Jan De Nul builds bridges on first JDN Connect Day

JDN Connect Day at Jan De Nul's office in Aalst

On Wednesday 22 November, we organised our very first JDN Connect Day. During this networking afternoon, we opened the doors of our premises in Aalst to 70 vocational teachers from Flanders. We took this opportunity to introduce them to our technical expertise on the one hand, and to explore collaborations that can enrich the lessons of technical education on the other. The Regionale Technische Centra (RTC) acted as liaisons between Jan De Nul and the vocational schools.

65 teachers teaching in technical courses in secondary and higher education across Flanders registered for our first JDN Connect Day. The programme? Getting to know Jan De Nul, and in particular our various technical expertises. After a general intro, the teachers took part in a technical workshop of their choice. Among others, workshops in joinery and formwork techniques, electromechanical challenges, design and architectural drawing, welding of large structures and mechanical (dis)assembly and repair were part of the offer.

"We have a lot of formwork systems at Jan De Nul and presented a selection of these at the JDN Connect Day. The teachers received more information about the systems, and at the end of the day were able to sign up for practical exercises to follow with their students across our sites in Flanders starting in January."

Steven Foulon

Operations Manager Civil Works at Jan De Nul Group

Passing on knowledge to 'the next generation

Investing in the future is central at Jan De Nul, and education plays an important role in that. We have a lot of technical knowledge in various fields, which we like to share with the next generations. At the JDN Connect Day, we entered into a dialogue with teachers in technical education to discover how we can support their lessons from a practical point of view in order to make students even more enthusiastic about technical careers. By offering workplace learning, developing practical exercises or promoting end-of-year projects, among other things, we want to build a bridge between theory and practice in cooperation with schools.

"With the JDN Connect Day, we want to make learning more engaging and prepare the next generation for a technical career. Our aim is to give students a feel for what exactly an organisation does, what a company in the construction sector looks like, and what exactly a technical job entails. We want to make them feel like taking up technical positions later on. After all, they are our employees of the future", says Katrien Schrever, Talent Manager at Jan De Nul Group