The EQ-WOOD project aims to contribute to the development of innovation capacity and competitiveness of the European wood and furniture industry, by designing and providing the curriculum of a new vocational profile, the Innovation Advisor. The Innovation Advisor will develop skills to manage innovation by combining green, digital and marketing skills. The project is based on a comprehensive analysis of the skills requirements already conducted by other European sectoral projects (FUNES, WOODUAL, IM-FUTURE).

The Innovation Advisor curriculum will be offered both as a Full Qualification, aimed primarily at young people, and as a set of independent learning modules aimed at the continuing professional development of workers. EQVWOOD exploits the innovative practices of Technical and Vocational Training through a combination of classroom learning and eLearning in an international context.

The proposed qualification is coherent with the EU instruments for mobility and transparency (EQF, EQAVET, ECVET), and validation and recognition are a crucial part of the project. The entire training offer is planned to be accredited, validated, presented and, if possible, transferred to the European Vocational and Educational Training systems. Furthermore, the project supports the development of a European Network for sectoral qualification and training in the wood and furniture industry, which will have the mission to design and provide new training courses and to update the sectoral qualifications most frequently subject to change, due to the evolution of technology and the market.

The project sees the participation of the most important associations of the wood and furniture industry, the European network of support centres for innovation in the  sector and Vocational and Education Training Bodies.

Project partners 

	FederlegnoArredo - Federation of Woodworking and furniture industries, Italy
	Woodwise - Sectoral competence and Training Centre for the woodworking and furniture sector, Belgium
	Magyar Bútor és Faipari Szövetség - Hungarian Association of Furniture and Woodworking, Hungary
	AIDIMME - Metal-Processing, Furniture, Wood and Packaging Technology Institute, Spain
	Innovawood asbl – European network for Research, Innovation, Education and Training, Belgium
	CONFORM - Consulenza Formazione e Management S.c.a.r.l., Italy
	BCWFI - Bulgarian Branch Chamber of Wood Working and Furniture Industry, Bulgaria
	ITPIO - Institute for training of personnel in international organisations, Bulgaria
	CCIL - La Chambre de Commerce Italienne de Lyon, France
	IPRA-MEDEF - Interprofession Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
Kick-off meeting, 23-24 Jan 2018, Brussels