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​​#HotlineCohesion: Cohesion Policy for a Young and Green Future

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Local, but European. Practical, but inspiring. #HotlineCohesion brings you the most interesting youth opportunities linked to EU Cohesion Policy. 

The many opportunities for youth employment and green transition offered by Cohesion Policy require appropriate visibility, especially amongst the youth. Widespread information makes sure that opportunities reach their target, and that the future is shaped to the needs of those who will live in it. 
Every week the AER will publish its series #HOTLINE COHESION with information concerning new funding opportunities and participatory processes open to youth in your regions!

Youth unemployment is a longstanding challenge for Europe

High youth unemployment in Europe has been a persistent issue for the last decades. Post-pandemic figures show that, as of October 2021, 2.905 million youth (under 25) were NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) in the EU and the youth unemployment rate was 15.9%. Unless appropriate measures are taken, more and more young people may disengage from active job search, and they may grow distant from the political and social life of their communities.

The EU response to youth unemployment

This issue becomes even more relevant in light of the new Cohesion policy 2021-27, especially when it comes to relaunching local economies and jobs which have been largely affected by the pandemic. The new policy provides several novelties such as the new European Social Fund+ and the Youth Employment Initiative, and the Just Transition Fund – which are further reinforced through the financial support coming through Recovery and Resilience Facility and REACT-EU as part of the Recovery Plan for Europe.

The youth action for a green and fair future

On their side, young citizens lead the protests asking for concrete actions to be taken to fight climate change, protect biodiversity and safeguard their future. With the adoption of the European Green Deal, the EU made the response to these requests its highest priority, setting the ambitious goal of becoming the first climate-neutral continent in the world by 2050 while reducing greenhouse gas emission by 55% by 2030. When it comes to climate change, Cohesion policy is key as it provides the place-based framework and the financial support needed to ensure that a ‘just’ and ‘sustainable transition becomes an opportunity for European regions.

Youth for a Just Transition

The magnitude of the transition requires the active involvement of the young generations, as those mostly concerned by the transition. ‘Youth for a Just Transition: A Toolkit for a Youth Participation in the Just Transition Fund’ promoted by the European Commission highlights that young people’s participation in the transition process is essential because:

  • They have the ‘right to participate’ in decisions concerning their future;
  • They own ‘valuable ideas and skills’ that should be applied to develop a sustainable transition path and solutions to possible challenges;
  • They can foster the ‘intergenerational dimension’ of the transition raising the awareness of their local peers about its reasons and consequences;
  • ‘Achieving a successful transition‘ requires providing ‘sufficient opportunities and good alternative jobs for young people’.

The Commission is also putting its money where its mouth is, fostering concrete actions to ensure meaningful participation of the youth in the transition process with calls for proposals such as ‘EUTEENS4GREEN’ (coming up soon in our #HotlineCohesion).

On its side, at AER we recognise the major importance to build upon the space that the transition provides for actions that are explicitly targeted to (re)launch youth employment in the context of a future and green economy and society. YOUTHopia is our space to make cohesion real for the NextGeneration. 

See you next week at #HotlineCohesion!

The Youthopia Project is co-funded by the Directorate General for Regional and Urban policy (DG REGIO) of the European Commission.

Read more about #HotlineCohesion and #YOUTHopia:

#HotlineCohesion - European Solidarity Corps: the difference that matters.

#HotlineCohesion – European Solidarity Corps: the difference that matters.

Local, but European. Practical, but inspiring. #HotlineCohesion brings you the most interesting youth opportunities linked to EU Cohesion Policy. Opportunities ...
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#HotlineCohesion - Get back on track with ALMA!

#HotlineCohesion – Get back on track with ALMA!

Local, but European. Practical, but inspiring. #HotlineCohesion brings you the most interesting youth opportunities linked to EU Cohesion Policy. Opportunities ...
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#HotlineCohesion: EUTeens4Green - Youth Ways for a Just Transition

#HotlineCohesion: EUTeens4Green – Youth Ways for a Just Transition

Local, but European. Practical, but inspiring. #HotlineCohesion brings you the most interesting youth opportunities linked to EU Cohesion Policy. HOW ...
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#HotlineCohesion: <strong>The IVY League of Volunteering</strong>

#HotlineCohesion: The IVY League of Volunteering

Local, but European. Practical, but inspiring. #HotlineCohesion brings you the most interesting youth opportunities linked to EU Cohesion Policy. The ...
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#HotlineCohesion: Call from Interreg Europe - Sharing Solutions for Better Regional Policies

#HotlineCohesion: Call from Interreg Europe – Sharing Solutions for Better Regional Policies

Local, but European. Practical, but inspiring. #HotlineCohesion brings you the most interesting youth opportunities linked to EU Cohesion Policy. Are ...
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#HotlineCohesion: Youth4Regions, the programme for young journalists - Make Europe, do journalism.

#HotlineCohesion: Youth4Regions, the programme for young journalists – Make Europe, do journalism.

Local, but European. Practical, but inspiring. #HotlineCohesion brings you the most interesting youth opportunities linked to EU Cohesion Policy. The ...
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​​#HotlineCohesion: Cohesion Policy for a Young and Green Future

​​#HotlineCohesion: Cohesion Policy for a Young and Green Future

Local, but European. Practical, but inspiring. #HotlineCohesion brings you the most interesting youth opportunities linked to EU Cohesion Policy. The ...
Read More
YOUTHopia is Real: Discover how a pan-European communication campaign is built

YOUTHopia is Real: Discover how a pan-European communication campaign is built

YOUTHopia is a pan-European communication campaign that will engage five EU regions in bringing Cohesion Policy closer to their young ...
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[Partner Search] Erasmus+ VET & Learning Mobility Grants

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Is your region or are organisations in your region looking to upscale exchanges and mobility schemes to foster upskilling, employability prospects and internationalisation?

