Brush With Europe Proves Successful

Release date: 21/12/2009

Painting and decorating is taking on an international dimension at Dundee College thanks to an EU-funded project.

Dundee College was invited to join DEMOP, a project designed to develop an European standard modular training programme for painters and decorators, and has since seen visitors from six countries come to the Kingsway Campus to inspect the Scottish model of training.

Funded by the Leonardo project which encourages trans-European working in education, the aim of DEMOP is for each partner to develop a teaching unit which, ultimately, will make up a European framework for training in painting and decorating.

At present the countries taking part are: Spain, Finland, Germany, Romania, Patras and Lithuania, who are the lead partner in the project.

“It is perhaps significant that the project is being led by one of the newer EU member states as it has been recognised for some time that, although there have been huge areas of expansion among the emerging EU nations, they do not all have the long-established training infrastructure that we have in Scotland, therefore are keen to become involved in knowledge transfer of this sort,” said Bob Scott, curriculum manager construction crafts.

“It is not all one-way traffic however as sharing best practice with countries such as colleges in Finland and Germany may well pay dividends for Dundee College.”

Among the modules which will be developed are painting, wallpaper-hanging, tiling, plastering, even an introduction to the labour market.

This is the first time the constructions crafts unit at Dundee College has become involved in a project of this kind but it may not be the last.

“We are always investigating avenues of innovative expansion whether national or international,” said Bob.

“With the recession beginning to bite it is likely we will see a drop off in construction in future, working in partnership is one way in which we can bypass this downturn and maintain the high standard of training which is traditionally associated with Scotland.”

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