EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING (CEDEFOP)

CEDEFOP is one of EU's decentralised agencies. Founded in 1975 and based in Greece since 1995, CEDEFOP supports development of European vocational education and training (VET). CEDEFOP supports development of European vocational education and training (VET) policies and contributes to their implementation. The agency is helping the European Commission, EU Member States and the social partners to develop the right European VET policies.

Main Tasks

1. Analysing Policy

Cooperation in vocational education and training (VET) in Europe, involving governments, social partners and EU institutions, in which EU Member States, Norway and candidate countries participate. Since 2004, CEDEFOP is mandated to report on how countries are progressing towards achieving commonly agreed VET policy goals.

2. Develop Lifelong Learning

CEDEFOP actively supports the development of lifelong learning strategies in Europe and the Member States. The Centre monitors and reviews trends and policy developments that are related to lifelong learning. It provides policy-makers with data and analysis and offers opportunities for knowledge-sharing and best practice exchange in education and training. Currently, CEDEFOP focuses on lifelong guidance, validation of non-formal and informal learning, teachers and trainers in vocational pathways, apprenticeships, early leaving from education, and adult/work-based learning. In the recent past it has also studied ageing workers.

Projects

Empowering young people: Lifelong learning begins in youth, and early leaving from education and training has a negative effect on both education and employment. CEDEFOP is currently reviewing European and national strategies that aim to keep young people in education and training and lower the dropout rate. In recent years the value of apprenticeships in combating youth unemployment has come to the fore. The Centre, in cooperation with the Commission is helping to create apprenticeship alliances across Europe. It is also preparing country reviews on apprenticeship.

Adult/Work-based Learning: The Adult/Work-based learning project monitors and reviews adult learning trends and policy developments. The focus is on how work-based learning help people develop the skills that give them greater chances of finding jobs and improving their careers.

Lifelong Guidance: Guidance and counselling should accompany learners and workers at every transition. The lifelong guidance project reviews related policy and strategy development in the Member States. It identifies successful initiatives and makes recommendations for future work in Europe and individual countries.

Validation of non-formal and informal learning: The project reviews trends in the field of Validation of non-formal and informal learning, i.e. of learning that takes place outside formal education and training bodies and supports the development and implementation of validation systems in Member States.

VET Teachers and Trainers: The VET Teachers and Trainers project monitors trends affecting the roles, skills and training of teachers and trainers who work in vocational education and training, including adult learning and work-based training. The project promotes knowledge sharing between practitioners and decision-makers and makes proposals on the professional development of vocational teachers and trainers.

2. Identiftying Skills Needs

Identify and anticipate future skill needs and potential skill mismatches. CEDEFOP undertakes various European level research activities. It produces regular skill supply and demand forecasts for Europe and analyses the potentrial labour market imbalances. CEDEFOP also investigates skill and competence needs in selected sectors and explore a common European approach to enterprise surveys on changing skill needs. CEDEFOP also animates Skillsnet, a network of experts in the field of early identification of skills needs. All these activities support implementation of the European Commission's flagship initiative: an agenda for new skills and jobs.

• Forecasting skill needs: CEDEFOP produces regular skill supply and demand forecasts for Europe and analyses the potential market imbalances.
• Analysing skill mismatch: CEDEFOP carries out theoretical and empirical research to provide policy makers with evidence and possible implications.
• EU Skills Panorama: CEDEFOP feeds and develops further a central access point for data information and intelligence on skill needs in occupations and sectors across Europe.
• Skills for the Green Economy: CEDEFOP investigates the impact environmental and climate change policy, low-carbon technologies and environmental awareness have on future skills within and across sectors.
• Skills needs in sectors: CEDEFOP also investigates skill and competence needs in selected sectors, to enrich knowledge on future skill needs in Europe by complementary qualitative and quantitative information.
• Employers' survey: CEDEFOP explores a common European approach to enterprise surveys on changing skill needs to identify and analyse skill, competence and training needs at the work place.

Work is carried out in close cooperation with members of CEDEFOP's Skillsnet network.

3. Understanding Qualifications

Certificates, diplomas and titles are commonly known as qualifications. Their purpose is to show employers, training providers and individuals what the person holding the qualification has learned and can do. Every country issues many different qualifications. But for the European labour market to work as intended – that is, for European citizens to be able to work in any EU country – employers, schools and education authorities need to understand what qualifications from other EU countries represent. Cedefop helps to achieve this mutual understanding by contributing to the concept, design, development and implementation of common European instruments and principles in education and training. These are designed to help people progress through education and training at any age, to change career or move abroad for work or further education. They are also expected to lead to greater consistency in employment, education and training policy throughout Europe. In addition, ESCO, the classification of European Skills/Competences, Qualifications and Occupations aims at providing a single language for all jobseekers, employers and educators.

The common EU instruments and principles include:

• The European Qualifications Framework (EQF)
• The European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET)
• Europass
• European Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET)
• Validation of non-formal and formal learning

Cedefop gives high priority to strengthening synergy and coherence between the EU tools an issue critical for their further implementation and a condition for strengthening their relevance and usefulness to end users. Contributing to the above, Cedefop will support the Commission’s initiative to set up a ‘European area of skills and qualifications’. The purpose of this initiative is to clarify how the European tools can be better connected and further developed in the period 2015-2020. Cedefop will systematically address existing and potential links between the tools and indicate where simplifications and synergies are possible