14 NOV 2024

Event

Seminar

VET and higher education partnerships: towards excellence and inclusive growth

17th Cedefop Brussels seminar organised in cooperation with the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU

Cedefop, together with the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, organised the 17th Cedefop Brussels seminar as a physical event. These seminars, organised in cooperation with the rotating EU Presidencies, build on the research carried out by Cedefop and address issues relevant to European debates on education, training and employment.

The 17th Cedefop Brussels seminar focused on the pivotal role of strategic partnerships between VET and higher education. The seminar explored the interlinked goals of excellence and inclusion within European VET systems, a crucial aspect for inclusive growth in the 21st century.
Building on Cedefop’s recent research, the Brussels seminar addressed the following key questions:

How can VET excellence coexist with inclusive education policies?
How can the ongoing work of the EU-27+ on implementing EU priorities improve VET pathways to higher education?
What is Hungary’s certified technician programme and how can it serve inclusion and excellence?

To provide evidence-based answers to these questions, Cedefop presented findings from its project Balancing VET excellence and inclusion. This research builds on the results of Cedefop projects The changing nature and role of VET in Europe (2015-18) and Future of VET (2019-22), both looking at the bigger picture of European VET developments. The seminar will also address how national VET systems approach these objectives, supported by Cedefop’s progress monitoring across the EU-27+, particularly through their national implementation plans (NIPs).

The meeting was followed by a light networking lunch, which provided opportunities to keep the discussion going!

The seminar was held in English and live-streamed via YouTube. .

Participation was by invitation only.

Programme (CET)

9.30-10.00	Registration of participants
10.00-10.15	Welcome and introduction to the seminar Moderator: Loukas Zahilas, Head of Department, Cedefop Dr Gergely Pálmai – Head of Department, Ministry of Culture and Innovation, Hungary Jürgen Siebel – Executive Director, Cedefop
10.15-10.30	Setting the scene: VET and higher education - the political context Chiara Riondino, Head of Unit – Vocational Education and Training, EMPL.B.3, European Commission.
10.30-11.30	Cedefop research on VET excellence and inclusion Anastasia Pouliou, Expert in qualifications and credentials – Future of VET, Cedefop Veronika Leiner, Expert, Cedefop With interactive Q&A sessions via Slido
11.30-11.45	Coffee break
11.45-12.45	Hungarian priorities and developments EU priorities regarding the development of the Hungarian VET system, Katalin Zoltan – Senior Policy Advisor, Ministry of Culture and Innovation, Hungary. Strategic partnerships between VET and higher education and the certified technician programme, Dr Gergely Pálmai – Head of Department, Ministry of Culture and Innovation, Hungary. Flexible learning pathways, Zsombor Báthy - policy officer for VET, Ministry of Culture and Innovation, Hungary. With interactive Q&A sessions via Slido
12.45-13.00	Concluding remarks and end of seminar Loukas Zahilas, Head of Department, Cedefop Dr Gergely Pálmai – Head of Department, Ministry of Culture and Innovation, Hungary Katalin Zoltan – Senior Policy Advisor, Ministry of Culture and Innovation, Hungary
13.00-14.00	Lunch
	End of the seminar

Speakers

Dr. Gergely Pálmai

Head of Department, Ministry of Culture and Innovation, Hungary

Dr. Gergely Pálmai holds a law degree and has accumulated extensive experience through various roles at the Hungarian State Audit Office over the years. Since January 15, 2023, he has been serving as the Head of the Department for VET Regulation and Governance.

Jürgen Siebel

Executive Director, Cedefop

Jürgen Siebel joined Cedefop from the private sector in September 2019 as Executive Director.

Out of Thessaloniki, Cedefop supports the development of European vocational education and training (VET) policies, skills policies, and qualifications policies, and contributes to their implementation.

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

Before joining Cedefop, Jürgen served for more than 20 years as an HR manager with global governance and business-partner responsibilities at Siemens.

Jürgen earned his MSc in Economics at the University of Hamburg, and a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Vienna.

Chiara Riondino

Head of Unit – Vocational Education and Training, EMPL.B.3, European Commission

Chiara Riondino is Head of Unit for vocational education and training in the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, where she is also responsible for skills for the green and digital transformation.

Chiara previously worked on employment policies, focusing mainly on employment opportunities and challenges in the changing world of work, active labour market policies and fair working conditions. She also worked more broadly on taking forward the European Pillar on Social Rights. Before joining the Commission, Chiara had worked in both the private and the public sector, including as Head of Unit in the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Anastasia Pouliou

Expert in qualifications and credentials - future of VET, Cedefop

Anastasia Pouliou is a Cedefop Expert in qualifications and credentials - Future of VET. She is currently leading the Agency’s research on Microcredentials for labour market education and training learning outcomes and VET excellence and inclusion for the 21st century in Europe

She is involved in other Cedefop activities (including the coordination of developments on national qualifications frameworks and the TVET-Interagency group on the Future of TVET). Before joining Cedefop she worked as an Educational Consultant in the Ministry of Education and Religious affairs and as a head of the European Affairs Unit in the Organisation for Vocational Education and Training (Greece). She has performed senior management and national coordination on Europass and Leonardo da Vinci projects and has published influential articles in academic journals. She has represented Cedefop as keynote speaker at high-level international events in Europe, USA and South Africa.

Veronika Leiner

Seconded national expert in VET policies and systems - key competences, Cedefop

Veronika Leiner is a seconded national expert at Cedefop, working in the Department for VET and qualifications (DVQ). She contributes to VET policy research and analysis, including monitoring the implementation of EU VET priorities as a country manager of four member states. She is also involved in Cedefop's key competences in VET project within DVQ.

Previously, she worked as a VET expert at the Hungarian National Office for VET and Adult Learning, where she managed the ReferNet project and contributed to the development of flexible learning pathways within VET. She holds a M.Sc. in Economics from the Budapest University of Economics Sciences, with a specialisation in Finance and Environmental Economics.

Loukas Zahilas

Head of Department for VET and Qualifications, Cedefop

Loukas Zahilas studied Chemistry and Information Technologies, and holds a PhD in educational policies (qualifications frameworks).

His more than 32 years of professional experience in education and training were mainly acquired at the Greek Ministry of Education, the University of Athens, and Cedefop.

He joined Cedefop in 2006 working initially as a senior expert on qualifications and the common EU tools, and as Head of the Department for VET and qualifications since 2014.

He is a member of Cedefop’s management team and his department’s work is based on research and analyses providing evidence on policy developments and implementation, as well as advice and support at European level.

It covers the Cedefop strategic area of ‘Shaping VET and qualifications’ aiming at improving the overall transparency, relevance, quality and inclusiveness of VET by facilitating close interaction between initial VET, continuous VET and general and higher education to serve the skills needs of all age groups at all levels.

Katalin Zoltán

Senior Policy Advisor

Ms. Katalin Zoltán has a background in education and training policy since 2000, working for Eurydice Network, Council of Europe and later in OECD projects. She supports VET and Adult Learning policy development for 13 years, her areas of expertise include basic skills data analysis, comparative policy of VET structures and bilateral development projects.

Zsombor Báthy

Policy officer for VET

Zsombor Báthy is a policy officer for VET at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation. Previously, he served as a finance advisor at the Ministry of Interior and a research assistant at Méltányosság Policy Analysis Centre. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Corvinus University of Budapest and is currently pursuing a master’s in Public Policy and Management at the Ludovika University of Public Service.