VET-Alert - Just published on Vocational Education and Training - no 12 - December 2012 issue
VETAlert is a monthly selection of publications on vocational education and training available from Cedefop’s bibliographic database VET-Bib. Please subscribe to VET-Alert and you will receive this monthly review in your mailbox. Cedefop's "VETAlert" for December 2012 is now available for download: www.cedefop.europa.eu.
Abstract
Créativité et innovation dans les territoires: une stratégie d'avenir? 5e Université d'été "Emploi, compétences et territoires" / Michun, Stéphane [Creativity and innovation in the territories: a strategy for the future? 5th summer University « Employment, skills and territories ».] -- In Relief, No 38 (juillet 2012), 84 p. Marseille: CEREQ, 2012. 84 p. - ISBN 978-2-11-098951-2 ISSN 1763-6213, France.
Les observatoires prospectifs des métiers et des qualifications: des outils pour agir / d’Agostino, Alexandra; Delanoë, Anne [The prospective observatories of the trades and qualifications: tools for action] -- In Bref CEREQ, No 297-2 (Mars 2012), 4 p.. Marseille: CEREQ, 2012. 4 p. ISSN 2116-6110, France.
Apprentissage et professionnalisation: nouveaux potentiels, nouveaux financements / Tugal-Garraud, Marie [Apprenticeship and professionalisation: new potentials and new funds.]. Saint-Denis-La Plaine: Centre Inffo, 2011. 53 p. (Dossier documentaire). - ISBN 978-2-84821-205-0 ISSN 1269-1518, France.
CPRDFP 2011-2014/2015: orientations et gouvernance / Conseil national de la formation professionnelle tout au long de la vie [CPRDFP (Regional Contract of the Plan for the Development of Vocational Training) 2011-2014/2015: guidelines and governance.]. Paris: CNFPTLV, 2012. 8 p. (Jalons de la formation professionnelle). France.
Emploi des jeunes: synthèse des principales données relatives à l'emploi des jeunes et à leur insertion / Colin, Christel [Youth employment: a synopsis of the main data related to employment of young adults and to their inclusion.]. Paris: DARES, 2011. 63 p. (Document d'études; 166). France.
Formation professionnelle: pour en finir avec les réformes inabouties / Cahuc, Pierre; Zylberberg, André [Vocational training: how to do away with incomplete reforms.]. Paris: Institut Montaigne, 2011. 60 p. France.
Pour une approche circonstanciée de l'apprentissage / Romani, Claudine [For a detailed approach of the apprenticeship.] -- In Bref CEREQ, No 299-1 (Mai 2012), 4 p.. Marseille: CEREQ, 2012. 4 p. ISSN 2116-6110; France.
Les pays partenaires de la France dans les programmes européens d'éducation: Fiche No 5 / Agence Europe-Education-Formation France [The partner countries of France for the European programmes of education: fact sheet No. 5.] -- In Soleoscope, No 5 (Avril 2012), 6 p.. Bordeaux: Agence Europe-Education-Formation France, 2012. 6 p. France.
Les programmes européens et les stages professionnels: Fiche No 4 / Agence Europe-Education-Formation France [The European programmes and the vocational internships: Fact sheet No. 4.] -- In Soleoscope, No 4 (Février 2012), 6 p. Bordeaux: Agence Europe-Education-Formation France, 2012. France.
L'ingénierie de formation pour les publics adultes migrants: dossier / Verdier, Eric; Lembas, Elise [Training engineering for adult migrant: file.] -- In Savoirs et formation, No 77 (Juillet-Août-Sept. 2010), p. 8-19. Montreuil: AEFTI, 2010. ISSN 0769-6094; France.
Le retour en formation en début de vie active: un effet ambivalent sur l’accès à l’emploi / Arrighi, Jean-Jacques; Mora, Virginie [The return to training in the begining of the working life: an ambivalent effect on employment access.]. Marseille: CEREQ, 2011. 78 p. (Net.Doc; 83). ISSN 1776-3177. France.
VETAlert - no 11 - November 2012
VETAlert - no 10 - October 2012
VETAlert - no 9 - September 2012
VETAlert - no 8 - August 2012
VETAlert - no 7 - July 2012
VETAlert - no 6 - June 2012
VETAlert - no 5 - May 2012
VETAlert - no 4 - April 2012
VETAlert - no 3 - March 2012
VETAlert - no 2 - February 2012
VETAlert - no 1 - January 2012.