The Public Service of Employment of Catalonia (SOC) is looking to establish reciprocity-based, long-term cooperation schemes, as well as explore other cooperation agreements, with the aim to send and host students and teachers carrying out a learning mobility experience.

SOC has been accredited by the Spanish Erasmus+ National Agency (SEPIE) as coordinator of an Erasmus+ VET consortium to promote mobility among teachers and students of professional employment courses ­– targeted at both unemployed and employed citizens.

Under this framework, SOC coordinates the ITER mobility project, a partnership of 28 Catalan VET centres which has been granted over 150 students’ mobility grants in the next years (under KA121 Erasmus+ VET calls) to carry out traineeship and job-shadowing experiences.

The ITER Mobility Project

The main objective of ITER mobility is to support participants on the mobility journey to ensure the growth of their employability by upskilling their personal and professional skills through a mobility experience abroad.

  • Student mobilities: three-months mobilities 
  • Teacher mobilities: 7 – 10 days 

At the moment, a call is now open for hosting partners to co-organise 115 mobilities by August 2023. You can find at this link the list of professional certificates which have been prioritised by the members of the consortium for the present call.

What we are looking for…

...reliable and enduring hosting partners for our Erasmus+ VET project to:

  • Host VET students in companies that offer quality traineeship  placements 
  • Organise job shadowing experiences for our VET teachers 
  • Support them finding accommodation 
  • Support finding or organising a language course, if required 
  • Project documents management support 
  • Emergency contact, if needed 

What we offer…

…a reciprocity-based cooperation scheme:

  • We are a reliable hosting partner with a strong company network in  Catalunya willing to host as many Erasmus+ students/teachers as we send you 
  • We give support finding accommodation to your Erasmus+  participants hosted in Catalunya 
  • We ensure all documents are taken into account 
  • Support and guidance along the mobility cycle 

If your region/organisation is interested in joining the ITER mobility project or discussing further cooperation options, please contact Anna Comacchio (AER Project and Policy Manager): 

[email protected]

(Deadline: 15 November 2022)

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Skills for the Bioeconomy @AER Summer Academy in Donegal

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The ambition of the AER Working Group on the Bioeconomy is to create a community amongst European regions to share challenges, and opportunities, and create the ground for future partnerships and projects.

Youth at the heart of the shift to green gold

On the occasion of the AER Summer Academy in Ireland, the AER working group on the Bioeconomy facilitated a workshop with young people, to challenge the current situation and ask how the bioeconomy can become the green gold for a sustainable future.

Getting the opportunity to increase knowledge and awareness around the challenges in the field of agriculture, especially for youth, was a wonderful and rewarding experience. The discussions and conversations we had during as well as after the workshop were very interesting, I learned that youth in other regions face many of the same challenges as we do in Norway with the low profitability, lack of free time and challenges with recruitment and finding substitute workforce when needed. In addition to the aforementioned challenges which I believe are essential to overcome for farming to become more attractive for the future generations, this workshop made me reflect a lot upon the importance of giving young farmers opportunities for development such through exchange programs. I brought this perspective with me into many conversations, and hopefully, it will lead to facilitation of such opportunities in the nearest future in my own and other regions.

Sigrun Myrvang, youth representative, Innlandet (NO)

Indeed sustainability has three pillars: economic, social, and environmental.

In an increasingly resource-scarce world, we want to lift and empower youths and young leaders, through our democratic institutions and build tolerance for each other’s needs. I think young people see this more clearly than previous generations

Aud Hove, Chair of the AER Working Group on the Bioeconomy

The AER Summer Academy: a forum for exchanges

The AER Summer Academy is a forum for exchanges of experience when it comes to regional development and expertise in Europe.

Objectives:

  • Promoting regional democracy and the principle of subsidiarity.
  • Providing an opportunity for regional representatives to build networks with their counterparts across wider Europe.
  • Fostering interregional cooperation.
  • Promoting European integration, identity and sense of belonging among young people.
  • Facilitating exchanges of experience and good practices between regions, policy-makers and young people.
  • Supporting mutual learning.

The European Year of youth: an opportunity to reframe policies

The 2022 edition of the AER Summer Academy was a very special edition. Indeed, this was the first in-person edition since the COVID-19 pandemic. As has been shown since, the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on youth. The event taking place during the European Year of Youth, was an opportunity to reframe policies and policymaking. This was the opportunity to make mobility and exchanges with peers across Europe possible again. To listen to young voices, and learn to listen better too.

Skills & the bioeconomy

The bioeconomy covers all sectors and systems that rely on biological resources. It spans over sectors as diverse as food, construction, energy and waste management. In the context of societal challenges such as climate change, food security, energy independence and environmental sustainability, the bioeconomy is deemed to generate solutions for a better use of resources, life-cycle management and the development of new materials.

Because the industries in the bioeconomy, the value chains, the collaborations between stakeholders are new, there are major challenges in terms of skills: both to develop the right skills and to attract & retain skills in the industry.

The workshop looked specifically at food and food production for the future, with sustainability and security as the tagline. A key focus was on young voices in relation to food production and education, innovation and recruitment.

Speakers:

Upcoming activities of the working group

The Working Group will organise an experience-sharing workshop on the sides of the AER Bureau meeting in December. The exact date of the workshop will be communicated ASAP

Regions interested in the topic, could be specifically interested in the following event which take place in the context of the European Week of Regions:

  •  Food 2030: Regions as agents of change for sustainable food systems and biobased solutions
    Region Värmland invited the CEO of Paper Province, a cluster organization, to present their experience in the transition to biobased solutions. The session will provide feedback on the Food 2030 policy and emphasise the role of regions in the green transition through a bioeconomic lens. The participatory lab will focus on food and sustainable food production. It will also be an opportunity to provide feedback on food systems and bio-based solutions directly to representatives from the European Commission.

If you would like to be informed about the activities of the Working Group on the Bioeconomy, please fill in this questionnaire (3 questions + contact details), it is possible to join anytime!

