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A strong [vocational education and training] VET system is increasingly seen as essential to overcoming the current economic crisis in Europe. VET is seen as a powerful tool to assist in balancing labour market inefficiencies, increasing youth employment possibilities, and reducing skills mismatch. Its inherent flexibility and closeness to the labour market place VET in a good position to contribute to a faster economic recovery and long-term sustainable development. However, crucial for this role is continuous and systematic VET renewal that assures its relevance for the labour market. This publication explores 15 European national approaches to feedback mechanisms between VET and the labour market. It illustrates the diversity of solutions currently applied across Europe and how they are embedded in national traditions and education philosophy. The study asks three fundamental questions: how inclusive are national mechanisms for feedback between the VET system and the labour market; how responsive are existing mechanisms; and how transparent?

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The need for lifelong learning is leading to rising demand for training opportunities. This will involve a transformation of the learning environment within companies, but also the provision of training outside the job itself. For adult employees, some of the most important barriers to training are lack of time, and conflicting training and work schedules. Paid training leave can therefore encourage more adults to add to and upgrade their skills. In times of economic crisis, paid leave can also be combined with part-time work to alleviate the effects of decreased demand. With this study, Cedefop maps the application of training leave in Europe, reviews how it operates, analyses its performance in several countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain), and sets out recommendations as to how to improve its effectiveness.

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This publication results from proceedings of the Agora conference ‘Skills for Europe’s future’ organised by Cedefop in February 2008. It contains the contributions of the Agora conference, the summary of the discussions in the working groups, and the conclusions of the conference. The volume consists of six main parts: the first part deals with progress in early identification of skill needs (contributors: Rob Wilson, Alena Zukersteinova); the second section locates skills in a wider context (contributors: Carlo Dell’Arringa, Ernest Berkhout, Riel Miller); the third part covers presentations and discussions of the working group ‘Forecasting skill needs at European Union (EU) level’ and provides detailed information on the medium-term forecast (contributors: Rob Wilson, Ilias Livanos, Ben Kriechel, Frank Corvers, Ben Gardiner); the fourth part comprises contributions and discussions of the working group ‘Skill needs in sectors’ (contributors: Henriette Freikamp, Uwe Schumann, Martin Mulder, Donald Storrie, Thom ter Stege, Bernd Dworschak); the fifth section deals with presentations and discussions of the working group ‘Skill needs in enterprises’ (contributors: Olga Strietska, Germana Di Domenico, Ronald van Bekkum and Britta Ludeke, Jean-Louis Zanda, Frederike Behringer, Mark Keese); and the sixth part outlines key policy challenges, the conclusions of the Agora conference, and the way forward (contributors: David White, Xavier Prats Monne, Matthew Highham, Jean-Francois Robinet, Petri Lempinen, Slava Pevec Grm, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Torsten Dunkel, Manfred Tessaring, Alena Zukersteinova).

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This glossary defines a selection of 100 terms used in the field of education and training policy in Europe. It is intended for researchers and practitioners and more generally for all those involved in education and training policy. It does not represent an exhaustive inventory of the terminology used by specialists; rather it identifies key terms that are essential for an understanding of current education and training policy in Europe. This glossary was prepared in cooperation with the European Training Foundation (ETF), the European Commission (DG Education and Culture) and Eurydice (The information network on education in Europe). It takes into consideration a series of recent policy developments, mainly: (a) the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF); (b) the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET). It is available in six languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

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European countries’ joint work on vocational education and training (VET) shows clear signs of progress but there is more to do. In many countries, the Bruges communique of 2010 has inspired systemic reforms focusing on learning-outcomes-oriented standards and curricula. In several cases, these were triggered by the work on qualifications frameworks. In other countries, the main impact of the communique is reflected in their work on apprenticeships but there are challenges in securing its quality. The development of national qualifications frameworks (NQFs), measures to reduce early leaving, and policies to promote lifelong learning for low-skilled and other groups at risk have also been high on national policy agendas. Work on the European tools will need to ensure they interact better with and focus more on European citizens and employers to produce the intended benefit. Other challenges include better use of information on labour market outcomes of VET graduates, strengthening efforts to promote creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship in VET, and ensuring professional development opportunities for VET teachers and trainers.

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The European Union (EU) hopes to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economic area in the world by 2010. At the heart of the plan to achieve this goal is learning for employment through better quality education and training. This document is the executive summary of a report which suggests that, while achieving this goal is a real possibility, it requires giving greater urgency to the reforms of education and training underway in Member States. The report looks at vocational education and training (VET) and its links with general education and lifelong learning with the aim of stimulating debate on developing and reforming VET policy in Europe. It demonstrates that: labour market trends have major implications for VET policy and reforms need to be speeded up; participation of key sectors of the workforce in education and training needs to be encouraged and monitored more closely; and potential labour shortages at the lower end of the skills spectrum should not be overlooked. The contents are: Introduction; European vocational education and training policy framework; learning for employment: labour market analysis; reducing skills gaps; Improving vocational education and training in Member States; Conclusions. Show less

