European Certificate of Floral Design "FlorCert"
FlorCert – a project for the future
FlorCert is a European alternative to the Swedish professional certificate for florists, which was established in 2007. It’s a certificate on upper secondary school-level which will ensure an educational goal all over Europe. To get your FlorCert you have to do a practical exam to show your knowledge in floristics, and then, in English, present what you’ve done to five European expert judges.
The first FlorCert exam was held in May 2011 at Hvilan in Åkarp, Sweden where florists from several European countries attended.
- Two of our students passed the exam, and we’re trying to prepare our students for the next one, says Silvia Romagnoli, floristic teacher from Italy.
- From our school, only one, says Katja Moilanen.
Katja Moilanen is a floristic teacher from Finland. She’s been part of the project since the beginning and she believes FlorCert will be a good opportunity for floristic students, once people start to acknowledge it; the only chance for FlorCert to really take effect is if the word spreads.
- Our students are interested, but very nervous. At first they though it was a competition, but it’s not. The student who took part of the exam really liked it.
17-18th of November a FlorCert meeting took place at the John Bauer College in Karlstad, Sweden. The purpose of the meeting was to summarize what had been decided at earlier meetings and compile everything that’s been done since the project started three years ago. Teachers from the participating countries Sweden, Finland and Italy attended. So did Isa Ådin from Interflora who was there to represent the florist business and learn about the project in order to see if there are any possibilities of a future cooperation:
- This is a great project, it’s amazing that florists can exchange knowledge all over Europe, and that you can set a common educational goal for the students.
This was the last meeting where everybody who works with the project attended and Karin Mari-Ripoll from Hvilan thought it was a great way to conclude it.
- We’ve gotten to know each other so well that we can joke around and laugh but still be really effective, which feels great. It doesn’t feel like the end of something, more like the start of something new.
FlorCert meeting in Naklo Slovenia
A seminar took place in Slovenia on the 17th-20th of October to spread information about FlorCert and to plan for future collaboration/partnership. Participants from Slovenia, Holland, Sweden, Italy and Croatia visited the school “Biotechnical centre” in Naklo, Slovenia, where plans for possible founding to continue with the project were discussed, e g as a partnership project. The schools made a presentation of their schools and their school systems to see how to join the FlorCert project and how to work together. During the seminar one important part was to figure out how to organize the final exams in different countries and with different school systems. Intercultural workshops and field visits played an important part of the seminar program.
Seminar in this autumn
In May 2011 the first international exam of the European Certificate of Floral Design – FlorCert – took place at Hvilan Utbildning in Åkarp, just outside Malmö and Lund in Sweden.
Students from schools in Sweden, Finland and Italy took the exam and were assessed by international florist experts. In the first exam all students passed and were granted the FlorCert – the European Certificate of Floral Design. Our experience and reactions from both teachers and students are all positive, and we are ever so convinced FlorCert is a product worth developing further.
Potential future partners, who are interested in how to work with FlorCert as a tool or quality assurance, as a pedagogical tool and how it can develop the floristic skills and the profession as such, are invited to a FlorCert Seminar in Karlstad, Sweden in November 17-18.
For more information and programme, please contact us.
FlorCert Management
Petra Sörensson
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Florophone: +46768077011
First Exam of FlorCert in Sweden
Premiere!
In May 2011 the first international exam of the European Certificate of Floral Design – FlorCert – took place at Hvilan Utbildning in Åkarp, just outside Malmö and Lund in Sweden.
Students from schools in Sweden, Finland and Italy took the exam and were assessed by international florist experts. After many hours of hard work and a vocal presentation for the experts, the students got the positive news: All 11 passed the exam!
The floristic works were displayed in connection to a seminar about FlorCert, what it is and how to work with FlorCert as a tool for quality assurance, as a pedagogical tool and how it can develop the floristic skills and the profession as such. The seminar had participants from Slovenia, Holland, Finland, Italy and Sweden. Many of the expressed a wish to continue the work and planning for how to join Flor Cert in the future.