Agenda
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During the Swedish EU Presidency in the first half of 2023, Cedefop partnered with the Swedish Council for Higher Education (which hosts Euroguidance Sweden), The National Agency for Education, and the Swedish Public Employment Service as well as the Swedish Association of Guidance Counsellors in organising an event to pro...

During the Swedish EU Presidency in the first half of 2023, Cedefop partnered with the Swedish Council for Higher Education (which hosts Euroguidance Sweden), The National Agency for Education, and the Swedish Public Employment Service as well as the Swedish Association of Guidance Counsellors in organising an event to promote lifelong guidance in Europe: New Scenes for Career Guidance.

The event was held on 31 May and 1 June 2023 in Stockholm. Cedefop was part of the organising committee and contributed with a presentation on its collaborative work in lifelong guidance with the IAG WGCG. During a parallel workshop a colleague from Cedefop’s Skills and labour market thematic area presented latest work on skills intelligence fit for the career guidance context. 

The CareersNet core experts were invited by Cedefop to attend the conference, which was directly followed by the Seventh annual CareersNet meeting (June 1 afternoon), kindly hosted at the venue in Stockholm by the organisers in Sweden. The Euroguidance annual network meeting took also place prior to the conference, rounding off a four-day week dedicated to lifelong guidance.

The conference aimed to discuss the significance of the new scenes for lifelong guidance across different arenas in education, training and the labour market and the surrounding society undergoing many transformations. Participants discussed what these changes meant for the career guidance profession, for policy development, and for the content of guidance practices, particularly with technological developments, demographic shifts, and a global energy crisis and war in Ukraine, on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic onset.

Invited national, European, and international stakeholders - policymakers, researchers, trainers, practitioners, and others operating in the field of lifelong guidance in Europe were welcomed to Stockholm in the Scandinavian early summer for fruitful discussions and the exchange of ideas and experiences.

Lifelong guidance stands as a key component in overall skills development for youth and adults and enabling active and meaningful engagement for all in learning and the continuously evolving labour market, so that people are empowered to shape change. This includes acquisition of career management skills and opportunities for personal development in lifelong careers. Career guidance, particularly at transition points, should provide career education, career information, services and learning opportunities to individuals of any age and background and includes activities and programmes to increase self-awareness and knowledge about the labour market and society, to reflect and acquire skills and competences to act on one’s life experiences and potential barriers faced, ambitions, interests, qualifications, skills, and strengths.  

More information on this conference can be found at the external event webpage in Sweden: European lifelong guidance conference: New Scenes for Career Guidance.

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CareersNet, Cedefop’s network of independent national experts in lifelong guidance and career development, convened in Stockholm for a half day on 1 June 2023. It was the first onsite meeting for the network since the third annual meeting in Rome in 2019. 

The annual meeting was hosted by the Swedish Council for Higher Education, the Swedish National Agency for Education, and the Swedish Public Employment Service, during the Swedish EU Presidency. The network meeting  was held at the venue of the joint conference New Scenes for Career Guidance. Cedefop was contributing to the conference as part of its organising committee, which was also supported by Euroguidance Sweden and the Swedish Association of Guidance Counsellors association and several other organisations in Sweden.

CareersNet core experts met to discuss ongoing activities related to proposing updates on the EU Guidelines for systems and policies for lifelong guidance, an ongoing activity expected to run until 2025. Mutual exchange of experiences in what regards current national developments in national guidance systems was also discussed, as well as latest developments in the network and since the last annual meeting online in 2022.

More information on the meeting outcomes can be found here.

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Cedefop and the OECD have successfully organised their third joint symposium on 'Apprenticeship and the digital transition', on 15 and 16 June 2023 in Thessaloniki.  The event explored the links between apprenticeships and the digital transition, and their implications for policy-making, bringing together 100 policy-...

Cedefop and the OECD have successfully organised their third joint symposium on 'Apprenticeship and the digital transition', on 15 and 16 June 2023 in Thessaloniki. 
The event explored the links between apprenticeships and the digital transition, and their implications for policy-making, bringing together 100 policy-makers, social partners, practitioners and researchers from around the world.

