More than 125 participants, policy-makers, stakeholders and experts from around the world took part in the event, which promoted international collaboration and discussed approaches to addressing local labour market challenges, emphasising a need for dialogue between education and training across different regions of the world and for a platform to share best practices in anticipating and matching skills in a changing labour market.

Opening the conference, the Director of the Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems at UNESCO David Atchoarena welcomed the participants from more than 50 countries, emphasised the importance of an international cooperation and spoke about the significance of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in the 2030 sustainable development agenda in the lifelong learning context.

‘Youth and adults need better skills to fully participate in their societies and economies. Employers in all sectors are looking for skilled employees who are continually learning. Governments increasingly consider TVET as a key policy instrument to promote employment, inclusion and lifelong learning. The stakes are especially high for young people. Their transition from schools to the world of work raises challenges for all countries,’ he said.

Short ‘shelf life’ of modern skills

Cedefop Deputy Director Mara Brugia spoke passionately about the short life of skills today compared to the past, about how each potential talent needs to be developed and of the necessity to ease mobility between regions.

‘Qualifications frameworks based on learning outcomes together with policies to validate the skills people have acquired at work or elsewhere, may indeed help support talent and skills mobility. These frameworks can also help to make qualifications more relevant to labour market and learner needs. They could also become the new global skills currency. The joint work of UNESCO, the European Training Foundation and Cedefop on qualifications frameworks beyond Europe could support this process.’

Keynote speaker Saadia Zahidi, Head of Employment and Gender Initiatives at the World Economic Forum, presented outcomes of recent research by the Forum and spoke about how the digital revolution is fundamentally changing the world of work.

‘We’re at the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution, so we have an opportunity to shape it. We need to create a new narrative to be able to shape it, because stories are the way we create common purpose that links people across sectors, cultures, industries and more. It therefore needs to be a powerful, compelling, common and positive narrative,’ she said.

Around 25 speakers and panellists shared best practices to tackle global challenges for matching skill demand and supply, facing unemployment and discussing quality assurance of qualifications in a rapidly changing labour market.

Conference sessions covered, among others, digitisation of economies and a need for new skills in the digital age, skills and inequality across genders, generations and communities and how skills policies are necessary to improve quality and reduce these inequalities.

The forum explored the way forward, which will involve the setting up of a practitioner network and the development of a handbook, the first draft of which was presented to participants.

In her opening speech, Cedefop Deputy Director Mara Brugia pointed out that there is a 'strong political commitment about learning outcomes across Europe’, but warned that this 'does not guarantee that they are written and applied in a way which benefits end-users, be these teachers, learners or employers.'

She added: ‘Learning outcomes are widely used in VET, but exchange of experience between institutions and countries and mutual learning are still rather limited, as opposed to higher education.’

Ms Brugia said that the feedback received after the first forum singled out the need for a ‘more permanent community of practitioners,’ adding that Cedefop ‘certainly wants to support such mutual learning in a more systematic way.’

European Commission’s Koen Nomden argued that making learning outcomes mainstream will define qualification standards.

Cedefop Head of Department for VET Systems and Institutions Loukas Zahilas mentioned that following last year’s forum we have come closer to a much-needed community of practice, supported by Cedefop research.

Comparing countries

More Cedefop research in the field was also discussed at the forum, including two comparative studies: one on learning outcome application in 33 European countries, carried out in 2014-15, and another of 10 learning outcomes-based VET qualifications currently being carried out in 25 countries across the world (13 in Europe and 12 in the rest of the world).

Cedefop expert Slava Pevec Grm said that learning outcomes are increasingly embedded in policies and practices across Europe, noting that all European countries have significantly progressed on defining and using them.

Prior to the event, which was part of the European vocational skills week, national representatives had been asked to submit written input summarising the way learning outcomes have been implemented in their country. During the event, participants exchanged experiences in the plenary sessions and in the working groups.

'GPS for qualifications'

Cedefop expert Jens Bjørnåvold presented the first draft of the handbook for defining and writing learning outcomes and invited stakeholders to contribute as it needs to reflect a wide approach.

