Applicant and partner

Lead partner

Partner

The project is led by Võru County Education and Technology Centre, with Malnava College of the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies participating as the project partner. The Estonian and Latvian partners will jointly develop the handbook and assess its suitability for vocational education and training in both countries.

Activities

The project “Furniture Finishing Online Handbook: Modern Techniques and Materials for Vocational Education” aims to improve the quality of furniture finishing education and its alignment with the needs of the wood and furniture industry. The project will produce a practical and openly accessible online furniture finishing handbook for vocational teachers.

Furniture finishing topics are currently often fragmented across different subjects and learning materials in vocational education. There is no common structure, up-to-date terminology or clear connection with the materials, surface treatment technologies and quality requirements used in modern furniture production. The new handbook will help teachers teach finishing topics more systematically and better align vocational education with the actual needs of companies.

The handbook is not intended to be a conventional textbook, but a practical reference tool for vocational teachers. It will organise furniture finishing processes, materials, technologies and quality requirements into clear modules. The content will be divided into different levels, allowing teachers to adapt it to learners’ prior knowledge, curricula and learning objectives.

The main project activities are

  • mapping the furniture finishing learning materials and teaching practices used in Estonian and Latvian vocational education;
  • identifying gaps and development needs in furniture finishing education;
  • developing the structure and modules of the online handbook;
  • creating content on furniture finishing processes, materials, technologies and quality requirements;
  • producing technical illustrations and drawings;
  • translating the learning material into English and Latvian;
  • editing the texts and preparing the layout for online publication;
  • testing the handbook in Estonian and Latvian vocational education institutions;
  • collecting feedback from vocational teachers, learners and industry experts;
  • improving the handbook based on user testing;
  • publishing the completed handbook online and sharing it through vocational education networks.

The role of Võru County Education and Technology Centre

Võrumaa Education and Technology Centre is the lead partner and is responsible for the overall coordination of the project, the activity schedule, cooperation between the partners, financial management and reporting.

TSENTER contributes its expertise in furniture finishing, the wood industry, applied research and development, and business cooperation. The Estonian partner leads the situation mapping, development of the handbook’s core content, production of illustrations, translation, editing and preparation of the final digital publication.

The responsibilities of Võru County Education and Technology Centre, including TSENTER, are

  • overall project management and coordination of the partners’ activities;
  • developing a common mapping methodology;
  • mapping the current state of furniture finishing education in Estonia;
  • developing the handbook’s core content and chapters;
  • ensuring the technical accuracy, structure and coherence of the content;
  • coordinating the production of technical illustrations and drawings;
  • analysing feedback from teachers and industry experts;
  • improving the handbook based on the feedback received;
  • coordinating translation, language editing and typesetting;
  • testing the handbook in Estonian vocational education;
  • sharing the project results through professional and educational networks.

The role of Malnava College

Malnava College will organise the project’s kick-off meeting and map the current state of furniture finishing education in Latvia. The partner will collect feedback from teachers and experts, assess the handbook’s pedagogical and practical suitability, and lead user testing in Latvian vocational education institutions. The partner will also be responsible for sharing the results through Latvian vocational education and professional networks.

Project results

  • an online furniture finishing handbook for vocational teachers;
  • furniture finishing content organised into clear and interconnected modules;
  • more consistent and up-to-date professional terminology;
  • learning material covering modern finishing materials, surface treatment technologies and quality requirements;
  • technical illustrations and drawings supporting the handbook content;
  • handbook content available in Estonian, English and Latvian;
  • testing of the material in Estonian and Latvian vocational education institutions;
  • a practical tool for vocational teachers to plan lessons and learning modules;
  • more consistent and better-structured teaching of furniture finishing;
  • closer alignment between vocational education and the actual needs of the wood and furniture industry;
  • an openly accessible digital learning resource;
  • continued use of the material after the project ends for teaching, teacher training and the induction of new teachers.

Contact

Lead partner contact

  • Project Manager: Jörgen Dobris
  • Email:

 

The project is co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme.