Training VET Educators: Strategies for Integrating Plant-Based Knowledge  

Shifting towards plant-based food systems represents a powerful trend and a appropriate response to our current climate emergency, as well as to our sustainability and unpredictable market needs. However, for EUs food SMEs to innovate effectively, trainers and educators themselves must be equipped to lead and provide guidance to this transition. Within the Plant Power project, training VET educators represents one of the foundational elements for enhancing knowledge and building capacity on plant-based innovation within VET. 

Why VET Educators Are Central to Change 

99% of food businesses in the EU are SMes, but they lack access to innovation training and support. VET educators— referring to food trainers, academies, colleges, hubs, and funding/enterprise centres—act as the bridge between research, entrepreneurship, and technical day-today skills. However, until now, most VET curricula have not given the importance it deserves to the the specific competences needed to develop plant-based products, services, or other sustainable business models. 

Plant Power addresses this gap by providing innovative teaching resources and open education tools (in Work Package 3) that will allow educators to: 

• Train and teach entrepreneurial and innovation skills in the context of plant-based food development. 

• Integrate sustainability and EU GreenComp competences into food training. 

• Use digital, hybrid, and inclusive methods to reach wide community of diverse learners. 

Strategies for Effective Training 

Project activities foresees a logic of subsequent strategies that will emerge to support VET educators. 

• Inspiration: The Good Practice Guide (Work Package 2) presents educators with real-world case studies and good practices, showcasing how SMEs across Europe are creating and innovating with plant-based ingredients, packaging, and processes. This not only provides knowledge but also motivates attitudinal change, since it does not focus merely on food products but cosmetics, materials or even services. 

• Practical Tools: Open Education Resources (Work Package 3) will give educators ready-to-use lesson plans, digital training modules, and pedagogical guidelines. These resources will make it easier to integrate plant-based topics into existing teaching curriculum—whether in hospitality/culinary schools, agri-food or any other designated training centre 

• Digital Flexibility: The self-paced online course for SMEs (WP4) models how flexible learning can be adapted for classroom or hybrid use. Educators can incorporate these tools into their daily teaching, without compromising their teaching materials and ensuring learners gain the skills to innovate while balancing market demands. 

• Peer Learning and Testing: Over 50 VET trainers and educators will participate in piloting and reviewing these resources, ensuring the materials are relevant, useful, efficient, effective,  accessible, and directly applicable in classrooms across the EU. 

Building a Lasting Impact 

By upskilling VET educators, Plant Power ensures that knowledge transfer is guaranteed and sustainable. Educators gain confidence to deliver new innovative content, SMEs benefit from applied innovative training, and learners across the food sector become innovative agents of change. The result is not only new emerging plant-based products, but also a skilled workforce aligned with the EU Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy, and the SDGs. 

Written by Pablo Moreno – BIA Innovator Campus