The European Copper Institute attracts strong network of institutional partners with their pioneering LMS, Totara Learn

The European Copper Institute (ECI) was set up to promote the applications of copper. It is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to helping final users understand the role copper in areas such as energy, building construction, health and sustainable development.

The Challenge

The ECI were previously using seminars to spread the word about copper across Europe. However, running these seminars proved time-consuming, expensive and inefficient to run, and didn’t allow the ECI to reach as many people as they would have liked. Each seminar had to be run multiple times in several markets, which was hindering the ECI’s ability to scale up.

The main challenge was finding a way to deliver technical content to a significantly increased, geographically dispersed audience while still getting their message across effectively. They wanted to find a solution that would be cheaper than conducting a seminar, which could cost up to €10,000, and that would attract a wider audience than the typical 50-100 attendees for a seminar.

Landing page for an online webinar

The Solution

The ECI chose to work with Belgium-based Totara Partner Vision by Deloitte to help them implemented a new LMS, Totara Learn. This would be used to support and track all of the ECI’s e-learning courses. With close to 200 units of learning, of which 80 being released this year alone, it was essentially that all of these courses were kept in a single place for easy access and tracking.

The ECI had found other LMSs limited in their usefulness for marketing, with it taking too long for learners to access and register for content. One of the real advantages of using Totara’s LMS over other alternatives was that units of learning could be categorised into specific ‘academies’ using Totara Learn’s programme management functionality. This made for a better, more seamless user experience which gave users the right first impression of the LMS.

The first two years following the implementation of this solution have been focused on cementing the concept and attracting users, while the next step is to focus on engagement. Around half a dozen courses within the LMS are currently set up to award open badges, and there is a plan to roll out a more elaborate badges and certification programme in the next phase of the LMS.

The Results

As of December 2015, there are 16,000 unique users and 37,000 sessions completed on the ECI’s LMS, compared with 9,000 users and 20,000 sessions in 2014 and 2,000 users and 5,000 sessions in 2013. This amazing growth is a testament to the efforts of the ECI to grow their platform.

The key benefit for the ECI is the significant boost this solution has given to their reputation. Having this unique asset has helped them build a strong network of institutional partners they would probably not have otherwise worked with. Their academies have helped cement them as pioneers in e-learning for the energy sector, showing them as credible partners for other organisations.

The ECI has some ambitious plans for the LMS in the future. Their next focus will be on boosting engagement with their audience, as well as the development of more learning content. They also intend to make use of Totara Learn’s powerful reporting functionality to get a better understanding of how their audience is engaging with their content.

“Without our e-learning campus, we would never have been able to equip our 30,000 members with the tools and knowledge to help them manage the energy transition and decarbonise the world’s energy systems.” – Hans De Keulenaer, Leonardo ENERGY Initiative