L & T Awards Spotlight - Assoc. Prof Zhonghua Chen – School of Science and Health

Funding win for Higher Apprenticeship and Tertiary Pathways Pilots

Congratulations Dr Zhonghua Chen! A successful funding application to run the Higher Apprenticeship and Tertiary Pathways pilots on Greenhouse Agriculture.

Zhonghua Chen

With the tentative project name “Tertiary Pathway for Emergent Leaders in Australian Protected Cropping”, funding of $120, 000 will see this innovative program provide Australia’s first formal collaborative teaching pathway program in greenhouse horticulture involving a team of higher education providers, vocational education and training (VET) providers, industry groups and employers.

Despite the Australian protected cropping industry being a rapidly developing sector with the fastest growing food producing sector, the industry is still lagging behind Europe, and our growers having limited access to new technologies and connected knowledge. This project will address the demand of the horticultural sectors for skilled graduates in Australia, and contribute to many aspects of food security nationally and internationally.

With 30 students involved in the pilot group, this will grow to 50 per year in subsequent years. Students undertaking this pathway will be drawn from targeted employees in the protected cropping industry for progression to higher level management and technical positions, remaining employed while undertaking their studies. This is expected to meet current and increasing demand for these skills in the industry. The bridging industry skill set is fundamental to this model.

Industry has identified the need for employees who have both advanced technical production and people management skills, and these units will fill this gap and include communication, capacity to manage teams, information management and problem solving. By undertaking these units students will gain confidence and will credit towards the Degree program. The high-tech greenhouse facilities located at Western will be used for some of the instruction providing exposure to the university environment.

The project will commence in January 2018 and Western Sydney University is the lead institution in the consortium, with partners Tocal College, NSW , Western Sydney Institute of TAFE NSW, Wageningen University & Research , Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia, Protected Cropping Australia Pty Ltd., Perfection Fresh Pty Ltd., Syngenta Australia Pty Ltd., Flavorite Hydroponic Tomatoes Pty Ltd., Graeme Smith Consulting.