The first is our recently released report for the Appalachian Regional Commission assessing the workforce trends and needs of the ARC region’s increasingly important renewable and non-renewable energy clusters. The report, Energy Workforce Trends and Training Needs in Appalachia, also includes compelling case studies of exemplary training programs in all 13 ARC states meeting the needs of the industry.

The second is Growth from the Ground Up: Community Colleges and Sustainable Food Systems, a conference report from the Alliance for Sustainability, a creation of RTS to network community colleges, held in September 2011 in Pittsboro, NC.

Lastly, we’ve added a report from TA3, an international network of community and technical colleges, that details the information and best practices found during a study tour of Denmark that demonstrated their commitment to sustainability and green building and the technical training supporting it. The full report is available here.

For those of you unable to make the February 21 webinar on green building and sustainability in Denmark, beginning with a visit to EUC-Syd, a technical vocational school in Denmark, you can still view and hear the material at this link.

Below are some photos from the TA3 report on the study tour of Denmark that demonstrated their commitment to sustainability and the technical training supporting it. The full report is available here. (more…)

The Mississippi Economic Council in cooperation with the state’s citizens and private sector is building a collaborative vision for moving the state’s economy and community forward.  The process, known as Blueprint Mississippi 2011, has led to the development of a series of goals and recommendations on education, the economy, diversity, financial resources, health, infrastructure and other key areas.

A top focus is the creative economy.  The following creative economy strategies are based in large part on the study we completed with the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Arts Commission Development. The reports are available here and more on the effort is on the Mississippi Creative economy website.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Support the goals in the report, Mississippi’s Creative Economy, released by the Mississippi Arts Commission with the Mississippi Development Authority:
  • Facilitate efforts that make communities throughout the state more creative and vibrant.
  • Promote entrepreneurship and small business growth among creative firms.
  • Help communities preserve and generate added value from cultural and historic heritage.
  • Enhance the competitiveness of the state’s businesses and industries through increased use of art and design.
  • Enhance the support and networking infrastructure for creative talent across the state.
  • Build capacity to grow and retain creative talent living and working in Mississippi.
• Develop tools and strategies to support growth throughout the tourism industry.

The TA3 is a membership consortium of more than 30 leading community and technical colleges, and several state system offices, in the U.S., Europe and South Africa that promotes community colleges’ efforts to support their regional economies, and promotes the value and importance of a global perspective on community college missions.

The latest TA3 Connections provides updates on the May 1-4, 2011 TA3 Symposium in San Sebastian in the Basque Region of Spain and brings you up-to-date on member activities including an interesting outreach program by EUC-Syd with Dung Quat College of Technology (DQC) in Viet Nam. York Technical College in South Carolina, USA is profiled. Along with other innovations, York Tech has created the Hive Business Center (HBC), a work-based learning cooperative that opened in February of 2011. The cooperative offers start-up and small business support with a focus on Internet marketing and web design and development.

Learn more about TA3 here.

The latest TA3 Connections focuses on the upcoming TA3 Annual Symposium scheduled for May 1-4, 2011 in San Sebastian in the Basque Region of Spain. The symposium will focus on creativity and innovation in education. The issue also provides extensive member news, discusses a recent TA3 Webinar with Julian Alssid, executive director of the Workforce Strategy Center, and profiles TA3 member Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana.

You can download a copy of the newsletter here.

With sustainability and green energy set to play a critical role in the growth of our national economy, community colleges represent a way to meet the needs of local businesses and residents.  Join experts and practitioners from the U.S. and Europe in Asheville on April 26-27 as they highlight expanded roles for colleges in educating students, businesses, and communities about and for economic opportunities in renewable energy, conservation, ecotourism, and local sustainable agriculture and manufacturing.

Topics to be discussed include:

• Skills for new green-oriented industries and for sustainable practices in other sectors
• Enhancing local and sustainable agriculture, natural resources, and crafts
• “Green thinking” in all programs
• Making campuses models of sustainability

Go to www.ta3online.org/2010meeting/ for more information including information about registration and scheduled speakers.

The theme for the 2009 symposium and meeting of the Trans-Atlantic Technology & Training Alliance in Tampere, Finland was New Learning Environments and Cultural Differences.  Organized by Marjut Salminen of Tampere College and hosted by the college on May 4-6, 2009, the first day included presentations on the Finnish educational system, skills to cope with cultural differences, new business incubators as learning environments, creative entrepreneurship, cross cultural understanding for international employees, and benchmark practices.  Members from seven countries were took part in the three days of professional, business, and cultural events.  TA3 members toured Tampere College and visited the Kuru Forest College, where they held their business meeting, which included a strategic planning discussion led by EUC-Syd—and also test-drove the school’s log haulers and had an evening meal at a log cottage.  The agenda and selected presentations can be downloaded here

The 2009 TA3 Conference will be held May 4-6, 2009 in Tampere, Finland, hosted by Tampere College.  Our proposed conference theme is “New Learning Environments & Cultural Differences.” We’ll discuss the innovative ways that colleges create learning environments that are experiential, reflect real life or work situations, and/or are immediately relevant to a student’s particular interests or background. Speakers will address topics such as entrepreneurial learning through incubators, simulated work situations or enterprises, and learning based on the characteristics of a certain sector or industry cluster.

More information will be available soon.