The low-altitude economy is expanding the educational significance of unmanned aircraft systems from a narrow technical skill to a field-specific professional capability. In historic-building conservation, drone-based inspection can improve visual access, image documentation, defect recording and digital modelling. However, these functions require graduates who understand both the cultural logic of heritage protection and the operational logic of unmanned aircraft. This paper develops a vocational undergraduate training pathway for drone-based inspection talent in historic-building conservation. Drawing on recent literature on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry, digital heritage, work-based learning and vocational undergraduate education, the study proposes a closed-loop model. This model links policy and job-task demand, competency profiling, modular curriculum design, project-based implementation, evidence portfolios, and iterative assessment. Three design tables specify competency indicators, curriculum hours and assessment weights; two figures visualise the training pathway and the proposed distribution of learning hours and assessment evidence. The paper argues that vocational undergraduate programmes in architectural design should not simply add drone operation as an isolated skill module. Instead, they should build an integrated pathway in which heritage cognition, flight safety, image acquisition, photogrammetric processing, defect interpretation, report writing and professional ethics are trained through staged projects. The proposed model provides a transferable framework for architecture-related vocational undergraduate programmes seeking to connect low-altitude economy opportunities with local heritage conservation services.
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Share and Cite
Peng, X. (2026) Training Pathways for Vocational Undergraduate Talent in Drone-based Inspection of Historic Buildings under the Low-altitude Economy. Global Education Bulletin, 3(1), 105-114. https://doi.org/10.71052/grb2025/EJRG3035