European Master Degree re-invented
In the years 1998 – 2001 quite some efforts were made to create a European top-education (vocational training) on NVQ-level 4plus for the florists branch. Amongst others input was given by the University Twente by making an investigation of the needs in the branch as to higher education and developing a detailed blueprint of the EMFD, which was thought to consist of 4 modules of each about a month.
After completion and piloting this EMFD course has been implemented once (2001 and 2002) with a group of 15 students of 3 countries (NL, DE, FI) with the aid of the Leonardo da Vinci fund. It was evaluated by the students as well as external observes as very positive. Nevertheless a follow up couldn’t take place as the costs appeared to be too high and the time necessary apparently couldn’t be afforded easily.
New developments.
Recently two new developments gave new perspective for the EMFD:
1. an already existing international network of floristry schools successfully created 9 different modules in 9 different schools / competence centres. These modules are shorter (10 – 12 days) and the schools use the Leonardo exchange fund to reduce the costs.
2. Stoas Highschool (Den Bosch) in co-operation with the Dutch Florist Association succeeded in having an experiment for an Associate Degree in “Education and Knowledge management Floral Art”. A new EMFD course could be a part of this new (half bachelor) financed education.
Reďnventing the European Master.
In order to create a re-birth of the European Master in Floral Design the following steps would have to be taken:
1. replicate and re-evaluate the determination of the professional profile and necessary competences of a European Master in Floral Design / Flower Retail Trade on the basis of the study of Alice van de Vooren, TU Twente.
2. investigate the educational quality and the competences covered by the 9 modules, now offered by the Flornet competence centres on the basis of the educational outlines and the evaluation reports.
3. investigate the educational design and scheme of the AD in Floral Art and establish which competences of a EMFD are already covered and which would have to be filled in by doing Flornet modules in the framework of the AD.
4. design a new 2-stream EMFD course: one stream separately and one stream integrated in the AD Floral Art.
Thorough study of Univerity student.
University of Twente student Danielle Eikenaar studied the subject for about a year and produced a thorough thesis which covers the first point of the action plan. Follow up is now being planned together with the Managing Board of the Flornet Group.
