<< Background >>Over the past few years, civil applications of Drones or UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) technologies have been transitioning from purely industrial applications to commercial ones and their impact on transport operations can no longer be ignored. The concept of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) has been coined to describe a new type of air traffic at very low altitude over populated areas. Despite the readiness of the technology, the multidisciplinary employee teams of Local Authorities are not prepared for its integration in transport plans. There are no Training Programs for employees of Local Authorities to cultivate the required knowledge and skills to manage UAM, especially from the position of authorising, implementing and controlling UAM operations. Previous experience of Local Authorities with innovative transport services has indicated that early engagement and training of employees constitutes a key factor for the efficient integration of new technologies in transport systems.<< Objectives >>UAMschool4cities addresses in a timely manner this need and opportunity, aiming at the creation of a Training Programme for Local Authority employees to get familiar with the UAM concept and acquire necessary skills to deal with the uptake of UAM services following the recent approval of the U-Space (urban airspace) by the European Commission (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/664; effective from 26 January 2023) that allows the provision of drone services in urban environments. In order to foster employability, socio-educational and personal development, our curriculum will also be suitable for young Professionals not yet familiar with UAM. In particular, UAMschool4cities aims to create a MOOC program for building the capacity of future employees of any background interested in entering the Public Administration sector to enable them to (1) familiarize with UAM concepts and key technologies, (2) keep up with relevant UAM regulatory frameworks while determining the challenges and for Local Authorities (3) include UAM in their urban development agendas and (4) start developing responsible and socially acceptable UAM services for the benefit of their citizens.<< Implementation >>Our project will develop partnerships between Cities, Training Institutions, ICT, Drone companies and VET providers aiming at promoting and providing initial and/or continuing training to their staff in order to help people gain skills and effectively integrate these career pursuits into their work setting which is in line with the VET priority: Enhancing access to training and qualifications for all. To achieve this objective, a concrete methodology including the following activities will be applied:a) Conduction of a current needs’ analysis in skills mismatches in UAMb) Preparation of a Training Course for “UAM for Cities Certificate”.c) Development of a Training programme for ‘’UAM for Cities Certificate”.d) Implementation of the curricula to relevant personnel and certification.<< Results >>Through these activities, it is envisaged that, by the end of the project, people in a minimum of 10 cities will be trained and awarded an “UAM for Cities Certificate” By developing a new learning framework for “UAM experts”, the project´s impact will be achieved through:a) Enhanced employability through skills and competences strengthening and access to training and qualification on equal termsb) The establishment of a coherent methodology with specific tools that will enhance the provision of transport services covering emerging needsc) the establishment of a mechanism that will provide cities with skilled and qualified UAM experts, increasing standardization of servicesd) the design and delivery of a comprehensive framework for UAM experts to national and EU administrationse) A coherent multi-level dissemination strategy to reach target groups, ensure that project results´dissemination and sustainable, specific and measurable exploitation specific, while maximizing its reach and impact to relevant stakeholders and beneficiaries.

Over the past few years, commercial applications of the drone technology and its growing impact can no longer be ignored. Drones or UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are piloted by remote control or on-board computers through a combination of computer vision, artificial intelligence and object avoidance technology. While some jobs may be made obsolete by drone technology, more jobs will be created to man the drones and ensure an efficient system in the delivery of services for various industries. Drones have already proved their usefulness in crisis situations, for example, when medicine or antidotes needed to be delivered in hard to reach areas, in urban planning, geographical mapping, archaeology and agriculture. Postal operators also realize the benefits of the drone deliveries in their everyday business, especially the possibilities of using a drone in the delivery of letters and parcels between post offices.But the issue is, aside amateur use for personal purposes, there is no Training Programs in the market for people to cultivate their drone skills to have broader options in the labour market, pursuing the position of the drone controller.Our project addresses exactly this need and opportunity, aiming at the realization of a training material for using UAVs on parcel delivery available on three e-learning platforms. In order to foster employability, socio-educational and personal development, as well as participation in civic and social life our project proposal aims to develop a curriculum, which better meets the needs of individuals and the labour market. That way, our project is related with the Horizontal Priorities of the Programme: Supporting opportunities for all in acquiring and developing key competences. Our project will develop partnerships between Postal Operators, Training Institutions, ICT companies and VET providers aiming at promoting and providing initial and/or continuing training to their staff in order to help people to gain practical skills for their job and to effectively integrate these career pursuits into their work setting which is in line with the VET priority: Enhancing access to training and qualifications for all.The synthesis of the project consortium brings together:a) Postal operators from three different countries (Croatia, Greece, Cyprus) which serve as the source for the identification of training needs as well as the project’s direct beneficiaries whose personnel will be trained. b) Vocational training institutions: (AERONAUTICAL TECHNICAL SECONDARY SCHOOL RUDOLF PERESIN ZTŠ and AKMI ) which will offer combined expertise in the design, development of UAV operator / remote pilot occupational profile as well as the design and implementation of the professional training program.c) UAV expert (DRONIT LTD) is a project technological partner being the expert for the development of the flight simulator, the design, development and the overall deployment of the UAV system and UAV’s pilot implementation.It is envisaged that, by the end of the project, 150 people in the participating countries will be trained.The above-mentioned objectives will be implemented through a concrete methodology, including the following activities: a) Conduction of a current needs’ analysis in skills mismatches for UAV Controllers.b) Preparation of Training Courses for “UAV controller”.c) Development of a Training programme for Drone Controllers.d) Implementing the curricula to relevant personnel and certification.At the end of their practical training period in real environment conditions of UAVs flight, trainees will be certified. By developing a new learning framework for “UAV controllers” impact of this project will be achieved through:a) Participants by their employability, enhancement of skills and competences and their access to training and qualification on equal termsb) Participating organisation (postal sector, VET and SME) through variation of their qualitative service offering, establishing a coherent methodology with specific tools that will enhance their provision of logistics services covering emerging needs, enhancement of quality of services provided to business customers and the society and establishment of a mechanism that will provide them with skilled and qualified UAV controllers, increasing standardization of servicesc) New policies are going to be developed for the enhancement of postal sector servicesd) A comprehensive framework on UAV's controller is going to be designed and delivered to national administrations and at EU Level Coherent dissemination strategy with multi-level approach is designed in order to reach target groups. It aims to ensure that the deliverables of the Project and the results of the project, are going to be communicated and exploited in a sustainable, specific and measurable way, while maximizing its reach and impact to relevant stakeholders and beneficiaries.