Photo taken in Donegal by Ainars Djatlevskis on Unsplash

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Interview with Aud Hove, Chair of the AER Working Group on the Bioeconomy

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How exchanging experiences with other regions leverages knowledge and the ability to create impact: the Chair of the newly created working group on the bioeconomy & skills, Aud Hove, Innlandet (NO), shares about her motivation for setting up a working group within the AER network.

Can you please introduce yourself?

My name is Aud Hove, I serve as the deputy county mayor in Innlandet county, Norway. I come from a small mountainous village and municipality, named Skjåk, but due to my occupation, I currently live in Lillehammer. I have always been interested in bio-based business and nature management.

In Norway we have a saying “from the earth to the table” not different from EU new initiative Farm to Fork, emphasizing that value chains must play together and do no significant harm to others or the environment.

Our region, Innlandet needs our farmers and we need the industry so that people get what they need for a living. At the same time, I also believe that we must change some of our habits and consumption. Norway, Europe, and the western world consume far more than we produce and it is not sustainable in the long run.

What motivated you in launching the working group on the bioeconomy & skills?

The bioeconomy is both the past and the future. We have always harvested from the wood and fields, but oil, gas and coal have taken up too much space in the last decade.

I’m convinced that collaboration, experience sharing, knowledge, and research and education it is the key to success.

Aud Hove, Chair of the AER Working Group on the Bioeconomy

The value chain in biomass and green carbon can be used more sustainably, wisely while we at the same time look for new products fit for green Innlandet and Europe.  

I’m convinced that collaboration, experience sharing, knowledge, and research and education it is the key to success. Bioeconomy, and circular economy is not only necessary for a green transition, but also our green gold, our future livelihood. 

What do you want to achieve with this working group?

Innlandet and Norway cannot solve global environmental challenges alone.

As emphasised in the Paris Agreement, the EU Green Deal, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, international collaboration and solutions are needed. Sharing good examples and tackling common challenges across national borders is a part of Innlandet’s strategy.

We want to create a common understanding of different opportunities and challenges, by learning from others and sharing our best practices. Developing and improving the bioeconomy is part of the solution for climate and environment, and I think Innlandet has expertise and know-how which we can share with the rest of Europe.  

What will the working group do in the coming months?

Our ambition is to create a community amongst European regions to share challenges, opportunities and maybe future partnerships and projects.

First we will facilitate a workshop on the occasion of the AER Summer Academy in Ireland with young people, where we will challenge the current situation and ask how the bioeconomy can become our green gold in a sustainable future. Indeed sustainability has three pillars: economic, social, and environmental. All three pillars must be weighted equally to get a fair distribution and a future in harmony. In an increasingly resource-scarce world, we want to lift and empower youths and young leaders, through our democratic institutions and build tolerance for each other’s needs. I think young people see this more clearly than previous generations.

Second, we are planning a meeting of the working group on the side of the AER General Assembly, during the European Week of Cities and regions, the second week of October 2022. This meeting will be focused on experience exchange.

In Spring 2023, we want to organise an online activity around project development.

Another activity we will carry out is the mapping of the specificities of each region and their good practices as a basis for matchmaking, study visits, potential projects

If this collaboration with other regions was a film, what would be the title?

“Together we can build a better and greener future”

Or: “Leapfrogging green bio-based transitions –  A tale of European Regions”  

Thank you Aud Hove for the interview!

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Making TVET more attractive for Women!

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Technical vocational education and training provide concrete opportunities for inclusion by developing innovative curricula matching rapidly changing societal needs and fostering life-long learning opportunities. Yet, the sector has been for long time predominately male centred making the need to counter the gender-bias and gender-stereotypes in the sector a foremost priority for a renewed TVET system as urged by the European Parliament in the resolution of 17 December 2020 and promoted by the SKILLNET Alliance.

This is why the Assembly of European Regions in cooperation with its member regions and leading experts of the TVET sector organised a mutual-learning session aimed at sharing good practices for improving the attractiveness of technical vocational education and training for women. The event was part of a webinar series that AER organised in the framework of the Erasmus+ SKILLNET project.

Combating gender stereotypes

The session started with key insights from Alexia Fafara, Junior Policy and Campaigns Officer at the European Women’s Lobby, sharing concrete actions that the TVET system shall undertake in order to combat gender stereotypes and foster gender-inclusive TVET programmes. Among this:

  • Removing sexist content from textbooks
  • Setting up complaint mechanisms
  • Providing training on unconscious biases & equality issues

Additionally, existing tools and good practices were shared to inspire other practitioners and TVET providers in the development of similar programmes.

EU co-founded actions – The Gender+ project

Michael Miller, Project Officer at the The Opportunity Centre, presented the European project Gender+ founded by the Erasmus+ programme and implemented in partnership with six organisations from six European countries.

As part of the project, experts developed governance and benchmarking tools to improve gender inclusivity in vocational education and training:

  • Gender positive character: setting the minimum requirements for organisations in order to consider their provisions gender positive.
  • Gender footprint benchmarking tool: for VET practitioners to assess their current services and then track improvement. This is achieved through incentivised guidance and support which highlights how VET organisations can evidence and improve provisions to meet the Charter’s minimum requirements.
  • Gender champion skill profile for the development of a ‘Gender Champion’ role. Through this, the project demonstrates the value for VET organisations in dedicating permanent time and resource to gender issues.

Regional good practice from the Hampshire (GB) – Women in Construction

The final presentation of the event shield light on how regions can create life-changing opportunities for women through TVET programmes. Carolyn Jay Project Manager in the Skills, Partnerships and Strategy Team of the Hampshire County Council, presented the story of Natalie, who, thanks to the CSCS local re-training programme accomplished her professional aspiration starting her career in the construction sector.

As to the final remarks, experts highlighted the need to provide real incentives to ensure that more inclusive policies and TVET programmes are properly implemented. You can rewatch the full webinar on YouTube.

