OBS: Du er nu offline

Project

AIM of project

The aim of this two year project between a strong partnership of trade unions in Poland, Austria, Germany and Denmark and the vocational school of Køge Business College, is to develop a digital tool, the “AGRI-Worker web-APP”, for upgrading of basic digital skills for low-skilled agricultural workers.

Background

The rapid digital development in all sectors is changing work and daily life requiring an increased level of digital skills of all Europeans. The European Commission is estimating that the demand for digital technology processionals has grown by 4% annually. At the same time, estimated half of the population lack basic digital skills, with around 20% of the population having no digital skills. (“Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition” European Commission 2016). 
This project is thereby supporting the New Skills Agenda for Europe (2016), and is inspired by the recommendations of The European Commission’s “Upskilling Pathways: New opportunities for Adult”. The project offers an opportunity for raising of digital skills of the lowest educated in Europe in close collaboration between social partners and Køge Business College. 

Target group: Migrant Agricultural Workers on Stake 

With few basic digital skills and with no or little local language skills, seasonal and migrant workers in agriculture in Denmark, Germany and Austria face serious problems in several ways. They are often deprived and alienated from general services like e-government, e-health, e-banking, e-trade union services. They have difficulties attaining knowledge and information about their worker’s rights and lifelong learning and other important the information.
This leaves these migrant agricultural workers very vulnerable to social stigmatization, exploitation in the country of work with no or very limited possibilities to gain information about their worker’s rights, consequently developing skills relevant for their job-security and mobility.

Concept AGRI-Worker learner APP: Reaching out for the least motivated

The target group are mainly Polish agricultural workers over the age of 35 who belong to the group of the European population that are not “digital natives”.  These can be working abroad in the neighbor countries of Poland, or potential migrating agricultural seasonal workers in Poland.
By designing an e-tool directly and a hand-on training for the target group, this project proposes alternative strategies and methods to develop the digital skills of low-skilled adult agricultural workers and who are not native web-users and therefore excluded in the digital revolution in education, production system and society.    
This project is unique in the following ways:

  • Development of an e-learning APP for target group where few e-learning alternatives exists
  • Development of an e-learning tool 
  • The AGRI-worker APP represent development of new methods and practices to reach low skilled target groups concerning e-learning and digital skills. 
  • Transnational cooperation of social partners is ensuring development an European tool to reach low skilled – also transferrable to other branches.
  • The engagement of the social partners ensures the implementation of the new outcomes in the partners working field – with the possibilities of transferring to related branches and target groups. 
  • Access to the target group – and A “hand-on” instruction of the APP in the workplace (or local union), securing a safe learning environment for the participants.
  • Contribution to include e-learning in trade union activities.
  • Explorative approach

Further outreach

As the web-APP is a European digital tool, the APP, will not only be applied for the target group in the countries of the project holders. The web-APP can be a tool for all agricultural workers in the project countries. 

Furthermore, the tool can be included in the general training programs of shop-stewards in the partner-countries. 

Least but not last, the web-APP may be of inspiration to other branches with high no. of low-skilled workers with limited digital skills, and level of seasonal and migrant work. Therefore, the APP will also be translated into Romanian and will “sow a seed” for the development of an European tool for upgrading of skills for a broader group of low-skilled workers – including refugees working in agriculture.