UPDATE: Listen to the event podcasts, episode 18 (with Mara Brugia and Marieke Vandeweyer) and episode 19 (with Dan McCabe and Carlos de Olagüe Smithson)Presentations are available below (see Downloads and Links ). You may check the event photo gallery hereEvent recordings will be published on this page soon. 

The event was built around 13 papers from Europe, the US, Canada and China that presented new evidence or offer analysis on the challenges and opportunities that digitalisation already brings or may bring for apprenticeships in the future. Paper presentations were complemented with presentations by Cedefop and the OECD, panel discussions and Q&A sessions with participants.
The symposium made clear the great potential, relevance, and importance of apprenticeships in helping develop the skills people and enterprises need to shape and adapt to the green and digital transitions.

  • On the one hand, digitalisation calls for digital skills to be developed across apprenticeship occupations but also requires occupation-specific responses, including opening apprenticeships to new digital sectors.
  • On the other, digital tools such as simulators, virtual reality, as well as blended learning approaches which combine traditional classroom with online learning, can make the learning process even more relevant, engaging and efficient, and can attract new groups of learners.

Information for participants

The symposium programme, short bios of speakers, paper presenters, panellists and moderators are available below. 

Information for authors/ presenters

Key steps and dates for authors:

  • deadline for draft full paper: 1 March 2023 
  • draft full paper review by Cedefop/OECD: 2 May 2023 
  • deadline for symposium presentations: 9 June 2023 
  • event: 15 and 16 June 2023 
  • deadline for full paper: September 2023 (provisional, tbc) 
  • expected publication date: January 2024 (provisional, tbc) 

The 2023 symposium continues the joint work of Cedefop and the OECD on apprenticeships. Find out more about our past events and publications: 

Speakers

Juergen SiebelJürgen Siebel, Executive Director of Cedefop, joined Cedefop from the private sector in September 2019.

As Executive Director, he is responsible for managing the Agency’s operations in accordance with the strategic direction of its tripartite Management Board.

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Jürgen has a background in human resources management with particular emphasis on learning and education, the strategic development and roll-out of work-based vocational education and training programmes, as well as related corporate social responsibility initiatives.

In this context he has also collaborated with institutional actors at national, European and global levels.

Before joining Cedefop in Thessaloniki, Jürgen served for 20 years in various leading operational and strategic HR roles in Siemens AG, mostly as senior manager with global governance or business partner responsibilities.

Jürgen earned his MSc in economics at the University of Hamburg, and a PhD in business administration from the University of Vienna.

Stefano ScarpettaStefano Scarpetta is Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs at the OECD since 2013.

As director of ELS, he is responsible for the design and the implementation of the medium-term strategy of the Organisation on labour market and social policy issues as well as international migration and health issues.

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He represents the OECD in High-Level fora and academic conferences; liaise with key senior stakeholders and provide effective communication with the media. As a member of the Senior Management team of the Organisation, he also contributes to support and advance the strategic orientations of the OECD.

Previously, he held several positions in the Economics Department and in his current Directorate. From 2002 to 2006 he also worked at the World Bank, where he took over the responsibility of labour market advisor and lead economist. He has published extensively in academic journals, edited several books.

Mr. Scarpetta holds a Ph.D. in Economics  from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales (EHESS), Département et Laboratoire d’Economie Théorique Appliquée (DELTA) in Paris and a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mara BrugiaMara Brugia is the Deputy Director of Cedefop, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training.

She has been involved in vocational education and training (VET) since 1994.

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As Head of Department from 2004 to 2014, she managed teams of European experts working in research and policy analysis to support the development and implementation of the Union policy in the field of VET, skills and qualifications.

She holds a university degree in Economics and a Master in Economics, politics and law of the European Union. Her mother tongue is Italian (born in Perugia) and she is fluent in English, French, Greek and Spanish.

