Work Package 2:  Rail Skills Alliance Governance, Sustainability, and Skills Strategy

Work package 2 aims to enhance the governance, sustainability, and skills strategy of the Rail Skills Alliance. It will focus on strengthening governance structures, fostering stakeholder engagement, and ensuring long-term sustainability. Clear and effective governance frameworks will be established to guarantee ongoing viability. The Alliance will be expanded through a structured onboarding process, regular stakeholder engagement events, and regulatory collaboration. A digital platform will be created as a central hub for skills resources, mobility opportunities, and industry networking. To ensure financial sustainability, comprehensive business models will be developed, and potential co-funding opportunities will be identified. Finally, the STAFFER skills strategy will be consolidated and updated, ensuring it remains aligned with the evolving demands of the European rail sector. To achieve these goals work package WP 2 is structured in five interdependent tasks that run in parallel over the work package and project duration: 

Task 2.1 - Strategic governance and decision-making of the alliance – led by UNIGE deals with the set-up and launch of a skills alliance governance structure. Against the heterogeneous structure of the European railway sector with strong private industrial enterprises, large state-owned railway infrastructure managers, a multitude of railway traffic operators in a wide range of company sizes, and – lastly – many public education and training providers and government bodies, the governance structure will need to anticipate the different perspectives. 

Task 2.2 - Establishing a Rail Sector Pact for Skills Alliance: partnership expansion, onboarding, and regulatory collaboration – led by UPM comprises the integration process of the skills alliance partners, starting and pre-tested with the SERAS beneficiaries and then extended to all new partners that will join during and after the project duration as associated partners. This task includes an efficient onboarding process of, where potentially new partners are attracted and invited into the skills alliance and then supported by a mentoring partner for the initial phase of partnership involvement. 

As a third and major action Task 2.3, led by wmp, the SERAS website and the interactive platform and thematic hubs of the Skill Alliance will be established. Besides providing relevant information on the SERAS project it will also function as a platform for the ERAS Alliance / Railway Pact for Skills and as a central information and communication hub. The platform aims to be the dominant information base for all railway and railway skills-related activities and information of the European railway sector. It will broadcast information on activities and events of the Alliance and will also be the home and point of entry of the virtual railway academy, thus facilitating a continuous and growing user community, providing also linkages to other relevant rail skills and knowledge platforms at European, international and national level. 

Task 2.4, led by UASSP takes responsibility of ensuring long-term sustainability and co-funding opportunities. This includes all aspects of identifying and securing funds via an active matching of railway skills-related activities and funding opportunities. 

As a final activity Task 2.5, led by UASFHE is dedicated to the consolidation of the skill alliance activities to achieve and brand a sectoral skills strategy ready for being embraced by the skills alliance partnership, its future additional members, and all further actors in the rail sector.