Aviana BULGARELLI became the 5th Director of CEDEFOP (the European centre for the development of vocational training). She succeeds Mr Johan VAN RENS, whose 11-year term of office comes to an end on 30 September 2005.
Aviana Bulgarelli comes from the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, where she has been Director-General for Guidance and Vocational Training Policies since 2002. During this time, she was in charge of a staff of 160 administrators and seven directors, managing a budget of over half a billion euros worth of European and national programme funds. She co-ordinated the Leonardo da Vinci Programme, the European Social Fund Community Support Framework, and other programmes and policies at the national level. Mrs Bulgarelli also represented Italy in meetings of the EU Directors-General for Vocational Education and Training (DGVT) and participated in various EU-level negotiations in the fields of vocational training and cohesion policy.
Her experiences at the forefront of vocational education and training policy-making were preceded by an illustrious career as a researcher in labour market issues. She was for many years Senior Researcher in the Italian Vocational Education and Training Research Institute (ISFOL) where she later became Director of Research. She has numerous academic books, journal articles and conference contributions to her name.
Aviana Bulgarelli has had a long association with Cedefop, most recently as a government representative on the agencys Governing Board. She has also been a member of the Editorial Committee of the European Journal Vocational Training, as an expert in working groups and research teams, and as a speaker in Cedefop conferences.
During her orientation visit in September, which coincided with events marking the agencys 30th anniversary (and 10 years in Greece), Aviana Bulgarelli expressed her appreciation of Cedefops work, her delight at having been chosen to head the agency, and her enthusiasm at facing the new challenges ahead, especially considering the growing importance of vocational training and lifelong learning to the future of Europe.
The staff members of Cedefop welcome Aviana Bulgarelli and wish her good luck in her new post.