Dr Kristen Reid

Apprenticeships are a major initiative in UK skills development since 2015, and continuing to be increasingly popular with both organisations and their apprentices. However, their very ‘newness’ means there is lots we as higher education providers, employers, and the government still don’t know about what’s working, working well, and areas for improvement. The initiative has brought fresh stakeholders into traditional dyadic teaching and learning relationships between university and student. Employers, line managers and the government all have a say in learning design, how learning takes place, and what apprentices need to be successful. We know that large, established employers who are used to running training and development in-house are doing well in supporting apprentices, especially where a dedicated apprenticeship lead person is appointed. This is often less so for smaller employers lacking resources and supporting personnel. However, we also know that whilst the organisation may be confident, individual line managers aren’t always sure about how to get the best out of the programme – even if it is well established. Given that they are responsible for much of that 80% of on-the-job learning, it is important to support them. Typical areas we as providers might be able to support is in providing knowledge about what works, and building their relationships with Practice Tutors. They also need support on understanding how this role fits within the organisation, and the time commitment needed to guide an apprentice through. This British Academy funded project is using interviews at a case study organisation to investigate what’s working well for line managers to try and share good practice in apprenticeship delivery further – supporting development for both line managers and other employers.

ICAERUS proposes an “application-oriented” approach, through the selection of five (5) specific drone applications, to explore the multi-purpose application potential of drones in agricultural production, forestry and rural communities. The selected drone applications represent the most important sectoral and societal drone usage purposes in Europe and cover multiple applications that are interconnected within the complex rural European landscape. The ICAERUS vision is to explore opportunities and provide a more complete and interconnected account of the potential and impact of drones as multi-purpose vehicles in EU agriculture, forestry and rural areas. The aim is to showcase and support, through application, the effective, efficient and safe deployment of drones as well as, identify the risks and added values associated with their use. “Taking off” from the current state-of-the-art in the drone ecosystem, ICAERUS will “rise up” by advancing existing software technology, platform components and knowledge in regard to drones, to exploit the potential of drones and strengthen capacities to reduce their risks, achieve better informed decision-making, enhance sustainability performance and competitiveness in agriculture, forestry and rural areas. This will be showcased in two directions: fundamental applications representing an “eye-in-the-sky”, using the drone as a positioning system for optical observation and recording, and a “hand-in-the-sky” applications, for spraying and goods delivery. ICAERUS plans to scale-up through research, technology optimisation, demonstration and education about drones to create an efficient, trusted and safe enabling environment for the EU drone services market to achieve the EU’s decarbonisation, digitalisation and resilience ambitions. ICAERUS consists of a balanced, multi-actor, cross sectoral and well-experienced consortium, including research organisations, SME technology providers, associations and non-profit organisations.