Peer-learning activity on microcredentials for the labour market - A sectoral approach: manufacturing and retail

Chiara Riondino, Head of Unit – Vocational Education and Training, EMPL.B.3, European Commission 

Chiara Riondino is Head of Unit for vocational education and training in the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, where she is also responsible for skills for the green and digital transformation. Chiara previously worked on employment policies, focusing mainly on employment opportunities and challenges in the changing world of work, active labour market policies and fair working conditions.  She also worked more broadly on taking forward the European Pillar on Social Rights. Before joining the Commission, Chiara had worked in both the private and the public sector, including as Head of Unit in the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Loukas Zahilas, Head of the Department for VET and qualifications, Cedefop

Loukas Zahilas studied Chemistry and Information Technologies, and holds a PhD in educational policies (qualifications frameworks). His more than 32 years of professional experience in education and training were mainly acquired at the Greek Ministry of Education, the University of Athens, and Cedefop. He joined Cedefop in 2006 working initially as a senior expert on qualifications and the common EU tools, and as Head of the Department for VET and qualifications since 2014. He is a member of Cedefop’s management team and his department’s work is based on research and analyses providing evidence on policy developments and implementation, as well as advice and support at European level. It covers the Cedefop strategic area of ‘Shaping VET and qualifications’ aiming at improving the overall transparency, relevance, quality and inclusiveness of VET by facilitating close interaction between initial VET, continuous VET and general and higher education to serve the skills needs of all age groups at all levels. 

Isabel Ladrón Arroyo, Policy officer for microcredentials in DG EMPL, European Commission         

Isabel Ladrón Arroyo is a policy officer in the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission, working on microcredentials and inclusion in Vocational Education and Training (VET). As part of the Junior Professionals Programme, she also has experience in the Commission working in the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, in the Directorate-General for Energy and in the Legal Service. She studied an Erasmus Mundus Master in “Global Studies - A European Perspective”, taking the first year in Vienna and the second year in Copenhagen, and writing her master's thesis on youth inequalities in the EU. She has worked as a social innovation project manager in the field of youth and social inclusion, first in an NGO and later in a consultancy firm focused on sustainability and social impact. She also worked for 6 months in Nicaragua, at the Department of Communication for Development at the University UNAN-Managua, coordinating a project related to Feminism and Gender Studies. Her background is in Journalism and Film, TV and Media Studies. During her double bachelor’s degree, she completed one year of Erasmus in Rome and she studied a minor in Economics. Her first language is Spanish, and she can fluently speak English, French and Italian. 

Anastasia Pouliou, Expert in qualifications and credentials - Future of VET, Department for VET and qualifications, Cedefop.

Anastasia Pouliou is currently leading the Agency’s research on Microcredentials for labour market education and training, learning outcomes and the Future of VET in Europe. She is involved in other Cedefop activities (including the coordination of developments on national qualifications frameworks and the TVET-Interagency group on the Future of VET). Before joining Cedefop she worked as an Educational Consultant in the Ministry of Education and Religious affairs and as a head of the European Affairs Unit in the Organisation for Vocational Education and Training (Greece). She has performed senior management and national coordination on Europass and Leonardo da Vinci projects and has published influential articles in academic journals. She has represented Cedefop as keynote speaker at high-level international events in Europe, USA and South Africa.

Adelaide Almeida, Educational Projects Division Manager at EWF - European Federation for Welding Joining and Cutting  

Adelaida Almeida is a Project Manager at EWF since 2016, being responsible or several education projects focused on the development of educational programmes and new professional profiles / occupations for the manufacturing industry at European level. 

Íñigo Araiztegui, Director of the Internationalisation Department of Tknica  

Íñigo Araiztegui holds a Degree in Philosophy, a Masters Degree in Teaching, and a Masters Degree in Philosophy Science and Values. He has worked as a teacher and as a project manager at the Internationalisation Department of Tknika.                                

Iraklis Pliakis, Expert in qualifications and credentials, Department for VET and qualifications, Cedefop

Iraklis Pliakis is a Cedefop expert in qualifications and credentials. Working in the Department for VET and qualifications since 2017, Iraklis manages the project on National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs), mapping and analysing NQF developments in countries participating in the European qualifications framework (EQF) process. His current research areas of focus include Microcredentials for labour market education and training, and Transparency and transferability of learning outcomes. Iraklis is an economist by training, with a PhD in didactics of Economics from the University of Macedonia. Before joining Cedefop he was an advisor to the Deputy Minister of Education in Greece focusing on VET and apprenticeship. He has also worked as a teacher in upper secondary and post-secondary education and as a researcher in tertiary education.    

Mats Johansson, CEO of Handelsrådet, the Swedish Retail and Wholesale Council         

Mats Johansson is currently the CEO of the Swedish Retail and Wholesale Council (SRWC). SRWC unites workers' and employers' organizations in the retail and wholesale sector of the Swedish labour market to strengthen the sector’s competitiveness and provide good conditions for employees.

For the past 30 years Mats has worked within the educational community as a teacher, program coordinator, project/process manager, trainer of teachers, executive director, PhD Candidate and CEO. Projects and assignments have focused on the interactions between education and working life in the surrounding community.                                                                     

Cristina Dimas, Business & Innovation Coordinator, CECOA - Centro de Formação Profissional para o Comércio e Afins (Vocational Training Center for the Commerce and Services Sectors), Portugal  

I am skilled in national & transnational projects design, planning, development, management, coordination, monitoring and evaluation in the framework of I&D and Innovation national and European projects. I work for more than 30 years in the field of organisational and HR development, vocational education and training (VET), labour market and social related issues, management, social innovation, quality assurance and development. Peer Review methodology developer, user, trainer, peer and facilitator.

With a degree in Management and Administration (HR branch of studies) by the Lisbon University (ISCSP) and post-graduate studies in Internationalization by the Lisbon School of Economics & Management (ISEG).

CECOA representative in the European mobility network NETINVET and in the Portuguese Sectoral Council for Qualifications for the Commerce Sector.