The main goal of the RAKES 2020 project was to increase the knowledge capital of the South Savo construction and construction products industry and to increase the efficiency of knowledge production in cooperation between Xamk, secondary vocational education institutions and industry. The aim was also to create a regional roadmap for competence development based on the digitalization, automation and energy- and environment-efficient construction of the construction industry in cooperation with companies, educational institutions and other stakeholders.
At the beginning of the project, an extensive mapping of the needed skills of companies in the construction cluster sector was carried out. In total, about 60 companies were interviewed during the company visits and their specific training needs were mapped. The project also created a roadmap for digitalisation, automation and energy efficient construction in the construction industry in 2025. In total, 33 organizations participated in the preparation of the roadmap, including companies, educational institutions and public organizations. The overall vision and guidelines for the roadmap were developed in collaboration with these actors. During the project, co-operation between the secondary vocational education institutions and the university has been increased and the transition path of students from vocational education institution to university has been developed. During the project, the organizations have surveyed the content of studies and built study trays for students and described the educational path that makes it easier for students to choose the entities to be studied.
The project has organized a total of more than 40 training events, which have been attended by more than 516 trainees. In total, more than 1,200 personal training days have been organized and cooperation has been established with more than 69 companies. The implemented trainings have developed the competitiveness of the companies in the region and the competence of the personnel, e.g. in the fields of industrial wood construction, automation technology and renovation construction by designing and implementing business and business-oriented training content. The project also made companies network with each other and created opportunities for students and companies to meet each other. The operating models of the cooperation between Xamk, Samiedu and Esedu were strengthened.