Available EU Funding Opportunities and Initiatives

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Proposal for a Working Group on Bioeconomy adopted

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The Executive Board which took place on 23 March 2022 adopted the proposal for the creation of an AER working group on the Bioeconomy.

The proposal is led by Innlandet (NO) and is supported by Lower Austria (AU), Gelderland (NL), Värmland (SE).

Skills & knowledge at the heart of the development of the Bioeconomy

It is estimated that the bioeconomy contributes to almost 9% of the EU-27 labour force and 4.7% of the EU-27 GDP1. As a concrete operationalisation of the bioeconomy, more than 2,300 bio-based plants have been mapped by the Joint Research Centre across Europe.

To fully reap the economic, social and environmental benefits of the bioeconomy, dedicated bioeconomy strategies, investments and innovation are required at all levels in the EU. That is why the updated European Bioeconomy Strategy of 2018 states the need for the development of national and regional bioeconomy strategies.

However, this needs heavy investment in knowledge, competency, and know-how and collaboration with vocational education and the industry. There is a need to recruit, train, retain skills, in particular in rural areas, where the industries are located.

Proposed activities

The main goal of the working group is to share knowledge, experience, and best practises. Other activities may be included, such as:

  • Arrange events in Europe through AER, on the topic of the bioeconomy, with a “glocal” focus
  • Develop policy briefs, best practices, and research/insight.
  • Develop small scale projects and large-scale projects such as CoVE

The Working Group is open to all AER members

If you are interested in collaborating with this working group, please fill in this short questionnaire so we know you better and can contact you. Working groups are exclusively for AER members. If you have any questions, you can contact AER Coordinator for Policy & Knowledge Exchange Johanna Pacevicius.

Next steps

A first meeting will soon be convened and announced on the AER website, to get to know each other, specify interests, identify joint activities, agree on collaboration, and chose a Chair for the working group.

The proposal, which was adopted by the AER Executive Board can be found here.

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Social Inclusion in TVET and Skills Development

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Education and training play a crucial role in fostering social inclusion providing concrete opportunities for skills development that lead to individuals’ self-affirmation and the creation of diversified learning environments. Yet, rapid and increasing societal changes – as demographic trends, globalisation, and climate change – are bringing about an in-depth transformation of the economy and the labour market that often results in further constraints to inclusion and the societal wellbeing. This becomes even more relevant in the context of the pandemic, which has called for an increasing adoption of digital solutions.  

In the context of the Skillnet project co-founded by the Erasmus+ Programme, the Assembly of European Regions organised a webinar to address this key issue. The event was held on June 23rd and gathered regional authorities, European policymakers, and international experts of the TVET sector to learn about the framework established by the European Union to promote inclusion in technical and vocational education, as well as to exchange good practices of innovative TVET programmes and projects addressing social inclusion.

The European Framework for Social Inclusion in Education, Training, and Life-long Learning

As presented by Joao Santos, Senior Expert at the European Commission, inclusive skills development provides a concrete opportunity to foster individuals’ capacity to fully participate in the society.  Accordingly, the need to promote inclusive skills development and an inclusive VET framework has been reflected in the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan endorsed at the Social Summit in Porto on 7-8 May 2021, as well as the Council Recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience of November 2020.     

At the same time, the European Union provides funding opportunities to support the development of inclusive TVET programmes. Specifically, fostering inclusion and diversity remains a key transversal priority of the new Erasmus+ Programme. Additionally, with the inclusion of the ‘small-scale’ projects, the new programme seeks to reach people and organisations that could not benefit from this funding before through a novel framework for simplified projects with reduced financial and administrative requirements. Lastly, increasing importance is given to local and transnational multi-stakeholders partnerships for developing inclusive excellence in learning. The Centres of Vocational Excellence initiative is aimed at supporting the development of multi-stakeholders partnerships at a global level involving policy-makers, employment agencies, regional development authorities, VET institutions, universities, research centres, companies, NGOs and CSOs for the development of joint actions and programmes that are interlinked with the local strategic development objectives and the social context. Hence, the initiative supports the integration of VET in the local territorial strategy by learning and connecting with networks across the world.

To know more about the EU framework to support social inclusion in TVET and learn about the good practices shared during the event, access the speakers’ presentations and/or the full recording of the webinar!

Available EU Funding Opportunities and Initiatives

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Technical Vocational Education & Training and Civic Participation

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Civic participation is a process in which people take collective action to address issues of public concern and can adopt many forms: from individual volunteering, community engagement efforts and organisational involvement to governmental support. With regard to governments, effectively engaging with stakeholders translates into better services, source ideas and knowledge, co-creation solutions and seizing new opportunities.

In the context of its participation in the Skillnet project, AER organised a webinar on the ways in which societies can improve civic participation in a qualitative way, by involving young people from more diverse backgrounds

High-quality civic participation is inclusive by design

To achieve high-quality civic participation, it is crucial to make sure to involve all regional stakeholders. Research shows there is a large participation gap between college students and other young people.

This webinar was facilitated by Aurora Carrasco Minguez, VET programmes Manager at Acción contra el Hambre. The event focused on the factors that can improve the civic participation of people in technical and vocational education.

Civic competences and lifelong learning

To provide insights on how to bridge civic participation and various forms of education Andrei Frank, Policy Officer SOLIDAR Foundation, shared the results of the 2020 Solidar Monitor, a research report on the topic of policy developments in the field of attainment of skills, through lifelong learning, for active participation in society.

This report looked at green and digital citizenship in Europe and beyond. It examined in particular how multistakeholder partnerships are beneficial to develop policies linked to this type of competences. Indeed both green and digital competences imply lifelong and holistic elements. These competences need to be constantly updated.

