for the sector, ensuring the resources and governance mechanisms for the continuation and consolidation of the 5 Regio-AIRMOB CoVEs and the Euro-AIRMOB CoP.
- OB6 – Increase the visibility and attractiveness of the sector among youngsters, potential workers and the population in general (including disadvantaged groups).
Key Figures
EU Contribution: €3,798,550.00
Additional information
Links, deliverables, and further information will be shared here as the project progresses.
Participating Partners
• DEEP BLUE SRL (Coordinator)
• Future Mobility Campus Ireland
• DISTRETTO TECNOLOGICO AEROSPAZIALE S.C. A R.L
• UNIVERSITA DEL SALENTO
• Fondazione "Istituto Tecnico Superiore" per la Mobilità So
• EUROUSC ITALIA SRL
• UNIVERSIDADE DA BEIRA INTERIOR
• INOVA+ - INNOVATION SERVICES, SA
• ALMADESIGN CONCEITO E DESENVOLVIMENTO DE DESIG
• ENSINUS - Estudos Técnicos e Profissionais SA
• INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DE CASTELO BRANCO
• UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE MADRID
• SERVICIOS Y ESTUDIOS PARA LA NAVEGACION AEREA Y
• CIFP Aguas Nuevas
• INGENIERIA DE SISTEMAS PARA LA DEFENSA DE ESPANA
• CENTRO DE REFERENCIA INVESTIGACION DESARROLLO
• CRISALION MOBILITY SLU
• Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest
• AVTRAIN LIMITED
• ISTANBUL TEKNIK UNIVERSITESI
• DEVLET HAVA MEYDANLARI ISLETMESI GENEL MUDURLUG
• IGA HAVALIMANI ISLETMESI ANONIM SIRKETI
• CSI CENTER FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION LTD
• Joint European Drone Associations
• MUNICIPIO DO FUNDAO
• ASSOCIACAO NACIONAL DE ESCOLAS PROFISSIONAIS
• Portuguese Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC)
• Flowdron Srl
• COMUNE DI BARI
• Vereniging Internationaal Netwerk van Technische Schole
• EUROPEAN FORUM OF TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDU
• UNIVERSIDAD DE ZARAGOZA
• UNIVERSIDAD CARLOS III DE MADRID
• UNIVERSIDAD DE ALCALA
• AYUNTAMIENTO DE MADRID
Funding
Horizon Europe
• Programme: Erasmus+
• Call: ERASMUS-EDU-2024-PEX-COVE
Thematic Pillar
• Skill Development and Capacity Building