Event: The role of NGOs in ESF co-financed VET activities

The final report of a study on the role of NGOs and the impact of ESF support in the VET sector was presented in a webinar organised by the ESF+ Community of Practice on Employment, Education and Skills.

The European Social Fund+ (ESF+) Community of Practice on Employment, Education and Skills (CoP on EES) hosted an insightful online event on 11 February 2025 entitled Bridging Gaps in Vocational Training: The Role of NGOs and the Impact of ESF Support in Europe, reaching around 90 inter­na­tio­nal experts, stake­hol­ders and practitioners.

Based on a recent study, the event analysed how NGOs are using ESF+ funding to close struc­tu­ral gaps in voca­tio­nal and adult education across Europe. Case studies from Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Spain were used to discuss how these orga­ni­sa­ti­ons provide crucial support to socially dis­ad­van­ta­ged groups.

In the first part of the webinar, Fernando Marhuenda Fluixá (University of Valencia) gave a short intro­duc­tion to the topic of Third Sector acti­vi­ties in non-formal VET. After that,  thematic experts Ágota Scharle (Budapest Institute) and Jörg Markowitsch (3s) presented the final report of the study The Role of NGOs in Up- and Reskilling: Exploring ESF+ Supported Initiatives in Austria, Italy, Slovenia, and Spain. The report provides a com­pre­hen­si­ve analysis of how NGOs com­ple­ment formal education and con­tri­bu­te to labour market integration.

The Austrian case study was presented in a breakout session. Eva Steinheimer (3s) gave an overview of the Level Up initia­ti­ve and the role of NGOs

in the provision of basic education for adults. Erwin Rohrer from ISOP showed how ISOP provides tailor-made edu­ca­tio­nal offers in the initia­ti­ve and beyond that address the needs of mar­gi­na­li­sed popu­la­ti­on groups. The session was moderated by Jörg Markowitsch and Farid Ramadan (Foundation for Rehabilitation (Kuntoutussäätiö), Finland) was a dis­cus­sant. The audience also took an active part in the ensuing dialogue.

In the parallel breakout session, the Spanish case study was presented, with the Acceder programme of the Fundación Secretariado Gitano serving as another exemplary model for voca­tio­nal training acti­vi­ties run by NGOs.

The docu­men­ta­ti­on of the event is available here.