On 3 December 2026 the Thematic Workshop of the EUSDR, the Danube Region Strategy, will take place in Vienna, Austria on the topic of: “Demographic Challenges, (Rural) Outmigration and Skills Shortages”.

The Researching Work & Learning (RWL) International Conference Series is the world's longest, continuously running international research conference series serving the field of workplace learning. It was initiated in 1999 by researchers at the University of Leeds (UK). As of 2026 it has visited eleven countries in five continents. The conference series as a whole is organized through the work of the RWL International Advisory Committee. This committee is composed of leading international scholars in the diverse field of workplace learning. RWL14  local organising committee: Stephen Billett, Paula Brough, Steven Hodge, Ashlea Troth, Sarojni Choy and Carys Chan

The conference explores the making and remaking of apprenticeships as a global historical phenomenon, tracing how pre-industrial craft training evolved under industrialisation, state-building, and changing educational ideas. It focuses both on institutional change and on the lived experiences of apprentices, masters, and other actors, and invites contributions from all periods and world regions.

Möglichkeit sich zu aktuellen Themen der Berufsbildung mit nationalen und internationalen Expert*innen auszutauschen.

Call for Papers offen bis 1.10.2026

Topics:

• How do we understand the role of VET in preparing young people for work when labour markets and workplaces are in flux nationally and internationally?
• Is this changing the nature of VET and VET curricula? Is it raising new questions on work, labour markets and education? What is core to VET that is stable across different contexts?
• Are systems looking more similar or more different from each other?
• What are the main factors—such as workplace organisation, changing labour markets, changing enrolment in schools and universities, and the nature of economies that are influencing different aspects of VET provision—such as curriculum, governance, partnerships, enrollment patterns—in different countries?
• How do we connect better as researchers, and use VET research to build connection?

Dates and timeline

• Submission of abstracts: opens 15 October 2026, closes 15 November 2026
• Notification of acceptance: 15 December 2026
• Submission of full paper: 20 February 2027
• Feedback to your paper: 31 March 2027. You will then have 10 days to make the necessaries changes.
• Conference: 18-20 May 2027

Vocational Education and Training (VET) in the Nordic countries is shaped by strong welfare traditions, close relationships between education and working life, and longstanding ambitions of equality, inclusion and high‑quality education for all. Nevertheless, Nordic VET systems display substantial variation and complexity, influenced by social, demographic, pedagogical and structural differences across countries, regions, institutions and vocational fields. The 2027 NORDYRK conference Embracing Diversity in VET invites researchers, practitioners and policymakers to explore how such diversity shapes the conditions, opportunities and challenges of VET.   The Call for abstracts opens on November 11, 2026 and closes on January 31, 2027. Registration is required.