This issue of the journal focuses on Jobrotation, discussing its advantages and benefits as well as the problems and steps that need to be taken to ensure its future development. The articles are: 'Introducing the Jobrotation dossier' by Eric Fries-Guggenheim (p. 3-9) in which the author introduces Jobrotation as a tool that links training and employment policies and then provides an overview of the remaining articles in this issue; 'Jobrotation' by Athanasios Papathanasiou (p. 10-13) in which the author discusses Jobrotation as a model for continuous education and training involving not only education and training organisations, but individuals and companies as well; 'Jobrotation in France: a pioneering measure' by Patrick Guillox (p. 14-18) which provides a brief description of Jobrotation in France, established just prior to the outbreak of World War II; 'Jobrotation - expectations and results: a case study from the Bremen region' by Hubertus Schick (p. 19-26) which reports on a case study implementation of Jobrotation from the perspective of enterprises, employees and political decision-makers; 'Jobrotation report on practice: SKS' by Monika Kammier (p. 27-31) which case studies Jobrotation at SKS, a small enterprise in Germany, arguing that Jobrotation can preserve jobs in enterprises affected by structural change and can be used for re-integrating the unemployed into the labour market; 'Jobrotation - a unique success which has outlived its future?' by Jorgen Mork and Thomas Braun (p. 32-37) in which the authors look at the success and weaknesses of the Danish Jobrotation model; 'Danish experience of Jobrotation: a case study' by Ghita Vejlebo and Thomas Braun (p. 38-46) which looks at the processes involved in the implementation of Jobroration and important elements for success; 'Jobrotation as a new concept combining learning and work: German and Danish experience' by Uwe Grunewald and John Houman Sorensen (p. 47-52) which discusses the experience, problems and prospects in Germany and Denmark; 'Conclusion' by Eric Fries-Guggenheim (p. 53-54). This issue also includes a list of important and recent publications on developments in training and qualifications at an international and European level (p. 55-68). Show less

The second 'green skills' forum organised by Cedefop and the OECD-LEED in February 2014 provided an open space for discussion between researchers, policy-makers, social partners and international organisations on skills development and training needs for a greener economy. The focus of this second staging of the event was 'green skills and innovation for inclusive employment growth'. The discussions were aimed at identifying obstacles and challenges lying ahead for the development of skills, education and training policies suitable to address the transition to greener and job-rich growth; to set out strategies, initiatives and policy approaches tackling key skills issues for green growth; compare methods and tools used in monitoring and evaluating developments in labour markets; indicate how research can support better targeted policy-making and skills strategies; and identify gaps in knowledge and provide guidance for future research and collaboration for transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

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Following the publication of ‘A memorandum of lifelong learning’ in October 2000, the European Commission invited Member States to launch a consultation process to collect together all views on how best to make progress in implementing lifelong learning. Cedefop was asked to undertake a review of the Memorandum consultation reports received from the Member States and the European Economic Area (EEA) countries. The outcome of that review is presented in this document which then fed into the Communication on ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality’. This document is presented in three main sections: the first section provides an overview of the main trends in the reports; section two contains thematic analyses for each of the Memorandum’s six key messages; and the final section is an epilogue on some issues that might have been addressed more fully, either in the Memorandum or in the reports prepared in response, in the interests of contributing to further discussion.

Documents from ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality’ are indexed from TD/TNC 77.521 to TD/TNC 77.539. Show less

This volume gathers the contributions of the second day of the first international conference on the history of vocational education and training (VET) in Europe in a comparative perspective, held in Florence in October 2002. The overall theme of the conference was the different developments of VET in Europe and the development of EU-social policies, in particular in VET. The second session of the conference dealt with the development of VET in the context of the construction of the EC/EU [European Commission/European Union] and the role of Cedefop. The contributions comprise articles on European social policy, in particular the background for the introduction of a VET policy in the European Coal and Steel Community due to the structural changes in post-war Europe, the subsequent inclusion of a common vocational training policy in the treaty of Rome, followed by the 10 principles and the action programmes of 1965 and 1971. The Economic and Social Committee’s contribution to the common policy and that of the unions in the creation of Cedefop is described. A concrete example is given in the article on the role of VET in Francois Mitterand’s idea of a European social space. The volume concludes with an article on the role of VET and Cedefop in EC/EU social policy. The contents are: Executive summary; Introduction / Antonia Varsori; Vocational training from the birth of the ECSC to the early years of the EEC / Lorenzo Mechi; The common vocational training policy in the EEC from 1961 to 1972 / Francesco Petrini; The Economic and Social Committee’s contribution to establishing a vocational training policy 1960-75 / Elena Dundovich; The European trade unions and Cedefop: an analysis of labour’s approach to vocational education and training in the 1970s / Maria Eleonora Guasconi; The place of vocational training in Francois Mitterrand’s idea of a European social space (1981-84) / Georges Saunier; Historical review of the social partner’ contribution to developing vocational training in Europe / Vincenzo Romano; Vocational education and training in European social policy from its origins to the creation of Cedefop / Antonio Varsori; The role of vocational education and training and Cedefop in EC/EU social policy / Laura Leonardi; Authors’ details; List of abbreviations.

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Volume one is indexed at TD/IRD 88.397; individual papers from volume two are indexed from TD/TNC 82.587 to TD/TNC 82.594. Show less