In details, expected results of WOODigital are:

• Boosting cooperation and dialogue between different stakeholders (SMEs and entrepreneurs/employers representatives, VET providers, innovation experts and professionals) aimed at driving innovation across Europe both at training-level and industry-level;
• Improving woodworkers digital skills and making them more capable to cope with and resilient to changes occurring in the sector and led by the Industry 4.0 through VET offers and systems more responsive and innovative;
• Promoting innovation in the woodworking and furniture VET offer/ supporting school-to-work transition, inclusion and employability of young people by enhancing learning of digital skills in work-based transnational settings;
• Develope, test and validate a dual model suitable for enhancing learning mobility, including a set of innovative teachings, learning and assessment practices; and
• Setting a quality-driven circle by lessons learnt and outcomes from other projects, to further create synergies among woodworking-based projects at EU level, and then inspiring other national initiatives (Horizon Europe, COSME, ESF, among others).

Main objectives of WOODigital are as follows:

• Building a multi-stakeholder framework to design a dual system model and training offer that are fit for purpose and relevant for the sector by building on and enhancing existing knowledge and practices;
• Optimizing and sharing a well-organized dual system model for fostering digital skills in the woodworking sector by acting upon specific methodological guidelines and promoting innovative training approaches, including mobility and e-learning;
• Developing a student-centered training offer suitable for being exploited and improved in other MS (micro and small enterprises) and initiatives, especially focusing on manufacturing industries.

The woodworking and furniture sector is a consolidated industry in Europe, with +300.000 businesses and +2 M people employed (DG Growth). The sector is almost made up of MSMEs (<10 employees) with relatively few large firms, these facts justifying the necessity to run cooperative actions across Europe if MS (micro and small enterprises) want to be effective and successfully keep up with competition (especially from China and US), facing sector-specific challenges.

The labour-intensive nature of the woodworking and furniture industry clashes with an ageing workforce and the difficulties in hiring and recruiting qualified young people not attracted by what they consider a traditional manufacturing sector. The industry is in the top-20 sectors suffering from bottleneck problems due to the lack of applicants with adequate skills and lack of willingness to take jobs (Mapping and Analysing Bottleneck Vacancies in EU Labour Markets, EC Report, 2014). From 2005 to 2014, the number of 25-39 aged employees has been declining by -7% (from 45% to 38%), whereas people +55yrs are increasing by +6% (from 9% to 15%).

Furthermore, in Europe there are recorded +2M unfilled vacancies, including in the woodworking and furniture sector, despite it being estimated that +14% of people aged 15 to 24, and +18% in the age group 25 to 29 (Eurostat, 2019) are unemployed.