Cedefop newsletter

The drop-in recording session, on 17 September, in the context of the European Year of Youth 2022, gave VET students and graduates the chance to say what prompted them to follow this path and how it helps them to get the right skills for a professional career.

Cedefop Head of Communication Gerd-Oskar Bausewein welcomed the young contributors, thanking them for joining the event and for sharing their VET story. ‘Your voice counts,’ he said, adding: ‘You can be proud of the path you have taken. I wish you every success in your vocational training and all the best in your future life.’

Students talked about VET being their first choice or a complementary path to university studies with the aim to get the skills needed in today’s demanding labour market. Graduates stressed how the combination of theoretical and practical elements, with work experience in companies, helped them get ready for a career. They all enthused about the quality and prospects of VET courses, ranging from graphic design to robotics and from pharmacy assistant to economics.

The session was hosted by the European Commission’s representation in Greece.

Working for the younger generation

Cedefop Executive Director Jürgen Siebel had the opportunity to present the Agency's work and priorities to a considerable audience at a high-profile conference, also organised by the Representation, on 10 September, to celebrate the European Year of Youth.

Participants in the debate included European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, the Greek ministers for Education, Niki Kerameus, Digital Governance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, and Labour, Kostis Hatzidakis, and DG Employment Director for Employment and Social Governance Barbara Kauffmann.

Mr Siebel noted that Cedefop's work was very much linked to the needs of Europe's younger generation and the event's theme.

'We look at what works well and what needs to change in VET. We help societies and people make the right choices when faced with important questions, such as:

• what types of education and training are most needed in the future?
• how can we make sure that people apart from being trained for an occupation (for example a care worker or an electrician) also have the skills they need to continue learning in their career, to be able to cope with future changes in work?

Hence, what we do, providing solutions to make VET relevant to the labour market and help unlock its potential, is by definition future-oriented,' Mr Siebel said.

The workshop on the 'Future of VET in Europe: Pathways to vocational excellence' was organised at Germany's Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), in Bonn, on 8 and 9 September and brought together internationally renowned VET researchers to discuss key findings from Cedefop’s 'Future of VET' project.

Participants agreed that the next phase of Cedefop’s work on the Future of VET, starting in 2023, could play a significant part in taking research in the field forward.

Building on the rich evidence gathered by the project as regards the changing European VET landscape, particular attention was paid to the ongoing development of concepts and methods supporting comparative VET research.

Hubert Ertl, Vice President and Director of Research, BIBB, and Loukas Zahilas, Head of Cedefop's Department for VET and Qualifications, opened the event, followed by an in-depth presentation of 'Major trends in VET curricula, institutions and assessment practices in Europe: key results from the Future of VET project' by Jens Bjornavold, Cedefop expert, and J­örg Markowitsch and Monika Auzinger experts, 3s.

In-depth discussions took place in three break-out sessions, moderated by Cedefop experts Jens Bjornavold, Anastasia Pouliou and Jostein Kvisteroy, focused on:

• The comparison of VET systems and curricula.
• Changes in VET delivery.
• The changing world of work and the future role of VET and continuing VET (CVET).

In a plenary discussion, Hubert Ertl, Loukas Zahilas, Chris Winch, Andrea Laczik and Elvira Gonzalez reflected on the way forward.

Participants in the workshop agreed that the perspectives developed in the 'Changing nature and role of VET' and 'Future of VET' projects provide a strong basis for further developing comparative methodologies.

Research should capture and analyse the fundamental changes currently occurring in VET, exemplified by the changing relationship between initial VET (IVET) and CVET, and the increasing importance of higher-level VET.

While this will require a change in the overall conceptualisation of VET, it will also require a systematic and long-term investment in research, by adding resources as well as by building networks and strengthening cooperation.

Using the smart and green city (SGC) concept, a recent policy brief by Cedefop analyses how vocational education and training (VET) can help cities become smarter and greener, thus facilitating the European Green Deal (EGD), the EU’s growth strategy and policy response to the challenges related to climate change and environmental degradation.

The EGD sets the ground for the EU to become a competitive and resource-efficient economy with net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, while ensuring a just transition for all.

'Smart'... how?

A city is viewed as ‘smart’ when it can control and make effective use of information collected via sensors, networks and related technologies for policy development in domains relevant to the urban environment (e.g. transport, waste, air quality, and brownfield site development).

As the Cedefop publication notes, at the crossroads of the twin (green and digital) transitions, SGCs can become hubs driving the achievement of EGD-set objectives.

Shifting from economic development driven by resource consumption towards innovation-driven, sustainable and circular development to reduce cities’ CO2 footprint requires action on many fronts: scaling up renewable energy generation (e.g. solar panels, biofuels), prioritising sustainable waste management, promoting investment in green transportation solutions, and making buildings more energy efficient. Cities can also promote investments in nature-based solutions, such as green infrastructure, reforestation, and urban farming.