Namir AnaniNamir Anani is the President and CEO of the Information and Communications Technology Council (ictc-ctic.ca), he is the chief strategist and driving force in bringing ICTC’s world-class centre of expertise and services to industry, education and government; shaping Canada’s digital advantage in a global economy. Before joining ICTC, Namir previously led Policy Development & Research at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

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He has also held several executive leadership roles in both the private and public sectors including the Department of Canadian Heritage (Director General & CEO), CGI consulting, Nortel, and Novartis (Switzerland). Mr. Anani’s experience extends to; strategic policy development and implementation, learning and capacity building, business transformation, national/international strategic alliances, economic and market research, and technology innovation.

He has also held numerous board positions, and is a frequent keynote speaker at national and international conferences on the digital economy. Namir holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Salford (UK) as well as a Professional Engineer designation in Ontario (P. Eng.).

Scherwin M BajkaScherwin M. Bajka is a Researcher and PhD Candidate in Political Economy at the University of St. Gallen, who is currently affiliated with GOVPET.

The GOVPET Leading House is funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Research, Education, and Innovation, and explores the systemic governance of dual-track vocational and Training (VET) systems.

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In his doctoral project, Scherwin M. Bajka investigates how dual VET systems adapt to the Knowledge Economy from institutional, employers’ and apprentices’ perspectives. His broader research interests include education policy, social inclusion, and economic inequality. Overall, Scherwin M. Bajka is dedicated to combating societal prejudices with scientific facts for a more inclusive tomorrow.

Diana CopDiana Čop has been conducting policy research at Visionary Analytics since 2019.

Throughout her career, Diana was involved in multiple projects in the domains of educational, social, and labour market policies. Currently, her thematic focus is mostly oriented towards educational policies and their role in supporting labour market needs.

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As a Researcher at Visionary Analytics, Diana is involved in research and/or evaluation tasks. Her main role is focused on stages of data collection (surveys, interviews, document research) and data analysis (quantitative and qualitative). Diana also develops the final outputs, such as analytical reports and policy recommendations, as well as presents research findings to target groups. Her portfolio includes working with such organisations as the European Commission (DG EMPL, DG EACEA, DG CONNECT), the European Parliament, Cedefop, EIGE, and multiple others.

Carlos de Olague SmithsonCarlos de Olagüe Smithson is the Spanish representative of EfVET, coordinating the National Board composed of 27 members from VET organisations, regional and national school associations.

Carlos de Olagüe Smithson studied Telecommunications Engineering (UPM) and a Master in Power Electronics (FernUni Hagen). His Doctorate in Education (UAM) was a research about Erasmus funding in VET.

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Carlos is responsible for International Affairs at the Spanish association FP Empresa formed by more than 400 public and private VET schools. He is the Director of the VET High School IES Pedro de Tolosa in Madrid and Academic Coordinator at the University Carlos III.

Several of his articles and publications describe the past and current situation of vocational education and training in Spain and Europe.

Viola DeutscherViola Deutscher is a professor of Economics and Business Education at the University of Mannheim, where she holds the Chair for Competence Development and Training Quality.

She studied economics at the Goethe University in Frankfurt (Bachelor's) and business education at the University of Paderborn (Master's).

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She earned her doctorate at the University of Paderborn, during which she conducted research at the Learning Sciences Research Institute in Chicago, focusing on questions of occupational competence diagnostics. Afterward, she worked as a research associate at the German Institute for Adult Education. Since 2016, she has been teaching and researching at the University of Mannheim. Her core academic interests lie in the area of vocational and professional education. She specializes in designing and implementing digital learning environments for various occupational fields, diagnosing and promoting professional competency, training quality and dropout in vocational education, and researching career choice and professional identity development.

 

Driscoll BecaBeca Driscoll serves as the Future Talent Lead for Accenture North America as the director of the North America Apprenticeship Program.

Beca is a leader in the professional apprenticeship movement and inclusive talent development, engaging and advising other companies and community partners to leverage the success of the skilled trades apprenticeship model into careers in technology and other roles.

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Beca brings experience across business consulting, corporate social responsibility, the social sector and human resources. During her tenure at Accenture she has partnered with nonprofit, education and social service clients to develop new growth strategies and transform their organizations to deliver the highest impact with limited resources.