In order to ensure more inclusive and wider civic participation, multistakeholder partnerships across ministries and across society are needed to ensure this constant updating of civic competences. Partnerships between formal and non-formal education are needed

Good learning environments for all for better participation

Simon Johnson, Chair of the AER Working Group on Education and Acting Mayor of Nordland County (NO) shared the experience of his region. He explained that offering the possibility to all to participate in society is part of the political guidelines underpinning Nordland’s policymaking and which are based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Simon Johnson presented the way in which politcal goals are translated into strategy making processes and result in practices, which aim to provide all students, apprentices and trainees with a good learning environment. This entails measures aimed at promoting good health, wellbeing and learning and leads to building great life skills. Nordland is specifically targetting young people who are not enrolled in ordinary upper secondary education. One of the ways in which the region does this, is through the development of partnerships with businesses.

In order to foster civic participation skills such as critical thinking and ethical acting together with environmental awareness are embedded in the Norwegian Education Law. This means pupils have the possibility to participate in the classroom, at the level of the school as well as at local and national level. Other measures specifically target bullying.

This practice shows how building inclusive learning environments for all, with an approach that includes health and wellbeing, as well as providing structures for young people to participate in decision making -thus providing a space to build civic participation competences- contribute to foster more inclusive civic participation.

Building the TVET voice through the Peer Learning Clubs

In the context of the Skillnet project, TVET stakeholders are invited to share their views and experiences in the Peer Learning Clubs, in order to shape policy recommendations.

Maria Elena Romanini, Project Manager for the Skillnet project presented the Peer Learning Clubs. These four focus groups bring together experts from different backgrounds (TVET providers, companies, government representatives, and individuals) who engage regularly in the discussion of four TVET-related topics through online and on-site activities, with a bottom-up approach.

The four topics are:

PLC1 – Advanced Manufacturing Sector (sectoral dimension)
PLC2 – Advocacy & Policy Influencing (empowerment and social equity dimension)
PLC3 – Work-based learning and standards (QA and curricular dimension)
PLC4 – Train the trainers (operational dimension)

These Peer Learning Clubs are open to all interested stakeholders (see Skillnet website to join)

EU opportunities related to multistakeholder partnerships, civic participation and TVET

Get involved in the Conference on the Future of Europe!

Register to the European Week of Regions and Cities (11-14 October 2021)

Join the 2021 SKILLMAN INTERNATIONAL FORUM (15-18 November 2021)

The EU Youth Strategy: https://europa.eu/youth/strategy_en

The European Training calendar (ETC): Trainings within the Erasmus+ Youth in Action Programme, European Solidarity Corps and beyond: https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/european-training-calendar/

SALTO-Youth, Support, Advanced Learning and Training Opportunities for Youth: https://www.salto-youth.net/about/

European Solidarity Corps: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity

Erasmus+ Programme Guide: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/node_en

Erasmus+ Programme Guide, Youth Participation Activities: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/programme-guide/part-b/key-action-1/youth-participation-activities_en

[FORTHCOMING – January 2022] HORIZON EUROPE Call for Grants ‘The Future of Democracy and Civic Participation‘

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Public consultation on Education for Environmental Sustainability

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The European Commission has opened up an open public consultation to feed into a proposal for a Council Recommendation on Education for Environmental Sustainability later this year. The Recommendation will deal with all types and levels of education, including vocational education and training (VET) and Adult Learning (AL).

Education to support the goals of the Green Deal

Through the Green Deal, the EU is taking action to fight climate change and encourage all citizens to work towards a greener and more sustainable Europe. Education and training are key, helping citizens and local communities to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for this transition. This survey aims at gathering ideas and views from individuals and organisations on this initiative, which is scheduled for adoption by the Commission in autumn 2021

AER members and partners working in the field of education are warmly invited to complete the survey and send in position papers to help us the European Commission to gather expert views and strengthen their evidence base.

The European Commission would like to hear the views of citizens, educators, researchers, governmental and non-governmental organisations (international, European, national, regional, and local) as well as education and training stakeholders. It is possible to respond to the public consultation in a personal or organisational/institutional capacity by filling in the questionnaire. Registered stakeholder organisations can also submit a position paper.

In light of the activities carried out in the past year on the topic of skills in the context of the Skillnet project, in which AER has been organising a series of webinars, it has become quite clear that this topic is of utmost importance for regional stakeholders.

LINK TO THE CONSULTATION

DEADLINE: 24 September 2021

Photo by kazuend on Unsplash

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Skills for Effective Innovation Ecosystems

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Article by Sandra Evans, Project Coordinator at Universität Tübingen.

It is not a secret anymore that open innovation ecosystems provide optimal conditions for creating new value. But what makes innovation ecosystems effective, or how are effective innovation ecosystems created? This important question was the topic of a panel discussion organised by the Assembly of European Regions (AER) as part of a set of very topical webinars organised within the Erasmus+ Skillnet project on enabling multi-stakeholder approaches to help build more innovative societies.

As we all have witnessed in the past year, a crisis can be an incredible driver for innovation by honing in on the most pressing issues. With the COVID-19 pandemic the overall mission was to reduce the number of infected persons and reach herd immunity. Accordingly, a diversity of stakeholders were able to very quickly align under a clear common goal and effect respective contributions. What the Coronavirus crisis also revealed was that governments and private companies were able to effectively work together in order to produce and certify vaccines in record time. However, what are the conditions that facilitate and optimize innovation activities?

Arnault Morrison, thematic expert on research and innovation at the Policy Learning Platform (PLP) of Interreg Europe, presented five actionable policy recommendations from a diversity of policy briefs published by the PLP. All are indeed key prerequisites for regions to benefit from sustainable innovation and resulting economic development:

  1. understand regional institutional context (especially the strengths and weaknesses)
  2. promote the diffusion of technology (rather than the invention of new)
  3. promote interregional learning and collaboration (i.a. by sharing good practices)
  4. promote an entrepreneurial mindset and startups (and decrease risk averseness)
  5. form a regional task force for regional skills assessment.

