OHITE - Adaptive Textile Engineering Learning Imperatives in Response to the Green Transition

This practice paper presents the OHITE development project related to continuous learning. The project is carried out by three engineering educators whose goals include developing a collaborative network around continuous learning and creating a user-centered continuous learning service model for three different industries, Textile and fashion is one of the industries in the scope of this project. This paper introduces an individualized learning loop developed within the project, where peer learning plays a central role. Additionally, the study describes a four-phase learning loop, where educators, trainers, stakeholders, and employees become learners who participate in the dynamic exchange of knowledge, skills, and insights. The case introduces two model development approaches that significantly impact the OHITE continuous learning service model. The first development involves the external learning loop with external stakeholders, specifically an employer association that regularly conducts skills surveys and gathers skills need data, which originally encouraged the initiation of the OHITE development project. The second development focuses on the industry learning loop phase, highlighting the establishment of a new governmental body that finances the organization of competence services through procurements and discretionary government grants, and how the experience of this mechanism supports the service model development. The results show that engineering education in the field of textile and fashion is needed as a developer and provider of continuous learning. These results are valuable when creating the service model for this OHITE project.