Future skills supply and demand in Europe - Forecast 2012
The 2008 financial crisis and the persistent economic downturn that has followed have had a major impact on the European labour market. Taking their effects into account, Cedefop has produced its latest forecast for skill labour supply and demand up to 2020.
Cedefop’s forecasts are unique in making a comparative analysis of the major trends in employment growth and decline for sectors, occupations and qualifications both across the European labour market as a whole and for individual European Union Member States.
According to the forecasts, assuming a slow but steady recovery, up to 2020, the European economy will create some eight million new jobs. However, nearly 10 times as many jobs, around 75 million, will need to be filled as people retire or leave the workforce. Although there will be job openings for all types of occupations, most new jobs will be at the higher and lower end of the skill spectrum bringing a risk of job polarisation. Weak employment growth indicates that there may be an oversupply of people with high-level qualifications in the short term, but by 2020, Europe will have the most highly-qualified workforce in its history. This publication provides the data behind these trends and discusses the challenges they pose for policy-makers. Download Future skills supply and demand in Europe.

Apprenticeship and similar schemes give young people a head start on the labour market. Awareness raising, targeted thematic peer learning and the use of European funds were tabled as key components of cooperation on dual training at a meeting of Ministers from Germany and other EU Member States, the European Commission and Cedefop.
In Germany, Austria and Denmark where more than 30% of vocational students participate in apprenticeships or other forms of work-based vocational training, youth unemployment is far below 15% - whereas in countries where less than 6% of vocational students are enrolled in this type of training (Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Estonia), youth unemployment levels tend to be above 25%.
The key advantage of combining theoretical studies with working in a company gives young people the chance to acquire job-specific and soft skills and to get to know the day-to-day reality of the world of work.  Deputy Director General for Education of the European Commission Xavier Prats- Monné stressed that investing in work-based learning can bring a win-win situation for learners and companies.  He reiterated the European Commission’s commitment to establishing a European alliance for modern, high-quality and attractive apprenticeships, as stated in Rethinking Education (Commission Communication of 20 November 2012). A well-equipped toolbox to underpin the key actions of this ‘federation for excellence’ is required, as Antonio Silva Mendes, European Commission, Director in DG EAC underlined.
Cedefop’s Director Christian Lettmayr will point to the importance and key challenges of dual training in this complex European setting in his keynote speech on 11 December 2012. See also Dual education, better prospects?

Press release - A new initiative focuses on practical training for youth.
Cedefop has been invited to provide practical support to a new European initiative intended the help young people integrate more easily into the labour market. The initiative, which focuses on apprenticeship-type, work-based learning, was launched on 11 December 2012 in Berlin. Germany and six other Member States have signed Memoranda defining the scope and objectives of future collaboration.
Germany has been at the forefront of dual training, i.e. vocational training that includes both a theoretical, school-based component, and a period of practical work within a company. In light of the Education and Training 2020 Strategy, which focuses on job-related training, several countries had expressed a keen interest in developing dual forms of training in close cooperation with Germany.
On the invitation of German Federal Education Minister Annette Schavan, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain, in association with the European Commission, signed a memorandum of cooperation on vocational education and training in Europe on 11 December 2012. At the conclusion of the meeting, Xavier Prats Monné, Deputy General Director for Education and Training at the European Commission, said that this is the beginning of a European initiative which other Member States will soon join. Download the Full text of the press release.

Cedefop has been invited to provide its expertise to a new initiative in support of young people's integration in the labour market: a collaboration between seven EU Member States on developing dual training models.
Speaking at the meeting of ministers which took place on 10-11 December in Berlin, Cedefop Director Christian Lettmayr emphasised the importance of integrating dual models in each country's existing educational system and labour market - particularly its qualifications structure. He stressed that dual models, despite their many differences, help young people understand what the world of work is really like, and cultivates soft skills as much as purely technical ones. The signatories to the alliance - Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain - agreed to focus their efforts on improving the image and quality of vocational education and training. Their joint cooperation is meant to provide lasting support to bilateral and multilateral initiatives in vocational training.
German Federal Minister for Education and Research Annette Schavan emphasised that this new alliance needs to have a European character, not just a bilateral one, in order to best help the 7.5 million young Europeans who are in search of employment.

Register for EUA’s Annual Conference and General Assembly 2013, Ghent, Belgium (11-12 April 2013).
Registration is now open for EUA’s Annual Conference 2013 that will take place at Ghent University from 11 to 12 April 2013. The theme of the conference is ‘European Universities – Global Engagement’.
The need to operate in a competitive international environment is no longer a concern for only a small number of elite universities. Rather, it has become a reality for the broad spectrum of European institutions, which affects all elements of the university mission. The EUA Annual Conference will provide a forum for participants to identify the institutional policies required to meet the challenges and reap the full benefits of further internationalisation.
In plenary and working group sessions, speakers from Europe and further afield will explore different drivers of the globalisation of higher education and the design and implementation of institutional internationalisation strategies. The conference will also address the profound changes taking place in the structure and form of national higher education systems and the extent to which these changes stem from pressure to make systems more efficient and internationally competitive. There will also be the opportunity for further discussion of global rankings and their impact, with EUA’s second Rankings Review due to be published and presented at the event. The EUA Annual Conference will bring together university leaders, researchers, students, policy makers and partner stakeholders. EUA members are also encouraged to attend the EUA General Assembly prior to the main conference. This will include the election of three new members to the EUA Board. To register or for more information, please visit the conference website.