In addition, two regions elucidated their approaches towards building efficacy in two topically different ecosystems. Agneta Kardos from the Timiș County Council in Romania focused on how interregional learning and collaboration was crucial in building the local (informal) health and social care ecosystem. The presentation very nicely demonstrates that the process takes time, requires perseverance as well as a framework for exchange and learning. This framework was provided by different European funding instruments (primarily Interreg programs), which since 2008 have not only evolved with respect to terminology and approaches (e.g., moving from triple towards quadruple helix approaches) on the topic of aging populations, but also have been able to help build trust and a multi-stakeholder dialogue in the Timiș region.

Christiane Egger, deputy manager at the Upper Austrian Regional Energy Agency, shared her experiences from the energy transition in her region. One of the key pillars in the transition was the formal network of energy and environmental businesses, namely the Cleantech Cluster Upper Austria, which engaged in dialogue with policy makers. The mission of the energy transition has a clear message: to reach climate neutrality by 2050. In order to reach this mission, the agency takes on the role as orchestrator of the formal/informal and narrow/broad innovation networks and uses the carrot (financial incentives) – stick (regulatory framework) policy approach, which they have amended to include tambourines (dissemination and awareness raising) and a skateboard (innovation to speed up the process).

Ultimately, all speakers in their presentations and the ensuing discussion highlighted communication and connectedness as central to the innovation process and creating effective open innovation ecosystems.

Identifying and understanding the strengths and weaknesses in the respective regions, as the first recommendation by Arnault Morrison puts forward, provides the necessary base for formulating clear common goals and missions to guide policy priorities. While this seems trivial, it is absolutely crucial and will help to guide innovation activities by better understanding the actual needs and demands and thus, better being able to match demand and supply.

It is not easy to bring different stakeholders to the proverbial table, yet this can be instructive to everyone involved. Within the framework of the Interreg Europe project ACSELL, the SCIROCCO Exchange Tool was identified as a good practice to assess the readiness for demand-driven innovation in regions or ecosystems (https://www.interregeurope.eu/policylearning/good-practices/item/5304/scirocco-exchange-tool-to-assess-readiness-for-demand-driven-innovation/). This tool facilitates and structures the multi-stakeholder dialogue around 12 dimensions and helps to identify strengths and weaknesses. An improved understanding of the local needs and context as well as structured dialogue with all stakeholders is an important first step to creating effective innovation ecosystems.

Available EU funding opportunities and initiatives:

Picture by Romain Tordo from Unslpash.

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REGISTRATION OPEN: Social Inclusion in TVET and Skill Development – Leaving No-one Behind

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TVET policies and programmes are of core importance to ensure that all people can enjoy inclusive skill development leading to both individuals’ affirmation and the creation of diversified learning environments.  As reported by Srinvas Reddy, Chief of the ILO Skills and Employability Branch, “inclusive skills development and lifelong learning opportunities are vital to prevent people from being left behind, to maintain people’s employability, and to ensure that economies and enterprises recover promptly from the crisis”.  (Guide on making TVET and skills development inclusive for all, ILO Skills and Employability Branch, 2020).

Yet, as a result of rapid and increasing societal changes – as the digital transformation, climate change, globalisation and demographic trends – in-depth transformation have been taking place in the labour market creating further constraints to inclusion and societal wellbeing. This condition has been further amplified by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the creation of the so called ‘lockdown generation’.

The AER has been actively working on societal challenges throughout the past years. In 2018, it adopted a Position to express the need for new solutions (societal innovation) to societal and territorial challenges while ensuring quality public services and jobs.

In this context, public authorities, VET experts, and civil society organisations have a primary role in re-defining and improving the TVET system at the local level and developing societal innovation to ensure that learning opportunities address everyone’s needs and specific conditions.

The webinar aims to contribute to foster inclusive TVET systems and skill development by offering first hand insights from the European Commission, as well as a space for the exchange of knowledge and practices among policymakers, VET experts and practitioners.

The event will be held on June 23rd from 10 to 11 am CET. Visit the EVENT PAGE to access the agenda and register to the webinar!

The event IS part of the Skillnet webinar series AER is organising, which provides an opportunity for mutual learning around topics identified by AER members.

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Social Inclusion in TVET and Skill Development – Leaving No-one Behind

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TVET policies and programmes are of core importance to ensure that all people can enjoy inclusive skill development leading to both individuals’ affirmation and the creation of diversified learning environments.  As reported by Srinvas Reddy, Chief of the ILO Skills and Employability Branch, “inclusive skills development and lifelong learning opportunities are vital to prevent people from being left behind, to maintain people’s employability, and to ensure that economies and enterprises recover promptly from the crisis”.  (Guide on making TVET and skills development inclusive for all, ILO Skills and Employability Branch, 2020).

 

Yet, as a result of rapid and increasing societal changes – as the digital transformation, climate change, globalisation and demographic trends – in-depth transformation have been taking place in the labour market creating further constraints to inclusion and societal wellbeing. This condition has been further amplified by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the creation of the so called ‘lockdown generation’.

 

The AER has been actively working on societal challenges throughout the past years. In 2018, it adopted a Position to express the need for new solutions (societal innovation) to societal and territorial challenges while ensuring quality public services and jobs.

 

In this context, public authorities, VET experts, and civil society organisations have a primary role in re-defining and improving the TVET system at the local level and developing societal innovation to ensure that learning opportunities address everyone’s needs and specific conditions.

 

The webinar aims to contribute to foster inclusive TVET systems and skill development by offering first hand insights from the European Commission, as well as a space for the exchange of knowledge and practices among policymakers, VET experts and practitioners.