Beca started her career in the nonprofit sector focused on strategy, communications and field operations for international and US disaster response humanitarian aid nonprofit organizations. She holds an MBA from Duke University, and a Bachelor’s degree from Boston College.

Angeliki FilippidouAngeliki Filippidou is the Principal in the 2nd Vocational Apprenticeship School (EPA.S.) of Thessaloniki-DYPA, the Greek Public Employment Service.

2nd EPAS is one of the 51 VET Schools which DYPA operates all over Greece.

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Angeliki Filippidou has Degree in Sociology, bachelor in Education Studies and Msc studies in “Administration and Management of Educational Units”. She has more than 28 years’ experience in teaching in VET Apprenticeship Schools.

Alongside the educational duties and the duties as Principal, she is also Head of Career Office of the school.

She has participated in many projects on Vocational Education and Training, such as ERASMUS+ Mobility Program, Forums and Conferences in Greece and Europe.

Angeliki Filippidou has been selected for the European Alliance for Apprenticeships Excellence Award 2017, in the “Teachers” category. Award handed over by European Commissioner Marianne Thyssen on 24 November 2017, in Brussels. Also the team "Digital & Green Waves" of 2nd VET School Thessaloniki has been selected for the European Alliance for Apprenticeships Excellence Award 2020, in the “European Agencies Awards” category for the Cedefop Photo Award.

Friedrich DanielDaniel Friedrich is a mechatronics engineer, vocational trainer and social economist.

As a trade union officer in the department of work organisation and qualification policy at the IG Metall headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, he campaigns for good training and working conditions in vocational education and training.

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His main focus is to strengthen co-determination in the area of examinations and to further develop the final examinations at the end of vocational training with a view to the challenges of transformation.

During his dual vocational training, Daniel was elected chairman of the youth and trainee representation and later to the works council of a medium-sized automotive and mechanical engineering company in the Bavarian Rhön region.

After studying social economics at the University of Hamburg, he became a trade union officer for IG Metall. He was already responsible for the education, counselling and support of works councils, youth and trainee representatives, shop stewards, trainees and examiners as an education officer and later as an trade union manger at the IG Metall branch in Schweinfurt.

Sophia GentnerSophia Gentner is a research assistant at the Chair of Professional Teaching and Learning at the University of Mannheim (Germany).

Sophia holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Business Education with a minor in French from the University of Mannheim.

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Her research interests are related to knowledge transfer from science to practice and knowledge sharing in organizational settings.

Cesar HerreroDr. Cesar Herrero is a scientific researcher in the Digital Economy Unit from the European Commission Joint Research Centre.

His work contributes to the field of digital education and digital skills, with a clear focus on the digital transformation of the Vocational Education and Training Sector. He is SELFIE WBL project leader.

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He carries out and coordinate socio-economic analysis of Education and Training evidence for policy making in Europe, of the digital transformation of learning and teaching and of 21st century competence frameworks.

Mergim JahiuMergim Jahiu is a senior advisor in international affairs of the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training, SFUVET

Mergim Jahiu is an expert in VET with professional experience focusing on international cooperation in the field vocational skills developpement.

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His past experiences include positions in the Skills and Empoyability Branch of the ILO, in Switzerland at federal level at the State Secretariate for Education, Research and Innovation SERI as well as at cantonal level in Geneva office for orientation, vocational and continuing education and training.

In his various positions, he has gathered experience in policy and implementation of VET and Skills developpment in Switzerland as well as in partner countries. He has been active as an international consultant and project manager with specific expertise in the developpement of the dual model of vocational education and training (incl. policy reforms and implementation, public-private partnerships, curriculum development, teacher and instructor training). In January 2022, he has been selected as the Swiss member to CEDEFOP’s community of apprenticeship experts.

In addition to various coutinous trainings in Skills developpement, Mergim Jahiu holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, as well as a Master’s degree in Public International Law from the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Hiromichi KatayamaHiromichi Katayama’s work focuses on strengthening national TVET systems and he is, among other activities, leading UNESCO’s TVET policy reviews in different countries.

