Fostering Dairy competitiveness requires solid 3S based strategy for lifelong upskilling of employees, potential recruits and teachers to reduce talent shortages. The European Excellence in Dairy Learning project’s vision is collaboration between learning stakeholders in a sector with a strong vocational and work-based learning tradition. As the largest agri-food speciality, this requires close cooperation between the education, industry and world of science triad to meet the sector's vision of sustainable and technology-enabled growth and to overcome the perception of poor green credentials.Through a partnership and transnational approach, based on 40 years of collaboration, we aim to:•Ensure that dairy VET is at the forefront of innovative pedagogy, research, sustainable and technological development•Promote LifeLong Learning and CPD among teachers and dairy professionals•Create sustainable collaborative structures for synergy, cross-fertilisation and financial sustainabilityThe main outputs:•9 regional CoVEs embedded in regional 3S with close transnational cooperation.•1 Dairy Learning & Innovation Hub hosting a virtual learning platform with bespoke and innovative materials.•18 innovative internationally recognised dairy curricula closing skills gaps and driving growth and innovation•Feedback loops integrated in all CoVEs for relevance and quality of dairy education.•Blueprint for successful set-up of dairy CoVE•5 digital skills modules and 5 green skills modules both with innovative pedagogical methodologies.The main target groups are: 98 dairy teachers as change agents promoting lifelong learning and upskilling pathways; 540 dairy students as future professionals of an attractive sector with well defined career pathways; 27 educational institutions with updated, industry relevant curricula, training programmes and teaching material and upskilled teachers; 45 dairy companies having a greater pull of potential employees with the right skills

The food and drink industry is the EU biggest manufacturing sector in terms of jobs and added value. It is also an asset in trade with non-EU countries. In a stagnant domestic market, the world increasing market for agrifood offers clear opportunities of growth for start-up and SMEs. It is notable that while most of the agrifood big companies export their products, less than 50% of SMes have the capacity to go international. SUI-FOOD project intend to answer the need of specific vocational education in internationalisation competences for start-ups, SMEs, unemployed and vocational students in the agrifood sector. This project seeks to the development of VET offer to support all agrifood staekholders to compete on international markets, in Europe and beyond. It addresses two main target groups: the start-up and the SMEs, who will be the main beneficiaries of the course developed. Further, this project will also target VET providers and business support stakeholders, as well as public authorities so to promote the SUI-FOOD mainstreaming. SUI-FOOD project is led by FEDACOVA, a regional federation representing the agrifood industry. The partnership is made of 6 partners from 5 European countries: Spain, Turkey, Estonia, Poland and Romania. It brings together differents entities profiles: business support organisations, internationalization experts, VET school and academic experts, who will collaborate together to develop the project foreseen activities. In order to reach the set objectives, the project consortium has set two main outputs to be developed: the development of a comprehensive qualification standard defining the professional profile of the internationalization manager in the agrifood start up or SME, and the development of a training course, which will be designed to address the competences needed to achieve the defined professional profile. This course will be available on an online platform and have a modular structure for more flexibility in the training pathway. Additional complementary activities will be organised all along the project, such as different multiplier events involving at least 40 participants per country, and a final conference, with 100 participants, which will take place in Ankara in September 2019. The methodology chosen for the development of SUI-FOOD project will be based on a dynamic user-needs approach, where the outputs shall always answer to the target groups needs. It will also be participative, as agrifood experts and target groups will be involved in the development and validation of the two main products of this project (the qualification standard and the course), it will thus be collaborative and inclusive. Finally, the project will largely rely on the digital era, the training course will be delivered online, will include social modules for interaction, and will follow the principle of open educational resources. All the training contents will be available for free. As a result, partners expect to have an important impact on the project beneficiaries allowing them to answer to international demand of products, perform economies of scale, optimize their costs structure, diversifying the risks of operating in a single market, … leading to their economic growth and creation of jobs. This impact will only be reached if an important effort in dissemination is performed to promote the SUI-FOOD project and mainstream the course at EU level among the agrifood community. This is why a important dissemination and legitimation strategy will be displayed, and project products will enter in a long term perspective of exploitation. As long term benefit, project expect to contribute to the EU2020 strategy encouraging a global economy and competitive industry, thanks to better prepared start-uppers and entrepreneurs for the internationalization of their agrifood products, as well as to the ET2020 strategy, contributing to the development of qualitative open educational resources.