AGENDA: 

  • 10.00 – 10.05: Housekeeping rules and quick presentation of the Skillnet project, Valentina De Vico, Communication Manager, Skillman Team
  • 10:05 – 10:15 Opening – Social Inclusion in the TVET sector and opportunities at the EU level, Joao Santos, Senior Expert, European Commission
  • 10:15 – 10:25 Social Innovations in TVET and Inclusiveness Assessment Aurora Carrasco Minguez/Alicia Garcia-Madrid Colado, European Network of Innovation for Inclusion (ENII)
  • 10:25 – 10:35 Social Innovation Practice ‘B-WISE:  Blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills in Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs), Konstantina Leventi, European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD)
  • 10:35 – 10:45 Social Innovation Practice ‘VETEREALITY’, Massimo Aloe, REATTIVA
  • 10:45 – 10:55 Q&A
  • 10:55 – 11:00 Closing Remarks

The event is part of the Skillnet webinar series AER is organising, which provides an opportunity for mutual learning around topics identified by AER members.

You can find the presentations of the webinar here! 

 

 

 

Contacts

 [email protected]

 [email protected]

 

This webinar is organised as part of the SKILLNET series of webinars on EU funding opportunities. SKILLNET is a project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission aiming to strengthen the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system’s role and capacity to design high-quality VET programmes tailored to current societal needs through enhanced transnational and cross-sectoral partnerships.

 

Why Innovative Skills are the Catalyst for Rural Areas

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On 25 March, the Assembly of European Regions hosted the “Ambitious Skills and Innovation Strategies: A Territorial Approach” webinar. The event was part of the series of webinars on EU funding opportunities organised within the Skillnet project (co-founded by the Erasmus+ Programme) to bring together experts in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and to establish collaborations for future EU project proposals.

We are now living in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where machines and artificial intelligence play a significant role in enhancing productivity and wealth. These changes have given rise to new skills requirements and a growing skills shortage among businesses and especially SMEs, which often struggle to find the talent they require. The new skills requirements are not only limited to high-tech and manufacturing competences but also cover interpersonal skills, as well as competences related to sales, human resources, care, and education.

In the context of regional innovation strategies, rural areas should play an essential role, not just as a source of raw material and places to locate space-intensive activities, but as genuine partners and drivers of innovation. Additionally, increasing attention should be addressed to the many interdependencies between regional development policies and the skills required to sustain innovation strategies.

Interreg EU Policy Learning Platform – Support for regions in delivering better place-based policies

Existing networks and platforms offer increasing support to regional authorities across Europe to develop and deliver better policies through a territorial approach. Among these, Elena Ferrario, Thematic Manager of the Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform (PLP), presented the services of the PLP as online learning, events, and personalised policy advice through a free on-demand peer review service. The latter is a service offered to local, regional, and national policy makers who seek advice on a specific policy framework through the design of a two-day knowledge-exchange experience with experts and peers. The cooperative approach within the Interreg community allows to identify the thematic experts who will set the to-do-list of actions within two working days (online or onsite), and after 12 to 18 months they will follow-up with the implementation results.

The application for the peer review service is open permanently and is an easy process. Interested regions can access the Terms of References and/or contact Elena Ferrario [[email protected]] to apply.

Additionally, the PLP outlines policy briefs, concise and to-the-point documents outlining recommendations and best practices for regional and local authorities and policymakers. In this context, Katharina Krell, Thematic Expert of the Interreg Europe PLP, highlighted the Skills for Innovation and Skills for Energy Transition briefs, which feature policy recommendations that draw on Interreg Europe’s experience with projects on the development of skills for innovation, and which aim to show regions a path towards better regional innovation policymaking.

Good practice from the Donegal County – Education and training for high tech skills

The ICT FinTech and engineering industries are key sectors within the Donegal County, contributing to regional development and boosting place-based innovation. To this aim, Mr. Vinny McGroary, Area Training Manager at the Donegal Education & Training Board (ETB), stated that the County encourages the continuous development of new skills through Donegal ETB. The latter provides second-level education programmes and Further Education Training which include a partnership of collaborations within the community, voluntary and private sectors, as well as with businesses.

The national strategy is focused on promoting growth through the improvement of working skills from the beginning of apprenticeships right up to the professional level. Additionally, Donegal ETB provides a number of full-time and part-time programmes for the development of skills tailored to the industry’s needs, and many of these courses are industry certified and endorsed by employers. Among these, the Skills to Advance and Skills for Work programmes are tailored to upskill people with a lower skill set and who need more opportunities to make progress in their professional careers. The Apprenticeship programme enables close collaboration with industries through a combination of learning in the workplace and education in the training centre.

The provision of these trainings focusing particularly on the ICT, FinTech, and Engineering sectors has been of core relevance to address the high rates of school drop-out. Additionally, it contributed to boost solid partnerships between people, businesses, and local organisations.

Funding incentives for territorial development

As presented by Agnese Pantaloni, EU Projects Coordinator at the Assembly of European Regions, the EU has deployed several means to support territorial development in rural areas. Among these we find:

  • The Common Agricultural Policy 2021-2027 (CAP) will be supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development which is designed to reduce economic, environmental, and social constraints in urban areas and outermost regions, fostering knowledge transfer and innovation while promoting social inclusion, and economic development.
  • Additionally, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) supports Technical Vocational Education and Training systems through investment on skills development for smart specialisation, employability, and adaptation to labour market changes.
  • The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) brings together the existing European Social Fund with the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) and the Fund for Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD). Initiatives supported through this newly established fund will likely focus on the acquisition of digital skills through schooling and education, support measures to improve the recruitment, and promote the socio-economic integration of newcomers from third countries.
  • Interreg Programmes aim at fostering a more competitive, smarter, greener, resilient and connected Europe. Interreg Programmes include cross-border, transnational, and interregional.
  • With a budget of over €28 billion, the ERASMUS+ Programme supports mobility and learning for all across the European Union and beyond. It provides opportunities for study periods abroad, traineeships, apprenticeships, and staff exchanges in all fields of education, training, youth and sport.
  • Horizon Europe finances research and innovation projects in thematic areas such as climate change, transport, health, food, agriculture, rural development, energy efficiency. Participating in Horizon Europe is open to all types of organisations based in the EU and all over the world, both public and private sector organisations, working on individual and collaborative based projects.