He has also been coordinating the development of skills assessment and anticipation in the Middle East and North Africa regions, and the advancement of TVET management information systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

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He has also coordinated situation analysis of TVET systems in Asia and Africa. Before joining UNESCO Headquarters, he worked at the OECD in Paris on the assessment of PISA financial literacy. He also worked at the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) in Montreal, Canada, on the collection, analysis and dissemination of TVET data and statistics.

Natassa KazantzidouNatassa Kazantzidou, MSc in Chemical Engineering, Msc in Information Systems, Post Graduate Diploma in Education for Sustainable Development, BSc in Social and Educational Policies.

She has been working in European projects since 1999 and she is an expert in education policies, quality in education, curriculum design, innovation in education and work-based learning.

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She is a certified adult trainer and an instructor in professional development courses for staff in education and training.

She has participated in research teams with various Universities and research centres. She has experience in work-based learning as a researcher and a practitioner. As a researcher, she has participated in various European projects, related to WBL and especially on the aspect of its quality assurance e.g. app.Mode, Bequal.app, SMARTEX, Eduwork.net, ECVET Permit, ECWORK As a practitioner, she is responsible for training of interns and induction training of new staff.  She speaks Greek, English, Spanish and French.

Deniz KozanogluDr. Deniz Kozanoglu holds two Ph.D. degrees in Economics from Jean Monnet Saint-Étienne University and Istanbul University. He received master's degrees in Firm Economics and Economics Engineering, and International Economics and Politics from Grenoble II Pierre Mendès-France University. He completed his undergraduate education at Uludag University, Department of Labor Economics and Industrial Relations.

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Dr. Kozanoglu served as the President and Board Advisor at the Turkish Higher Education Quality Council (THEQC) for four years. He was also an assistant professor in the Francophone Department of Political Science and International Relations at Yeditepe University for nearly six years.

Dr. Kozanoglu continues his career as an affiliated researcher at the GATE Lyon St Etienne Research Center (a joint research unit of CNRS, University of Lyon, and Jean Monnet Saint-Étienne University). He also holds the international expert position at the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS). As a close stakeholder, he conducts joint events and scientific studies in higher education with international organizations and European institutions such as the United Nations Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (UN HESI) Green Learning Network, European University Association (EUA), and UNICA.

Dr. Kozanoglu has contributed to many national and international journals, books, scientific reports, and conferences in English, French, and Turkish languages.

Elena MagriniElena Magrini is Head of Global Research at Lightcast, where she currently leads the Global Business Unit’s Consulting team.

Her recent research focuses on labour market analysis and the future of work, in particular in relation to digital transformation, economic growth and skills insights.

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Prior to joining Lightcast, Elena worked at the UK think-tank Centre for Cities where she led on research on employment and skills in UK cities. Elena also has experience in local government, having worked as a Senior Policy Manager for the West of England Combined Authority. Elena holds a BSc. in International Economics from Bocconi University and an MSc. in International Public Policy from University College London.

Katerina ManiadakiKaterina Maniadaki is a graduate student of the department of "International, European and regional relations" of Panteion University.

She started working in IDEC S. A. as an intern, while from December 2022 she is working as a Junior Project Manager in the same company.

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She mainly works with European projects (mostly Erasmus+), and she is also helping with the research part of other projects. She has been a member of Amnesty International's Gender Network since September 2021, actively participating in the signing of calls. In addition, from February to June 2022, she worked as a volunteer in the library of her university’s gender studies lab, documenting and updating the online library catalogue.

She speaks fluently 2 foreign languages (English and French), and she has 2 ECDL certificates, one that certifies a basic level of digital competences and another one that certifies an advanced level of the corresponding competences.

Christian MayerChristian Mayer has, since July 2020, been a research assistant at the Chair of Professional Teaching and Learning (Prof. Dr Jürgen Seifried).

From December 2019 to December 2021, he was program manager of the Bachelor & Master in Economic and Business Education.

