Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony of WorldSkills Lyon 2024 takes place at the LDLC Arena located at the heart of OL Vallée. At 14,500 m2 the LDLC Arena is Lyon’s largest event venue with capacity for 16000 people and considered a benchmark of technological and environmental achievement in Europe.
Closing Ceremony
The WorldSkills Lyon 2024 Closing Ceremony takes place at the famous Groupama Stadium, an emblematic venue of the Lyon Metropolis that hosts the biggest French and international sports and cultural events including the Euro2016, Rugby World Cup 2023, and concerts by major international artists
WorldSkills Lyon 2024 (10–15 September), the 47th WorldSkills Competition gathers more than 1,500 Competitors from 65 participating countries and regions from five continents, 62 skills, and attracts quarter of a million visitors. This year Jack Butler and Elliott Farnan will represent New Zealand at the event. Competition results will be regularly updated on www.worldskills2024.com.
The WorldSkills International competitions are the world championships for vocational skills. They take place every two years. These competitions promote apprenticeship, professional training, mobility, youth, and their skills. The events and network help to skill development through promoting and developing global training standards, benchmarking systems, and enhancing industry engagement, as well as influence industry, government, and educators through cooperation and research.
The idea of WorldSkills was born in the wake of the Second World War. Young skilled workers were in desperately short supply across Europe – and the continent needed rebuilding. Albert Vidal, a college instructor from Spain, conceived of an idea of a skills competition to motivate young people to become apprentices. It was the start of a long story that will be continued in Lyon on 10-15 September 2024.
In 2003, New Zealand participated in the 37th WorldSkills Competition in Gallen, Switzerland. Since then, we have fielded teams to Helsinki, Shizuoka, Calgary, London Leipzig, São Paulo, Abu Dhabi.
The WorldSkills Competition is now the largest skilled career competition in the world. Participation at the WorldSkills Competition is the result of several years of intense technical physical and mental preparation worthy of the greatest athletes. A handful of categories accept competitors up to the age of 26 years, but for most skills, competitors must be under 24 years old.
Our competitors and their skill
Aircraft Maintenance – Elliott Farnan
Elliott Farnan, from Auckland, is competing in Aircraft Maintenance. This Skills competition consists of five modules: helicopter inspection; composite panel repair; manufacturing of a bent and riveted aluminium part; troubleshooting and electrical harness replacement; and inspection/dismantling of a helicopter engine.
This year all the tasks have been created by companies in the industry: Airbus Helicopters, Bombardier, Dassault Aviation, and Safran Helicopter Engines.
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning – Jack Butler
Competitors competing in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning build and commission a complete refrigeration system which will be left operating for visitors. Their modules include refrigeration system installation; electrical fault finding; heat exchanger fabrication; refrigeration fault finding.
The refrigeration and air conditioning industry has moved to refrigerant gases which are Ozone safe and have a low or zero global warming potential. The equipment’s energy efficiency is continually increasing due to the use of the latest technologies. The competition is supported by a number of major sponsors/suppliers including Danfoss, Fluke, Lincoln Electric, Refco, Climalife, Roebuck, and Le Froid Pecomark.
Our team
Jack Butler and Elliott Farnan are supported by two skill experts, a team leader, technical delegate and official delegate. Our full team includes:
• Elliott Farnan, Competitor (Aircraft Maintenance)
• Jack Butler, Competitor (Refrigeration, Heating and Air Conditioning)
• Jeroen Hattink, Skill expert (Aircraft Maintenance)
• Neill Adkins, Skill expert (Refrigeration, Heating and Air Conditioning)
• Bryce Arnold, (Team Leader)
• Mike Naus (Technical Delegate)
• Michael Hey (Technical Delegate Assistant)
• Carl Rankin (Official Delegate)
One School visit in Kazan School 46
One School One Country
One School One Country is a mainstay of the WorldSkills international calendar running alongside the competition. This is a twinning programme between 65 schools in the Metropolis of Lyon and teams from the WorldSkills member countries and regions. The long-established tradition links local schools in the host country with teams from competing countries – and the school students become ‘home country’ supporters aboard. This year, our New Zealand team is paired with Robert Doisneau College in, a comprehensive school around 35km outside of Lyon.
The WorldSkills Conference 2024 runs alongside the WorldSkills global competition event. Conference presenters and attendees include some of the world’s most influential figures in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) including policy makers, Ministers representing skills and education, heads of industries, thought leaders from NGOs and experts in skill strategies.
Held every year since 2007, the WorldSkills Conference gives different voices in government, business, education, and industry the opportunity to gather, connect, and discuss trends, innovations and ideas around skills and vocational training worldwide. This year, the WorldSkills Conference will focus on the theme: “Moving TVET to the top of the global agenda,” with events and panel discussions held over two days.