As the policy brief points out, municipal authorities have a key role to play in the transition towards a green economy because they are typically in charge of policy domains and services which directly impact the environment and the health of citizens.

A Cedefop skills forecast scenario, which looked at the implications of the EGD up to 2030 from a VET and skills perspective, shows that skills formation – both initial and during working life – will be crucial for filling the additional jobs created and enabling workers to transition into greener sectors and occupations.

While there are clear employment winners and losers among sectors more directly linked to sustainability and climate change, employment gains are also expected for almost all occupational categories, including middle-skilled and elementary occupations. Given that the twin transitions mutually reinforce one another, alongside green transition skills many green jobs will also require better digital skills compared to jobs in ‘brown’ sectors, irrespective of skill level.

Cedefop policy brief research evidence

• Jobs and skill changes for greener and smarter cities
• Wanted! More staff in knowledge-intensive occupations
• Data, technology and soft skills fuel the green transition
• Key occupations in SGCs
• SGC profiles and skills shortages delay SGC development
• VET contribution to shaping SGCs
• Making SGC jobs (more) attractive

Delivering such skills, VET has a key role to play in accommodating economic and social change. VET needs to cooperate with governments, employers, universities and research institutions and regional and local players.

The skills foresight exercise conducted by Cedefop, as reported in this latest policy brief, seeks to identify the occupations, jobs and skills needed to enable cities to transition towards a ‘greener’ and ‘smarter’ / more intelligent and sustainable future and to explore the significant role that VET can play in the process.

The study examines how apprenticeships are affected by crises and how developing a common understanding of their role could help design effective reforms that would benefit learners, employers and societies.

In 2018 Cedefop established a community of apprenticeship experts, which aims at strengthening and expanding knowledge on apprenticeships in Europe, through analysis, exchange of information and input to the Cedefop database on apprenticeship schemes. The database collects and presents structured, comparable information on apprenticeship schemes in EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and the UK.

The community experts also provide analysis on apprenticeship-related topics that they identify to be of interest at European and national levels.

Crisis: a threat and an opportunity

The 2008 financial crisis, followed by the coronavirus pandemic, presented significant challenges – along with some opportunities – for apprenticeship systems and schemes across Europe, bringing into focus their resilience in times of crisis, while putting a spotlight on trends such as the green and digital transitions.

This latest publication, entitled 'Built to last: apprenticeship vision, purpose, and resilience in times of crisis' includes short papers covering eleven countries and exploring two topics:

• Apprenticeship resilience in times of crisis – aiming to understand the relationship between economic fluctuations and apprenticeship and identify ways to improve its attractiveness for employers, preserving their participation and apprenticeship provision in times of crisis and in view of recovery.
• Apprenticeship vision and purpose – exploring if and why stakeholders, even within a country, struggle to share a common understanding of ‘apprenticeship’ and its socioeconomic role and reflecting on how a common understanding can be promoted.

Comparing country findings

The publication includes short essays addressing these issues in the light of apprenticeship practice in Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, the UK – England, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania and Poland.

In addition, to complement the country-specific angle, Cedefop developed a comparative, cross-scheme and cross-country analysis focusing on:

• Company participation in times of crisis: fluctuations and underpinning reasons
• Measures taken to increase company participation
• What could enable company participation
• Stated vision as per national definition/regulation
• Vision(s) of national stakeholders
• Impact of clashing vision on end users
• How to promote and maintain convergence

The papers show that two seemingly loosely related topics (resilience on the one hand, vision and purpose, on the other) are interconnected, as they are linked by an apprenticeship system's design and set up.

The comparative analysis of the country papers concludes that, although economic crises produce conditions that may undermine the participation of companies, providers and young people in apprenticeships, the design of apprenticeship schemes and systems can facilitate the easier adaptation, resilience and even recovery of apprenticeships.

In this last issue, our main story seeks to identify winners and losers of Europe's digital transition in the light of the changes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, based on the findings of Cedefop's 2nd European skills and jobs survey.

Other highlights:

• an interview with Xavier Matheu, Director ad Interim of the European Training Foundation (ETF) that sheds light on the ETF's collaboration with Cedefop on various projects, not least the European Union's policies designed to alleviate the plight of refugees from the war in Ukraine;
• an analysis of PISA 2018 data that shows the skills and aspirations of Ukrainian students compared to those of their counterparts in the EU;
• a report on the visit to Cedefop by the team from Poland that won the latest #CedefopPhotoAward in the best-video category;
• how a pilot programme in Greece, organised by the country's employers' federation and funded by private entities, fosters upskilling to match business needs with learners' ambitions;
• and a look back at the last 8 years, highlighting how Skillset and match provided a simple yet comprehensive account of developments in learning for work.

You can also browse through the latest Cedefop publications and upcoming events.

Have a look at the previous issues.