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Christian holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree (2017 and 2020, respectively) in Business Education with a minor in Political Science from the University of Mannheim. During his studies, Christian volunteered at the initiative “Studenten-bilden-Schüler e.V.” as a tutor and in the Mannheim site management.

He worked as a student trainee in the vocational training department of the Rhine-Neckar Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), as a tutor for the course " Design of business learning environments II " (Master Business Edu) and as a student assistant at the chair of Prof. Dr Andreas Rausch in the PSA-Sim project of the ASCOT+ initiative (LUCA Office Simulation).

Research interests:

Eye-Tracking in the problem-solving process in computer-based learning environments.

Teaching and learning with ERP systems.

Language processing with artificial intelligence (Natural Language Processing).

Dan McCabeDan McCabe is a member of the Worldskills champions trust, a group of young people from all over the world.

One of our aims is to represent young people from many different cultures and economies about key issues and give an alternative perspective to employers and policy makers regarding key decisions in our societies. 

Stewart McKinlayStewart McKinlay worked for the Sector Skills Council in Scotland with responsibility for Apprenticeship frameworks in Engineering, Life Science, and Railway.

He was appointed to the University of Strathclyde as Associate Director (Industry Engagement) with the Engineering Academy; launched to support employer’s talent pipelines and widening access.

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Whilst there he was one of a team of three who developed the Graduate Apprenticeship programme and led the University to become the first in Europe to join the European Alliance of Apprenticeships.  Stewart then joined NMIS as Head of Skills Programmes before taking on the role of Skills Director.

At SAFEE, Stewart selected the first female Chair and led the executive committee in reaching 50/50 gender balance.  He currently sits on the Steering Board of Equate Scotland, the Engineering Skills Leadership Group, and co-chairs the Skills Workstream in the Making Scotland’s Future Programme Board.  Stewart is in the Cedefop community of apprenticeship experts.

Mary Kate Morley RyanMary Kate Morley Ryan is a leader on Accenture’s Future Workforce team with a focus on social innovation and radical inclusion.

She has worked closely with Fortune 50 C-suite leaders, local civic leaders, higher education executives and military leaders to allow public and private sector leaders to shape the future of work.

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She is responsible for Accenture’s US Innovating for Society strategy which pilots, implements, and amplifies solutions to pressing workforce related challenges faced by people and organizations.

As the daughter of a single Mom, she witnessed the power of grit, selflessness and community support. She’s translated these learnings into her work by championing courageous collaboration, human-centered design and servant leadership. She received a degree from Saint Louis University in Business Administration, a Platform Fellow for Work, Wages and Job Creation at the World Economic Forum, and visiting scientist with the Next Level Lab based at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Barbara OfstadDr. Barbara Ofstad has worked in the electro-technical industry in various managerial roles for more than 20 years.

As Head of Siemens Professional Education Germany, she has been responsible for apprenticeship training, dual study programs and technical upskilling/reskilling activities since 2017. 

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She studied European Business Administration at ESB Reutlingen (Germany) as well as ESC Reims (France) and holds an MBA, International Management from the Monterey Institute of International Studies (USA). In September 2022, she defended her Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) at Business Science Institute (Luxembourg) / Université de Lyon (France). Her thesis explored how and why boundary spanning in Vocational Education and Training helps improve technical skills and methods of trainers.

Dr. Barbara Ofstad serves in various German vocational education boards (VDMA, VHU, BDA) and is a member of the board of trustees of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics (ITWM Kaiserslautern).    

Mauro PelucchiMauro Pelucchi is Senior Data Scientist and Big Data Engineer responsible for the design of the “Real-Time Labour Market Information System on Skill Requirements” for CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training).

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He currently works as Head of Global Data Science at Lightcast with the goal to develop innovative models, methods, and deployments of labour market data and other data to meet customer requirements and prototype new potential solutions.

His main tasks are related to advanced machine learning modelling, labour market analyses, and the design of big data pipelines to process large datasets of online job vacancies. In collaboration with the University of Milano-Bicocca, he took part in many research projects related to the labour market intelligence systems. He collaborates with the University of Milano-Bicocca as a Lecturer for the Masters of Business Intelligence and Big Data Analytics and with the University of Bergamo as a Lecturer in Computer Engineering.

