On the islands of the Serenissima — Horizon partner meeting

Great progress was reported at the second project meeting of our Horizon Europe project Skills2Capabilities that took place in the uplifting surroundings in Venice.

Project partners of the Skills2Capabilities research project, coor­di­na­ted by 3s convened in Venice last week. The meeting aimed to discuss the progress achieved in all work packages and evaluate the (preli­mi­na­ry) results of the project so far. The project focuses on addres­sing the disparity between qua­li­fi­ca­ti­on supply and demand in European labour markets by examining how qua­li­fi­ca­ti­on systems can be improved.
The second physical project meeting of Skills2Capabilities opened with a keynote speech by Sandra McNally (University of Surrey and The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)), on ‘Training and Re-Skilling in the Labour Market’. Around 40 people, including con­sor­ti­um members from Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK, advisory board members and inter­na­tio­nal rese­ar­chers, followed the keynote and attended the dis­cus­sion which served as a joint reflec­tion on the keynote’s input.
Following the morning session’s keynote, dis­cus­sions centred on analysing skills policy stra­te­gies and their instru­ments as well es the respon­si­ve­ness of VET systems based on the deve­lo­p­ment of curricula in selected occu­pa­ti­ons in the par­ti­ci­pa­ting countries. The afternoon session delved into the role of career ori­en­ta­ti­on and lifelong guidance and discussed funding mecha­nisms for VET and adult learning, empha­si­zing the need to consider equality of access, the impact of funding struc­tures on training volumes, and delinea­ting funding changes from policy shifts.
Simultaneously to the afternoon session a public event organized by our Italian partner (University of Padova) in col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with the Regional School Office for Veneto was held, focusing on coun­sel­ling and ori­en­ta­ti­on acti­vi­ties in Italian lower secondary schools.
The second day of the meeting started with a keynote speech by Giulia Santangelo (Cedefop) on the two waves of the ‘Cedefop European skills and jobs survey’ on the skill requi­re­ments, skill mis­mat­ches and initial and con­ti­nuing learning of adult workers in EU labour markets. The con­sor­ti­um members used the oppor­tu­ni­ty to raise in-depth questions regarding this inte­re­st­ing data source.
The sessions following the keynote focused on under­stan­ding regional struc­tu­ral changes and analysing job adver­ti­se­ment data to com­pre­hend shifts in skill demands, with dis­cus­sions high­light­ing indi­ca­tors for regional analysis and the impact of labour market dynamics on skill requi­re­ments. As well as drivers and effects of skills mismatch were examined through the capa­bi­li­ty approach, exploring factors con­tri­bu­ting to mis­mat­ches and con­side­ring sub­jec­ti­ve measures alongside job tenure, gender dif­fe­ren­ces, and retro­s­pec­ti­ve per­spec­ti­ves to under­stand skill alignment and the oppor­tu­ni­ty aspect of voca­tio­nal choices.
We extend our gratitude to all par­ti­ci­pan­ts for engaging in this lively event, espe­ci­al­ly the University of Padova for their hos­pi­ta­li­ty, and look forward to further nurturing the exchange of ideas on labour shortages and skill mis­mat­ches within the Skills2Capabilities project.