In his closing remarks, Cedefop Director James Calleja highlighted further this work by saying that ‘a handbook in evolution’ will become the ‘GPS for qualifications.’

He argued that learning outcomes are more than a technical exercise: ‘We must create a culture in schools and institutions to define, write and implement learning outcomes; we need to have leaders, well-trained teachers and stimulating learning environments where learning outcomes are accepted as enriching qualifications.’

Mr Calleja concluded: ‘Learning outcomes are at the heart of the journey from education to employment and give providers and employers the chance to step into one another’s shoes.’ He called for social partners and students to get more involved, and stressed the need for all actors to continue to talk to one another.

The forum investigated what is being done at national level in terms of labour market integration of adult refugees and the role of vocational education and training (VET), but also what could be done at a transnational level to manage the refugee crisis better, with labour market intelligence and VET as part of the equation.

Representatives from 24 countries and from European and international organisations, including European social partners, the ILO, the UNHCR, the European Training Foundation and the European Commission, exchanged views on national challenges and practices and discussed how to match skills with labour market needs and how VET could support refugee relocation and integration in the EU.

Cedefop Deputy Director Mara Brugia said: ‘The serious humanitarian crisis Europe is facing is unprecedented in terms of numbers, multiple entry routes, citizenships and cultures. Around 300 000 refugees and migrants have arrived on the shores of Italy and Greece this year. Besides ensuring adequate and dignified reception conditions, helping refugees integrate in the EU is a major challenge, a process that has proven cumbersome even in non-crisis situations. Finding a job is fundamental to becoming part of the host country’s economic and social life. Employment and vocational training are core parts of the integration process. We shouldn’t forget the positive contributions third-country nationals can make to our economies and societies if they have the chance to use and/or develop their skills.’

No quick fix

According to Ms Brugia, ‘there is no quick and simple fix and no one-size-fits-all solution: support services for adult refugees need to be tailored to the specific characteristics, qualifications and needs of the different groups.’

She focused on the longer-term policies aiming at:

• mainstreaming migration into the national human capital development policies in the countries of origin and destination;
• developing skills partnerships between the countries of origin and destination through special cooperation programmes between education and VET institutions;
• linking migration management with international development cooperation and using more evidence in migration management and policy-making;
• involving local authorities in the countries of origin, destination and transit (safe country) in the implementation of migration policies and services.

Ms Brugia concluded: ‘All actors need to share responsibility and work together: at EU and international levels; national, local and regional authorities; social partner organisations; employers; civil society organisations; citizens and the refugees themselves. Interinstitutional coordination is even more crucial locally, where integration is expected to take place.’

Other speakers agreed that cooperation at all levels is important and should involve social partners, and pointed out that very little knowledge on refugee skills and qualifications exists.

The way ahead

VET for adults was confirmed to be one of the key areas that could be used to prepare refugees for the labour market. However, the systems in many countries are under pressure, and the aim is not to adapt them, but to build something new. This raises questions on funding, infrastructure capacity, availability of human resources, finding places for refugees to learn on the job, etc.

Participants also agreed that: it is better to anticipate because one of the reasons the situation is so difficult now is because EU countries were not prepared; intervention measures should be introduced as early as the asylum claim procedure, e.g. through early skills profiling of refugees – still the exception rather than the rule; public authorities need to cooperate with employers and move from the corporate social responsibility perspective to the business case, which is not obvious; no country can deal with the current situation on its own; complementary pathways increase the range of regulated means by which refugees may reach sustainable solutions to their international protection needs and which may be found within individual (third) countries or through regional means.

During the forum, the Italian authorities proposed to Cedefop to develop a pilot project in the framework of the relocation mechanism and test how skill strategies could support asylum applicants eligible for relocation but not in the category of vulnerable groups, and those with family and social ties in EU countries.

In the frame of this project, Cedefop will make the most of existing experiences and initiatives including the skills-profiling tool for third country nationals (i.e. toolkit) the Commission has been working on over the past year.

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