Romain PigeaudRomain Pigeaud currently works as a legal expert, writes, runs training courses and supports vocational training professionals and institutions.

He has been a specialist for many years on issues relating to apprenticeship contracts, apprenticeship training and its funding, and is involved in writing the Fiches pratiques de la formation continue, reports for Cedefop, and is a regular contributor to the presentation of vocational training.

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Romain Pigeaud works for the Centre-Inffo: an association under the supervision of the Ministry for Vocational Training, with a public service remit in the field of employment, training and vocational guidance.

Centre Inffo's mission is also to develop, capitalise on and disseminate information and documentation, particularly for public authorities and social partners.

Romain Pigeaud studied labour law at universities in Grenoble and Strasbourg, and is also a member of the French Alpine Club.

Konstantinos PouliakasKonstantinos Pouliakas is an Expert on Skills and Labour Markets at Cedefop.

He leads the Agency’s Skills and Work team and is principal research manager of its Digitalisation and Future of Work and Skill Mismatch projects. His proudest achievement is the development of two waves of the Cedefop European Skills and Jobs Survey.

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He has been scientific advisor and author on skills anticipation and skill mismatch for the European Commission, the World Economic Forum, ILO and the Greek Ministry of Labour and is regular instructor for the ILO-ITC.

He is currently a core member of the scientific committee of Greece’s National Skills Commission.

Before joining Cedefop he held posts at the University of Aberdeen and the University of Cyprus and worked for the Bank of Greece and HM Treasury. He has been invited Professor at the Universita Degli Studi Roma TRE and Visiting Research Scholar at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen Business School and IZA Research Fellow. He holds an M.Phil from the University of Oxford (St. Antony’s College) and a D.Phil from the Scottish Graduate Program in Economics.

He has published widely in peer-reviewed economics journals (e.g. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Oxford Review of Education, Economica, Journal of Economic Surveys, Research in Labor Economics, Education Economics, International Labour Review).

Tim SchreiberTim Schreiber is a Policy Officer at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL).

He works in the unit in charge of Vocational Education and Training (VET). His tasks focus on the skills needed for the green transition on the labour market, internationalisation of VET, the SELFIE tool for work-based learning as well as higher VET.

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Previously, he worked in DG EMPL’s geographical desk for Austria and Germany, in a Brussels-based public sector consultancy and in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN). He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a master’s degree in International Relations.

Juergen SeifriedJuergen Seifried is a full professor of Economic and Business Education at the Business School of the University of Mannheim, Germany. His research focuses on subject didactic issues, research on competence development of teachers and trainers, simulation-based learning, learning in the workplace, and methods of competence assessment in vocational education. He is co-editor of the German Journal “Zeitschrift für Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik”.

Andrzej Wojciech StepnikowskiDr. Andrzej Wojciech Stępnikowski, Education: phd on social sciences, faculty of pedagogy (Maria Grzegorzewska’s University of Special Pedagogy-APS ), graduate of doctor al studies in Labour economy (Institute for Labour and Social Affairs-IPISS), post-graduate studies on Leadership and Negotiations (National Defence Academy) and on  EU project’s management,  master of international relations – faculty of EU integration (Warsaw University), technic mechanic.

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Professional experience: Head of the Research Support Department and senior researcher in the Centre for VET Research and Innovation Management, previously 14 years in Nation-wide Polish Craft Association (as a deputy director for VET&Social Affairs Dept.) For 10 years (2010-2020) member of CEDEFOP’s Managing Board and Advisory Committee for Vocational Training (ACVT).

In the period 2018-2020 member of ministerial Programme Council on Competences. Nowadays (since 2018 – till now) member of CEDEFOP’s Experts Community on Apprenticeships (Thessaloniki) and OECD’s Group of National Experts on Vocational Education (Paris). Starting from IV.2021 expert of Foundation Platform of Future Industry (FPPP) in the fields of „Green economy” and „Competences of the future” .

