Lifelong learning tools to support the development of staff skills in Finnish wastewater treatment plants : Electronic Training Material Package (TMP)

Abstract

The subject of this thesis is the use of lifelong learning tools in Finnish wastewater treatment plants to support the staff competence and skills development. The work focused in particular on one lifelong learning tool created during the IWAMA project, the Electronic Training Material Package (TMP). One of the aims of this work was to find out how the use and need for lifelong learning tools and the means of developing the skills of the staff from a lifelong learning perspective have changed over the last two years. The results of the survey conducted in 2018 were compared with the results of the 2016 survey. In addition, the impact of the IWAMA project on the survey results was evaluated. The study population consisted of 37 persons in supervisor positions working for Finnish wastewater treatment plants. A standardized questionnaire, a quantitative method, was used to collect research data. There were 11 responses to the survey. Cooperation between wastewater treatment plants and educational institutions has increased in two years. It is expected that electronic learning packages and applications will be needed in the future. It is also believed that automation and technological development as well as risk assessment will require the most resources in the future for the development of personnel skills. The second objective of the thesis was to assess how TMP responds to the challenges of lifelong learning and the needs and opportunities emerging from the survey results. The goal of TMP is to intensify cooperation between wastewater treatment plants and training institutes, which also supports the need expressed in the survey results.