Learning across borders at Portview
An International Fund for Ireland project delivered by BURC with LMETB brought schools together around advanced manufacturing, with Portview providing a setting for learning and exchange.
Learning across borders at Portview
Portview hosted activity within the Advanced Manufacturing Pathways Schools Project, an International Fund for Ireland-funded initiative delivered by the Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre (BURC) in partnership with Louth and Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB).
The programme brought together eight schools from Belfast and County Louth. Based on a model developed by LMETB, it combined an introduction to advanced manufacturing with opportunities for young people to learn across community and border boundaries.
Exploring the industries of the future
The project introduced students and teachers to technologies including virtual reality, augmented reality and robotics, alongside the importance of cyber security. Practical challenges encouraged students to develop ideas, work together and apply problem-solving skills.
Contact with engineers from different backgrounds helped illustrate the range of careers available in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Teachers also had opportunities to develop their knowledge of design software and 3D printing.
The programme linked schools with further education and training, helping students explore potential routes into further study and skilled employment.
Practical activities and specialist settings
The programme included teacher development in 3D printing, additive manufacturing, design thinking and introductory robotics. It also included visits to the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre at Queen’s University Belfast and the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence in Dundalk.
Group project development and a shared presentation event gave the schools opportunities to develop and share their ideas.
Learning together across communities
Peacebuilding was an important part of the project’s purpose. Its cross-community and cross-border approach was designed to give students opportunities to meet, collaborate and learn about one another’s backgrounds and perspectives.
Joint work and shared experiences provided a practical setting for that exchange, with technology and creative challenges offering a common focus.
A place for learning at Portview
BURC and LMETB were responsible for programme delivery, supported by International Fund for Ireland funding. Portview’s contribution was to host activity within the project, providing space for learning and exchange in the former Strand Spinning Mill.
That role connects the Mill’s history of manufacturing with opportunities to explore the technologies used in industry today. It also reflects Portview’s wider approach to learning: making space available and working with specialist partners who bring the expertise to deliver programmes.
Opening access to skills
The application background identified a wider ambition to connect industry, education and communities through access to digital and advanced manufacturing skills, with particular attention to people facing social and economic disadvantage. Hosting partner-led learning activity at Portview provides a practical connection between that ambition and the use of the Mill today.
