24th ReferNet annual plenary meeting

He has participated in major international research and innovation projects and has provided consulting services to the governments of Greece, Romania, Georgia and Türkiye, as well as research and policy advice to international organisations, including the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) and the European Commission. His research focuses on strategic management, human capital, organisational capabilities, innovation and vocational education and training. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, edited books, and leading international conferences. His research has received international awards from the Academy of Management, the British Academy of Management, and the European Regional Science Association.

With his management team and all staff, Jürgen has led Cedefop to strengthen its position as a go-to ally for the EU institutions, social partners, researchers and practitioners when it comes to analysing the impacts of megatrends on the labour market, on skills, and on training ecosystems – and on how vocational education and training enables a fair digital and green transition.

Jürgen has a background in human-resources management with particular emphasis on learning and education, earned his MSc in economics at the University of Hamburg, and his PhD in business administration from the University of Vienna. 

With over 20 years of experience in EU policymaking and EU grant management, his current work focuses on quality assurance and strengthening basic skills in vocational education and training, including citizenship skills. His previous professional experience includes working as an expert at Cedefop as well as a labour market economist at a public employment services. He holds master’s degrees in Economics and Political Science.

She was Head of the research unit ‘Employment’ at the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) where she was leading the cross-European research on labour market developments (including new forms of work and employment and the future of work, digitalisation, climate change, restructuring and related public policy approaches) and topics at the intersection of employment and entrepreneurship (such as job creation, workplace practices, small and medium-sized enterprises, business start-ups and scale-ups and internationalisation, including HR management in international businesses). 

Most recently, she was Head of Unit Information and EURES at the European Labour Authority (ELA) where she was responsible for the Agency’s activities related to information provision to intra-EU mobile workers as well as for the management of the European Coordination Office of EURES, a European network facilitating job and skills matching across Europe.

His thematic expertise includes quality assurance in VET and international qualifications.

She holds a PhD in applied linguistics from Saarland University, with research on temporality, as well as a master’s and a bachelor’s in German language and philology. She has experience in qualitative and quantitative policy research, international cooperation and stakeholder engagement, and has authored several Cedefop products.

Previously, she worked at the European Commission, DG Employment and Social Affairs, where she was responsible for supporting the implementation of the EQF, including EQF Advisory Group activities, and was involved in initiatives related to Europass, validation of non-formal and informal learning, ESCO, and the Skills Agenda. Before that, she worked as a researcher, including in university. She holds a master degree in Political Science and International Relations from LUISS University, Rome, Italy.

During his more than 20 years of work experience, he provided advice on data analytics and monitoring of VET, adult learning and skills policies to multiple international and national bodies, such as UNESCO, ILO, OECD, G7, European Commission, Nordic Council of Ministers, BMZ/GIZ and Skills Future Singapore agency (including nearly ten years of work for the European Commission), as well as the private sector.

His academic background includes a MSc degree in Information systems and data science from the University of Amsterdam (UvA); a MSc degree in Cognitive and Decision Sciences from the University College London (UCL); a MSc degree in International Management from ISM University of Management and Economics and a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Vilnius University.

Anthie has a multidisciplinary academic background with studies in translation, communication, adult education and natural language processing (NLP). Her research interests focus equally on domain and methodology aspects, including the complementarity of mixed social research methods with NLP approaches in VET.

Since 2020, she is part of the team on VET policies and systems and coordinates its work on monitoring progress toward EU priorities in VET, as set in the Council recommendation for VET and the Osnabrück Declaration, in the EU-27, Norway and Iceland.

Irene is in charge of Cedefop’s “European VET Teachers Survey (EVTS): Supporting teachers’ professional development in VET schools”. A novel survey to furnish new robust data on the opportunities, challenges and effectiveness of teachers’ professional development in Europe. She also co-manages a research project on Digital skills for tomorrow: promoting inclusive excellence in VET to map and assess the current landscape of digital skills provision by employing natural language processing (NLP) techniques.

She is the creator of Cedefop’s knowledge hub on inclusion: the “VET toolkit for tackling early leaving” and the “VET toolkit for empowering NEETs” and coordinates the European virtual community of ambassadors for tackling early leaving.

Before joining Cedefop, she worked as education consultant at the World Bank, Washington DC Headquarters in the Human Development Network, supporting the preparation of the World Bank’s new agenda for Secondary Education.

She has published extensively in peer-reviewed academic journals on European policy in education and training, inclusive education, tackling early leaving from VET, curriculum reform, learning outcomes, and professional development of teachers and trainers.

A doctoral comparative education specialist by training (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona), Irene holds also two Master degrees, one on International Relations (Universidad de Barcelona), and another on Applied Linguistics (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). She graduated from the University Aristotle in Thessaloniki, Greece.

He has previously worked as a visiting professor at the University of Education Freiburg and as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Graz and University of Innsbruck in Austria. He received his PhD as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow in the European Doctorate in Teacher Education (EDiTE).