Coordinator of around  15 EU funded projects (including LdV, Erasmus+) in the field of IVET, CVET and Green economy education. Half of projects with budget over 500.000 Euro.In the years 2015-2020 coordinator of the „New quality exams in crafts” responsible for development of on-line examination platform and since 2021 project and partner coordinator in four projects related with VR and AR, such as: Collaborative Virtual Reality

Platform for e-Learning:Teaching Communication (Erasmus+), PLC-Centered VR-Training for Industry 4.0 (VR-PLC) and its continuation VR-PLC Train the Trainer (European Institute for Innovation and Technology – EIT Manufacturing) and Mazovia EDIH (Digital Europe Programme).

Stefan ThomasStefan Thomas is a Senior Human Capital Development Expert at the European Training Foundation (ETF) in Turin, Italy.

The ETF’s mission is to help transition and developing countries to harness the potential of their human capital through the reform of education, training and labour market systems in the context of the EU's external relations policy.

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Stefan’s responsibilities at the ETF include working with governments, social partners, international organisations and development agencies to improve work-based learning and apprenticeship systems. Centres of Vocational Excellence, including their role in the digital transition, is another focus of his work at the ETF.

Marieke VandeweyerMarieke Vandeweyer is a senior policy analyst in the OECD Centre for Skills, where she leads the work on Vocational Education and Training (VET).

Since joining the organisation in 2014, she has worked in the areas of skills, activation policies and labour market reforms.

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She has been actively involved in the OECD’s Getting Skills Right project, analysing the match between skills demand and supply and the responsiveness of adult learning systems to changing skill needs. Her current projects focus on the future-readiness of VET systems, including analysis of VET and the green transition, flexibility of provision, higher-level VET programmes, technology use, and VET teachers and trainers. She is also co-leading the ongoing development of an International VET Assessment.   

Marieke holds a MSc in Business Engineering and a MSc in European Politics and Policies, as well as a PhD in Economics from the University of Leuven (Belgium).

Feiyu WangFeiyu Wang is a phD candidate at Beijing Foreign Studies University, China.

She also works as a lecturer at Yanshan University. Her research focuses on comparative analysis of vocational education policy, especially on quality and equity in VET of digital transition.

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She obtained a Master Degree of Science in Education at the University of Pennsylvania in 2012 and was a visiting scholar in 2017 specializing in Social Justice Education at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. She has many years of experience in educational research on social justice especially in developing countries such as India and China.

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    The conference 'Microcredentials – a labour market megatrend' presented the findings of Cedefop´s project Microcredentials for labour market education and training.

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    The event was an opportunity for policy-makers, social partners, stakeholders, experts and researchers from education and training, industry and beyond, to be informed on the emerging role of microcredentials in supporting labour-market-related and employment-relevant education, training and learning.

    The conference offered participants insights into the perceived added value of microcredentials for end-users, as well as created a space for reflection and discussion of microcredentials’ broader uptake and function. Building on research carried out by Cedefop in recent years, the conference complemented the ongoing political discussion on tools and initiatives supporting people in their lifelong learning pathways as described in the July 2020 Skills Agenda, the Council Recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) and the 2020 Osnabrück Declaration as well as the European Union Council Recommendation on a European Approach to Microcredentials.


    Recordings of the sessions 


    22 June 2023
    23 June 2023

     

     

    Working with us

    Notice of vacancy for the post of Expert in Research and Policy Analysis

    Reference
    Cedefop/2023/02/AD
    Closing date
    03/05/2023
    Reference
    CEDEFOP/2023/LVP/0003-ExA
    Closing date
    05/05/2023

    Notice of vacancy for the post of Expert in Quantitative Research and Data Analysis

    Reference
    Cedefop/2023/03/AD
    Closing date
    23/05/2023
    Extended closing date
    30/05/2023

    Notice of vacancy for the post of Expert in Policy Analysis and Qualifications

    Reference
    Cedefop/2023/04/AD
    Closing date
    24/05/2023
    Extended closing date
    31/05/2023