Where to find resources & support?

LEADER/ CLLD: European initiative that supports development projects to revitalise rural areas through bottom-up approaches.
European Network for Rural Development: Hub for sharing ideas & experiences on how rural development policies work in practice, facilitating knowledge sharing and networking among all rural stakeholders in the EU.
Smart Specialisation Platform: The platform that provides guidance and good practice examples, tools to facilitate strategy formation & mutual learning of the smart specialisation strategy (S3).
EIP-AGRI: European Innovation Partnerships that build bridges between science and practice, collecting knowledge and best practices for farmers, foresters, advisers, and others.
Policy Learning Platform: The second action of Interreg Europe programme that provides a space for continuous learning, where a network of policy makers can benefit from personalised expert advice, updated news and examples of peer-reviewed good practices.

Open and Future EU Funding Opportunities and Initiatives

To learn more, you can download the presentations from the webinar on the event webpage, and join discussions through the Peer Learning Clubs!

Photo from Unsplash @jeshoots

This webinar was organised as part of the SKILLNET series of webinars on EU funding opportunities. SKILLNET is a project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission. Through building transnational and cross-sectional partnerships, SKILLNET aims to strengthen the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system’s capacity to design high-quality VET programmes tailored to current societal needs. To this end, after each webinar, a bulletin with open and upcoming EU opportunities is circulated among relevant stakeholders.

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REGISTRATIONS OPEN: Improving the attractiveness of TVET for women

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In the context of its activities around skills and the future of work, AER has been organising a series of webinar together with partners of the Skillnet project since Spring 2020. We are very pleased to invite you to join a webinar on improving the attractiveness of TVET for women.

Important: The event has been postponed and will be held on 13 July 2021 at 10:00 CET. The change will not impact on the registrations already submitted for the initial date (19th of May) and no further action is needed by the registrants. Yet, for all those that have not registered, registrations are already open!

What about gender?

AER has been working on mainstreaming gender and equal opportunities in AER activities. This was reflected by the setting up of an Observatory on Equal Opportunities in AER more than 10 years ago, which was then turned into a Vice Presidency for Inclusion, Diversity & Equal Opportunities, currently held by Andrew Gibson, Hampshire (GB). In this context, the current focus on Technical and Vocational Education and Training provides an opportunity to look at the situation from a gender angle.

Bridging the gender gap in TVET

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training sector has a major role to play in providing the skills Europe will need in the future. Moreover, countries with well-designed vocational training programmes find it easier to avoid youth unemployment, even in times of crisis. However, this sector has traditionally been a predominantly male environment.

This is why the European Parliament underlined the need to

continue to address gender bias and gender-stereotypical choices by ensuring and encouraging the equal participation of women in vocational training for what are usually traditional ‘male’ professions and of men in ‘female’ professions; calls for the gender dimension to be reinforced in efforts to modernise VET systems and to make learning both at and outside work more accessible to women employees and those with family care duties, not least in sectors where women are under-represented, notably the digital, STEM and green sectors, in order to combat gender segregation in education and employment and combat gender stereotypes

European Parliament resolution of 17 December 2020 on the Council Recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience (2020/2767(RSP))

The event will be held on 13 July 2021 at 10:00 CET and will provide an opportunity to share regional experiences and hear about support initiatives at the EU level.

If you would like to share an example from your region, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Birgit Sandu and Johanna Pacevicius

The events are part of the Skillnet webinar series AER is organising, which provides an opportunity for mutual learning around topics identified by AER members.

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Improving the attractiveness of Technical and Vocational Education & Training for women

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We are pleased to invite you to the webinar on Improving the attractiveness of Technical and Vocational Education and Training for women.

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training sector has a major role to play in providing the skills Europe will need in the future. Moreover, countries with well-designed vocational training programmes find it easier to avoid youth unemployment, even in times of crisis. However, this sector has traditionally been a predominantly male environment.

This is why the European Parliament underlined the need to

continue to address gender bias and gender-stereotypical choices by ensuring and encouraging the equal participation of women in vocational training for what are usually traditional ‘male’ professions and of men in ‘female’ professions; calls for the gender dimension to be reinforced in efforts to modernise VET systems and to make learning both at and outside work more accessible to women employees and those with family care duties, not least in sectors where women are under-represented, notably the digital, STEM and green sectors, in order to combat gender segregation in education and employment and combat gender stereotypes

European Parliament resolution of 17 December 2020 on the Council Recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience (2020/2767(RSP))

 

The event will be held on 13 July 2021 at 10:00 CET and will give regions the chance to share insights and hear about support initiatives at EU level.

AGENDA & PRESENTATIONS: 

  • 10:00-10.05: Housekeeping rules and quick presentation of the Skillnet project, Valentina De Vico, Communication Manager, Skillman Team
  • 10:05-10:10: Opening, Andrew Gibson, AER Vice President for Inclusion, Diversity & Equal Opportunities
  • 10:10-10:20: Combating gender stereotypes, Alexia Fafara, Junior Policy and Campaigns Officer, European Women’s Lobby, SRHR lead
  • 10:20-10:30: The Gender+ project, Michael Miller, Project Officer, The Opportunity Centre
  • 10:30-10:40: Hampshire (GB) Women in Construction, Carolyn Jay Project Manager in the Skills, Partnerships and Strategy Team
  • 10:40-10:55: Discussion with all speakers and attendees
  • 10:55-11.00: Closing

The webinar is also available on Youtube

The events are part of the Skillnet webinar series AER is organising, which provides an opportunity for mutual learning around topics identified by AER members.

 

 

Contacts

 [email protected]

 [email protected]

 

This webinar is organised as part of the SKILLNET series of webinars on EU funding opportunities. SKILLNET is a project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission aiming to strengthen the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system’s role and capacity to design high-quality VET programmes tailored to current societal needs through enhanced transnational and cross-sectoral partnerships.

 

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