On December 15th 2021, the Final Conference of the DITRAMA project took place as an online event with the title: The digital transition of the furniture sector: new opportunities for the labour market. The conference was well attended by sectoral representatives and stakeholders.

The conference consisted of presentations by experts from different EU Countries and DITRAMA Consortium representatives, with the aim to present the main project outcomes and some insights regarding the furniture scenarios from the digitalization and labour market point of view. 

Following the welcome and the presentation of the Agenda, by Massimiliano Rumignani, representative of the project partner AMIC, three intervention presented project main results: the joint Curriculum for the Digital Transformation Manager for the furniture sector presented by Jeroen Doom from Woodwize, the DITRAMA online platform presented by Almudena González member of the International Department of Método and the offline Guide for the Digital Transformation Manager for the Furniture Sector, by Massimiliano Rumignani.

Jeroen Franssen - Senior Expert in Talent, Labour Market & Organisation from Agoria, the Belgian federation for the technology industry and main speaker of the event - presented data and strategies regarding the digital transition of the European manufacturing. 

The round table moderated by Serena Leka – Aarhus University centred the attention on the impact of the Digital Transformation on the labour market for the woodworking and furniture industry with an international panel made up by Xavier Pi, Diagnostic 4.0 Workgroup Chair - Industry 4.0 Commission from the Catalonian Engineering Association, Margherita Roiatti, Coordinator of international relations in ADAPT, the Italian centre of studies and research in the field of labour law and industrial relations and Nikolas Van Beeck representative of the Digital department of the Belgian furniture company Van Hoecke.

Gregorio Cañavate – international R&D project manager from CETEM, Technological Centre of Furniture and Wood of the Murcia Region – explained the deep connection between DITRAMA project and the CoVE European project ALLVIEW – the first platform of ‘Centres of Vocational Excellence’ for the European wood and furniture industry.

The second round-table gave the floor to the representatives of the sectoral vocational and higher education and training providers. Clara Ferraz, Head of Training Activity at CFPIMM, the Portuguese training centre for the Wood and Furniture industry located in Lordelo (Portugal) and Alexandra De Raeve, Head of research centre FTILab at HOGENT, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Flanders presented their own entities strategies and tools to fill the gap between education offer and labour market needs regarding the digital transformation.

Matthias Grymonpon – Lector at HOGENT – brought his experience as a participant of DITRAMA Pilot course, sharing his positive feedback and highlighting the relevance of an innovative, multimedia and free course focusing on the digital transition in the furniture sector.

The conference was closed by Julio Rodrigo, Innovation and Sustainability Manager from CENFIM, summarizing the outcomes of the project and its consistency with the European Commission priorities for education and training.

The conference video is available at the following link.