The VESTA-GIS Training Framework is intended to be a tool to support GIS training and transfer of knowledge within the network and towards the external audience of GI and User Communities. Throughout the Training Framework, the network wishes to implement procedures for identifying non-formal and informal learning, one of the main objectives of the Copenhagen Declaration and conclusion of the EU council number 9175/04EDUC101 SOC 220.

It aims to collect, organise and deliver vocational training contents and information on the GIS technology and tools as well as on their sectoral applications, namely Water Management, Natural Environment Protection, Coastal Management and Landscape.

On the side of course providers, the network pursues for its partners, by offering an efficient tool, the possibility to promote and give visibility to their courses, as well as a better exploitation of their training material and of the accumulated teaching experiences.

For potential trainees, on the ohter hand, it is expected to be a support to find the most suitable training opportunities according with their needs and to offer new and more structured occasions to organise learning opportunities, focused on specific thematic applications of GI.

To achieve its objectives the Training Framework's objective is based on two important features (see the scheme ):

• a Training Course Catalogue, where the information about relevant courses and other training contents delivered by the network partners (course metadata, collected according with a standard template) are gathered and made available through an on-line searchable database. In particular, the VESTA-GIS course catalogue represents a chance for educational institutions to reuse quite specialized tailored courses, by making them visible to a pan-European GI-public. From a user perspective, seekers of vocational GI-education might find specialized offers that match their needs even better than expected.

• an eLearning Platform allowing the direct delivery for some courses out of those in the catalogue and able to host and make available, in a customised and interactive approach, training materials and courses supplied by the Network partners. This platform will be soon supported by a dedicated Geoportal, for displaying and downloading spatial data from different sources, for training purposes (i.e. exercises proposed by some of the courses included in the Catalogue)

The access to the Training Framework tools is upon registration to VESTA-GIS and it is completely free.