Construction industry WDC and CoVE in cooperation agreement

Construction industry WDC and CoVE in cooperation agreement

Last updated 1 June 2022
Last updated 1 June 2022

A Centre of Vocational Excellence and a Workforce Development Council are putting RoVE theory into practice with a new collaborative and cooperative working relationship agreement.

Established under RoVE, Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) aim to support the growth of excellent vocational education with a focus on teaching, learning and research, while Workforce Development Councils (WDCs) aim to give industries greater leadership and influence across vocational education.

Now, ConCOVE Tūhura and Waihanga Ara Rau, the CoVE and WDC for the construction industry, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) they say will draw on each party’s respective strengths to achieve benefits for learners, employers, training institutions and industry.

ConCOVE Tūhura Executive Director Katherine Hall is looking forward to realistic benefits for learners and employers. “We want to build better vocational education tools and solutions. Waihanga Ara Rau can inform us on what the construction and infrastructure industry are thinking and saying.”

Ms Hall says ConCOVE is particularly interested in vocational education solutions in areas of productivity, disruption, diversity and sustainability (you can read more about these goals here) with a focus on the three priority groups of Māori, Pasifika and wāhine. “We are already benefitting from our connection to Waihanga Ara Rau through their excellent reach into Māori communities and iwi.”

The information and action stream will go both ways - Waihanga Ara Rau Chief Executive Philip Aldridge says the MoU will facilitate the sharing of data and insights, and partnering on mutually beneficial projects, in particular research and knowledge sharing.

“We want similar information. What is happening over the next 5-10 years, how are work practices changing, what are future technologies? By looking at these things together we can streamline our research and engagement with industry,” Mr Aldridge says. “We want to inform and learn from industry, we want to talk about emerging trends, we want to look ahead.

“We want to make it easy for industry in terms of how much they have to contribute to this process, but we do want to be robust. We don’t want multiple approaches on similar topics, we want to minimise that as much as possible.”

Ms Hall says the next step for ConCOVE Tūhura and Waihanga Ara Rau is a workshop with other WDCs, the Food and Fibre CoVE, representatives from the Construction Sector Accord (more info here) and Independent Tertiary Education New Zealand, a national organisation representing private tertiary institutions in New Zealand.

“We can complement each other – a lot of our learnings will be transferable across different industries,” she says. “There are new ways of doing things now, this is our opportunity for clear communication, support and encouragement.”