Skillset and match

In an episode recorded live during the #CedefopVideoAward presentation event at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival on 8 March, vocational education and training learners, practitioners and experts share with Rosy Voudouri inspiring real-life stories, problems and solutions, as well as tips to make young people's learning and career paths easier and more fulfilling.

Microcredentials are all the rage in the world of education right now. But what exactly are they and do they deserve all the fuss created around them? Who benefits from acquiring them? With the European Year of Skills in full swing, how can we make microcredentials work for as many as possible? Two experts in the field, Honorary Research Associate at University College London Paul Grainger and Cedefop's Anastasia Pouliou, give their views.

In an interview during their visit to Cedefop, MEPs Dennis Radtke, Loucas Fourlas and Stelios Kympouropoulos, all members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, discussed the Parliament’s efforts to assist EU Member States in helping people upskill and reskill for the digital and green transition.

Talking to Cedefop's Rosy Voudouri, they also focused on the likely benefits of the European Year of Skills and on Cedefop’s work to support the Year and the Committee.

🌐 Cedefop for #EuropeanYearofSkills

Why aren’t apprenticeships offered in high-tech industries such as video gaming? What are the advantages and disadvantages of virtual reality in education? What is the modern role of a teacher? Two practitioners, representing education and business, exchange views and agree that their sectors must work together to serve learners in the digital era better.

Is teachers’ and trainers’ professional development commensurate with their key role in the educational process? What are the factors that slow it down? How can we make sure that training keeps up with the fast-paced digital and green transitions and the new curricula demands? In the context of the European Year of Skills, the Cedefop expert who leads a project dedicated to teachers and trainers and a teacher from Spain who works on addressing these challenges share their views on the current situation and on what needs to change.

In an exclusive interview, European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas shares his views on skills, on what the Commission does to promote them and on how people can benefit from the European Year of Skills, which has just started. He recognises that skills shortages pose a big problem for the European labour market, and he sees the Year as a way of giving back to young Europeans who suffered during the pandemic 'opportunities in education, training, mobility and in the job market.' Mr Schinas argues that 'we have the political will, we have the regulatory framework, we have unprecedented resources, and we are now building the necessary synergies and awareness to make this Year work at all levels,' adding that 'we never had so much money for skills in the EU'. He also calls for a 'de-Brusselisation' of the initiative: 'Taking the Year out of Brussels would help immensely with its success.'

With 2023 being the European Year of Skills, we look at the findings of Cedefop’s 2nd European skills and jobs survey. Carried out at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey collected the views of over 46 000 workers in all EU Member States, Iceland and Norway on how digitalisation affects them, how their skills match with their jobs and on their readiness to invest in continuous vocational training. The Cedefop expert behind the project, Konstantinos Pouliakas, the European Training Foundation’s Manuela Prina and Seamus McGuinness, Research Professor at Ireland’s Economic and Social Research Institute, analyse the headline findings.

In an exclusive wide-ranging interview to Cedefop's Skillset and match podcast, Nobel laureate economist, Sir Christopher Pissarides, shares his optimistic views on the future of work, the impact of automation on jobs, Europe's dedication to lifelong learning, the results of the 2nd European skills and jobs survey, and more. He urges workers to embrace the latest technological revolution and calls for governments to take action against the inequalities caused by the digital technologies. Sir Christopher, who is currently leading a review on the future of work in the UK, was a keynote speaker at Cedefop’s recent high-level conference on ‘Powering the digital transition’.

As he approaches retirement after 26 years of serving European vocational education and training (VET), award-winning Cedefop expert Jens Bjørnåvold shares his career experience, views and predictions on the future of VET, lifelong learning, validation of prior learning and qualifications. Will VET withstand the test of the changing education and labour market landscape? Jens says he cannot imagine a society without vocational training and points to lifelong learning as a basic driver of future individual and collective development. He also assures us that he will continue to be involved in the field, only this time from his hometown in Norway. Listen to his fascinating insights.  

European vocational education and training policy sets the targets that must be met so that all Europeans can have better access to and benefits from education. Cedefop helps develop and monitor these policies, together with the European Commission and the EU Member States. As part of this work, a new tool has been created and is now available on our website. It’s called European vocational education and training policy dashboard, and it monitors the progress Member States and the EU overall make towards achieving the policy targets they set. Cedefop experts Steve Bainbridge and Marco Serafini explain what this tool does and how well Europe manages this process.

Three generations of Cedefop people share their experience of living in Thessaloniki, an ancient city with more than 2,000 years of uninterrupted urban history, and working at the oldest European Union decentralised agency. Lore Schmid, Sorhna-Paule Perrot and Thomas Mellios all agree that anyone with an opportunity to live that experience should go for it!

Are microcredentials an effective response to the economy's current challenges? Are they really gaining currency in the labour market and what pitfalls could they potentially involve in the face of the digital and green transitions? How can the challenges of their certification, validation and portability be tackled? And will they be a permanent feature in the world of work and education or just a passing fad? Cedefop's Loukas Zahilas and Anastasia Pouliou with some answers on Cedefop's Skillset and match podcast series.

2022 is the European Year of Youth and we talk to past #CedefopPhotoAward winners from four European countries about their learning and employment experiences, problems they have encountered, solutions they propose, and their plans for the future. Carina, Ben, Dominik and Eleni, aged between 18 and 22, join us from Romania, Croatia, Greece and even Mexico for a chat you don't want to miss!

What could be done so that refugees can relocate and find employment within the European Union based on their skills and what are the difficulties and pitfalls, as millions of people are fleeing the war in Ukraine? Find out in episode 4 of Cedefop's 'Skillset and match' podcast.

The EU has resolved, among others, to offer refugees access to education and the labour market in its 27 Member States. Experts Ramona Carmen David Craescu and Yannis Katsikis discuss the findings of a pioneering Cedefop research project and how these could be applied to the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis.

How will the European Green Deal affect the way we live, learn and work? What will be the impact of the green transition on skills and the labour market? What is vocational education and training's role? And how can the so-called 'thyroid occupations' influence the transition? Cedefop experts Stelina Chatzichristou and Jasper van Loo have some answers.

In a wide-ranging interview, Cedefop Executive Director Jürgen Siebel talks about moving from the private sector to a public organisation, his vision for Cedefop, the pandemic effect and how the EU Agency’s work on vocational education and training, skills and qualifications ultimately benefits European citizens.

Welcome to Cedefop's 'Skillset and match' podcast! In Episode 1, Rosy Voudouri talks to European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit about vocational education and training's role in pandemic recovery, the skills revolution, big data, the green and digital transitions and more.