FLORNET newsletter - 10
Education Summit on Education in Floristry - November 5th
Linked to the IFTF and the Florint’s Member Congress, Florint and FLORNET will organise the Education Summit on Education in Floristry.
Members and partner schools of FLORNET, members of Florint, floristry national association’s officers who are dedicated to education and providers of work based continued education are invited to attend this summit.
The aim of this education summit is to look into today’s education in floristry, not just from a school perspective, but in a general perspective.
In this light the key message is that everybody deserves an education with a clear red line running across European education courses - being the school based education in Colleges as well as work based and continued professional development.
European summit education in floristry
5th of November 2015
Aalsmeer,
the Netherlands
education in
floristry in Europe
Currently throughout Europe there are problems in cooperation between the floristry business and school based, work based school and continued professional education in floristry. On the one hand, industry and education in general have seemed to wander in different directions. Although the cooperation between school based education and business in floristry and the influence from industry to the school based education in quite a few countries is at a high level, at European level there is a huge gap between what is needed from an industry perspective and what is taught at an educational level in general. Therefore, at a general European level, this generation of florists are in a transition-period, going from ‘just’ a flower retailer to a highly trained florist. And an ever-greater connection between industry and education is key for vocational training curricula in floristry in work-based/apprenticeships education, and adult training.
Today, apart from the key retail sales, events, and creating blooming atmospheres are keywords that all give added value for today’s florist. Today’s floral study encompasses staying abreast of consumer lifestyle trends, and provides the education necessary to market floral products effectively using technology and social media. This new generation should not just be trained, but current florists also need to be retrained to properly address the needs of floristry nowadays.
However, the other key problem faced within floristry is the current inequalities of education throughout Europe: the systems differ substantially among European countries. We need to look at how to create a more homogenous education in floristry throughout Europe; one that answers to today’s professional requirements.
But even more critically, however, what needs to be looked at within the heterogeneity of courses is addressing the core problem within education and industry: how to increase the interest in floristry. The number of students going into floristry is declining steadily whilst those of other vocational subjects are increasing. This has a true impact on the quality of our future workforce, which is already below standard. Consumers are already noticing the drop in this standard and are looking at other flower retail outlets such as supermarkets, or even dropping the idea of buying flowers altogether.
the education
summit
Florint and FLORNET want to reconnect industry and education for all pathways and at all levels, create a more homogenous European education system, and address the decrease in students in floristry. These are the key points of the first European Floristry Education Summit.
These issues concern those students (or florists) receiving an education where they will, after their studies, have a key influence on how flower businesses work; solve day-to-day problems with clients; be responsible for the completion of tasks at the workshop; exercise the necessary change and a degree of self-management in the shop.
The key questions the summit wishes to address are:
- Nowadays, what are the main professional competences required by our target florist described above?
- What education is currently offered for that level in the national curricula?
- What changes need to be incorporated into national curricula?
- With the standard in floristry dropping, how can we increase the standard and make floristry appealing again as a profession?
The aim of the conference is to address the above concerns and to try to create, for now, a baseline in education throughout Europe. Moreover, the summit will also look at how to create this baseline in a way that is appealing for a professional career.
However, the summit will not stop here. Florint and FLORNET will look into all the issues presented above and subsequently have a follow-up conference after Florint’s Europa Cup in Genoa, Italy, in April 2016.
summit
program
Morning session: 09:30-13:00
- What is floristry nowadays?
- What demands are placed on a florist nowadays?
- What craftsmanship, creative, communicative and business skills/characteristics should be built into curriculums for our target group?
- How can we bridge the gap between education and industry? Can this be achieved at a European level?
Lunch – Buffet: 13:00-14:00
Afternoon session: 14:00-17:30
- What sort of education is needed to fulfill the requirements of floristry nowadays?
- Presentations of a selection of national curriculums (NL, D, FIN...)
- Seminar groups: Formulation of professional needs in national curriculum
- Summary of results: establishing the first baseline in education in floristry. FLORNET and Florint final thoughts, with general debate (1 hour)
rates
Florint and FLORNET’s Education Summit will take place at one of the auction/clock rooms of FloraHolland in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands, during the FloraHolland Trade Fair on the 5th November 2015.
The rates for the congress are as follows:
Members, Corporate Members and Sponsors of Florint and FLORNET
For member florists of Florint’s national associations, Florint corporate members and FLORNET members and partners the fees will be as follows:
Members of Florint National Associations and corporate members, and FLORNET members and partners:
60€
All others participants will pay the full fee:
75€
To see if you belong to a member association of Florint, please visit Florint’s members page by clicking on the following link.
To see if you belong to a FLORNET member or partner, please visit FLORNET’s members page by clicking on the following link.
Delegates attending Florint’s Member’s Congress or Florint’s Judges Certification course will receive a 10% discount on the above fees. For more information on this, please contact Mike Bourguignon via the contact information listed in the registration part, at the end of this document.
Note: delegates will only be able to pay by bank transfer prior to the summit and not at the summit.
registration
In order to register you will need to fill out a registration form. You can download the registration form by clicking on the following link, or copying and pasting the following html address in your web browser:
Please click here for the registration form
Once you have filled in the registration form, please send us the following information:
- Filled out registration form
- Proof of payment for the course (bank statement/payment statement)
Please send this by email to the email address indicated in the registration form.
More information about rooms and how to access the summit will be sent on the 26th to all delegates attending.
Please remember, registration closes on the 23rd October 2015.
contact
For any questions or comments, please send an email to:
Mike Bourguignon
Florint Association Manager
