The Final Conference of the Challenger project, held online on December 3^rd, 2024, celebrated the culmination of two years of collaborative work aimed at integrating applied research into vocational education and training (VET). The event brought together educators, students, industry experts, and policymakers from across Europe to reflect on the project’s achievements, showcase innovative student-driven solutions, and explore pathways for future cooperation and development.

About the Challenger project: pioneering applied research in VET

The Challenger project, co-funded by the European Union under the Forward-Looking Projects initiative, was launched to strengthen the role of applied research in VET institutions. Its primary goal was to create and implement a framework for applied research that supports problem-solving, innovation, and entrepreneurship among VET students and teachers.

Core Objectives:

• Establish next-generation makerspaces: Create dedicated spaces in six partner VET schools where students and teachers collaborate on real-world challenges.
• Promote applied research culture: Integrate applied research into school strategies and daily practices.
• Foster cross-border collaboration: Build partnerships with international educational institutions, industry experts, and policy stakeholders.
• Support entrepreneurship and innovation: Enable students to transform innovative ideas into market-ready products and solutions through mentoring and expert guidance.

Key Results and Achievements:

• Creation of six next-generation makerspaces: fully equipped learning environments for applied research were established in six partner vet institutions.
• Student-led projects: over 30 student-led projects were developed, addressing challenges from sustainability to digital transformation.
• Cross-sector collaboration: collaboration between vet institutions, businesses, and research centres led to practical and scalable project outcomes.
• International networking: a network of educators, entrepreneurs, and policymakers committed to sustaining applied research in vet was established.

Morning Session: EU Pioneering Ideas – Challenger Competition

The conference began with welcoming speeches by Adrijana Hodak (Šolski center Nova Gorica) and Dr. Igor Pesek (Ministry of Education, Slovenia). They reflected on the project’s journey, emphasizing the establishment of Next Generation Makerspaces at six VET institutions and the successful application of applied research methodologies developed throughout the project’s lifecycle.

The morning session showcased student-driven innovation through the Challenger Competition. Six teams from participating VET schools presented their projects, developed using applied research methodologies cultivated throughout the project.

Competition Highlights:

• Curt Nikolin Gymnasiet AB (Sweden): VATSS Bottle – This ergonomic water bottle promotes healthier lifestyles among older adults through thoughtful design, addressing both social and health sustainability. Its development also reflects entrepreneurial thinking by targeting a specific market segment with clear usability needs.

FH Joanneum (Austria): Cyclebee Group Mode – By enabling commission-based sales for bike rental shops, this project supports sustainable mobility while fostering a scalable business model. It showcases how entrepreneurial thinking can promote eco-friendly transportation solutions.

Šolski center Celje (Slovenia): This project directly targets environmental sustainability by repurposing old digital monitors into artificial light sources. It creatively merges recycling, design innovation, and problem-solving to enhance indoor environments while reducing e-waste.

Šolski center Kranj (Slovenia): PT – Energy Cycling – Combining sustainability with fitness, this project repurposes old electric bikes into power-generating exercise equipment. It supports clean energy generation while encouraging active lifestyles, illustrating how sustainability can inspire practical technological innovation.

Šolski center Nova Gorica (Slovenia): Smart Bicycle Storage – This secure and solar-powered bike storage system encourages sustainable transport through cycling infrastructure. The project also reflects entrepreneurial thinking by incorporating features such as maintenance stations and charging ports for electric bikes.

Šolski center Velenje (Slovenia): Interactive VR Learning – This project enhances technical education through immersive virtual reality learning experiences. By creating custom simulations for technical and vocational training, the team demonstrated technological innovation and its potential to bridge the gap between theoretical learning and real-world applications.

These projects collectively illustrate how applied research in VET can address sustainability challenges, inspire entrepreneurship, and drive technological innovation. Through their practical, research-based approaches, students transformed academic concepts into impactful solutions, fully embodying the Challenger project’s mission.

The jury, composed of representatives from academia, industry, and public institutions, evaluated the projects based on their innovation, feasibility, sustainability, and market potential.

Winners:

1^st Place: Šolski center Celje – Artificial Window

2^nd Place: Šolski center Velenje – Interactive VR Learning

3^rd Place: FH Joanneum – Cyclebee Group Mode

The winners received tailored mentorship sessions provided by Science Park Graz to support the further development of their innovative ideas.

Afternoon Session: Challenger Project Reflections and Future Development

The afternoon session focused on reflecting on the project’s broader achievements, fostering collaboration with similar initiatives, and exploring potential pathways for sustaining and scaling applied research in VET institutions.

Opening speeches were held by:

• Adrijana Hodak, Šolski center Nova Gorica
• Dr. Igor Pesek, Ministry of Education Slovenia
• Gregoire Douxchamps – EACEA.

The session began with an in-depth presentation by Nataša Kristan Primšar (Project Manager, Šolski center Kranj), who outlined key milestones reached during the project. She highlighted how the CHALLENGER PROJECT successfully embedded applied research principles into VET curricula, enhanced teacher-student collaboration, and supported entrepreneurship through makerspaces.

Following this, representatives from two related initiatives funded under the same call for Forward-Looking Projects, AIRinVET and BARCOVE, presented their projects. Barbara van Ginneken (AIRinVET) and Juan Manuel Mondejar (BARCOVE) discussed their projects’ aims, emphasizing synergies with Challenger and potential future collaborations.