Education: three initiatives in Atlantic France to train the talent that companies are in need of

In the Atlantic France region, several schools and training centres are opening or expanding in order to meet the need for qualified workers in several sectors, such as design, metallurgy, and agriculture. The aim is to support the growth of certain industries while responding to shortage issues and to train apprentices for emerging social and environmental challenges. 

In recent months, several announcements regarding the creation of schools or training centres have made headlines in the Atlantic France region: the inauguration of a new campus for the Nantes Atlantique design school, the move of the Fab’Academy of the IUMM (the Union of Metallurgies Industries) to the Heinlex campus and the opening of an international training centre at Claas’s tractor factory in Le Mans. 

New campus for the Nantes Atlantique design school

Inaugurated in mid-October, the new 11,600 sqm Nantes Atlantique design school located in the Quartier de la création, in Nantes, represents a €6.4 million investment. The five-level building is organised around a central space called the Agora. The building is 18 metres high and one of its facades is completely glazed. The complex also has project studios for the design labs (research, training and an innovation platform), a manufacturing hall with various workshops (wood, metal, etc.), computer rooms, digital workshops and studios, and two terraces. This new centre allows the different education levels of the school to be brought together in the same place and also allows for relations to be established with the other schools in the neighbourhood. 

A new training centre for the Union of Metallurgies Industries

The UIMM (Union of Metallurgies Industries) of the Atlantic France region is planning to move its training centre. The Fab’Academy will be relocated to the Heinlex campus, in Saint-Nazaire, in 2024. The future site, of which the cost is estimated at more than €25 million, will offer 8,700 sqm of space, including 5,000 sqm of technical facilities. It should accommodate 230 apprentices in the boiler making, welding, aeronautics and design office sectors, compared with 120 today. The number of continuing education students will remain stable at 1,400. This project meets the challenges and needs of training and industrial skills in the region. 

Claas opens an international training centre at its tractor factory

The German agricultural machinery manufacturer Claas is opening an international training centre at its tractor factory in Le Mans. Housed in a new 1,300 sqm building, this new facility is designed to create technical training courses and content used in all Claas training centres. It provides training for the group’s trainers, after-sales technicians from the distribution networks, and product training for the group’s employees. Over the next few months, Claas intends to provide 13,500 hours of training to 500 trainees from 35 different countries.