WOODCircle

Atlantic Technological University (ATU) have recently been awarded lead partner of an exciting new two-year Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership Project called WOODCircle. The project aims to develop skills for the Circular Economy and Sustainability, targeted at students and younger workers (aged between 18 and 34 years) in the European furniture and woodworking sectors.

The consortium involves organisations from four other European countries and builds upon the success of another recently completed project called WOODigital, that has been awarded “Best Practice” title by the French National Agency. The members of WOODCircle are:

• Atlantic Technological University, Ireland;
• Federazione Italiana Delle Industrie Del Legno Del Sughero Del Mobilee Dell' Arredamento Associazione and Consorzio Del Mobile Scpa, Italy;
• Ambit – Living Spaces Cluster, Spain
• Fabunio - Association of Hungarian Furniture and Woodworking Industries, Hungary;
• Interprofessionnelle Auvergne Rhone Alpes, France.

WOODCircle is responding to the twin transition of the furniture and woodworking industry, ensuring that those employed in the sector are capable of solving both environmental and technical issues. The project is aligned with the aspirations of the European Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan, embedding ethical processes and principles of sustainability within industry practices, e.g., waste elimination, design-for-life and promotion of eco-materials.

The WOODCircle team led by ATU Connemara, will develop a learning portal where students can study these topics and assess their learning through their interaction with informative and engaging presentations, case studies and video content. The course will be multilingual, translated in 5 European languages and will be freely accessible. As part of the development and testing of the training materials, experts and students will be invited to undertake blended and physical mobilities across different European countries, where they will visit factories, universities, and research and vocational training centres. This also allows participants to expand their international networks and cultural awareness and learn from best European practice within the woodwork industry.

WOODCircle  was initiated by a traditional kick-off meeting, that took place online in October 2022 and the first physical meeting will take place in ATU Connemara in May 2023.

WOODCircle is led in ATU by Dr Dermot O’Donovan and researcher Piroska Kocsis and supported by the Irish national agency Léargas and funded by the European Commission.

For more, see: WOODCircle

Previous Erasmus+ projects that ATU Connemara have been involved with include WOODigital and MimWood