EUA at Destination Europe conference: ‘European universities on the move - excellence through research and innovation’
Earlier this month, EUA was invited to participate in the European Commission’s Destination Europe event in San Francisco, a forum for leading European research organisations, funders and industry to present the opportunities Europe has to offer to researchers and innovators. Lesley Wilson, EUA Secretary General, presented in the session ‘European universities on the move - excellence through research and innovation’, which focused on the rapidly changing environment in European universities and their growing importance for Europe’s research and innovation landscape.
She highlighted that EUA’s work with its Council for Doctoral Education had demonstrated how European universities were rapidly developing structured doctoral programmes and graduate/doctoral schools. She also emphasised the work undertaken in EUA’s projects, including the DOC CAREERS and EUIMA Collaborative Research projects, which have highlighted how universities in Europe are developing collaborative doctoral programmes with a range of external partners. More generally, the event was also an opportunity to demonstrate concrete examples of how European universities are strengthening their research and innovation profiles, and seeking to attract more talented young researchers. More information on the event is available here.
The Destination Europe events are a joint initiative of the European Union and member states.

Reminder: Call for participation in workshops for quality managers in spring 2013 (deadline 8 January)
As part of the project ‘Promoting quality culture in higher education institutions’ (PQC), EUA and project partners will hold three training workshops that are designed specifically for those responsible for quality processes within universities. The workshops will take place next spring in Croatia, Germany and Portugal.
Recent research (EQC project, 2009-2012) has shown that those in charge of managing quality processes at universities feel the need for capacity building in how to incentivise all stakeholders (students, academic and administrative staff) to take on the responsibility for quality, i.e. how to foster quality cultures. The PQC project will fulfil this need by developing and implementing three training workshops with a practical approach to strengthening quality cultures and providing quality managers with the opportunity to exchange experiences and build connections for future cooperation at European level. In addition, the workshops will be used to collect feedback on how QA agencies can support HEIs in fostering quality cultures, which will be communicated to the agencies at a later stage in the project.
The workshops will explore questions such as: How to build effective communication structures for engaging staff and students in quality culture? How to use staff development as a means for enhancing quality? How to connect QA to the decision-making processes at all levels? How to avoid hindering creativity at the university through bureaucratic QA processes?
The workshops will take place in Lisbon, Portugal (8-10 April 2013), Zagreb, Croatia (22-24 May 2013), and Essen, Germany (26-28 June 2013). Meals during the workshop (lunches, coffee breaks, dinners) will be organised and covered by the project; however, participants will be expected to finance their own travel and accommodation costs. Participation is open to EUA member universities from those countries eligible to take part in the Lifelong Learning Programme.
Individuals interested in participating in one of the training workshops are invited to read the full call for participation here and fill in the online application form here by 8 January 2013 at the latest.
More information on the project can be found on the project website. Questions on the project or the application process can be addressed to pqc@eua.be.
The PQC project is carried out in partnership with the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), the University of Duisburg-Essen, the University of Lisbon and the University of Zagreb. It is supported by funding from the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission.

Sixth EUA-CDE Workshop Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programmes. Hosted by Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy 17-18 January 2013. Interdisciplinary programmes are attractive for doctoral education. Interdisciplinary training expands the mindsets of doctoral candidates beyond the traditions of their own discipline and makes them capable of valuing different methods and perspectives of research. Many of the problems that are connected to the ‘grand challenges’ can only be approached by using different disciplines. However, interdisciplinary research needs good preparation and support, and there are obstacles to the implementation of interdisciplinary programmes that need to be discussed: cultural barriers need to be broken down and a common language needs to be created.
The 6th EUA-CDE Thematic Workshop aims to facilitate a discussion of these issues. What is the goal of interdisciplinary training? Institutions might aim to have more open-minded doctoral candidates – they might also see opportunities to develop as institutions and attract external funding. Doctoral candidates might find that an interdisciplinary profile gives them better opportunities on the labour market. Interdisciplinary training can be seen as creating new approaches to expand the bounds of human knowledge. At the same time, interdisciplinary approaches are often attractive to applied research that aims to solve problems by using many disciplines. There are serious challenges to successful interdisciplinary doctoral education, how to organise it and how to give it merit in a research world that still values specialisation within single disciplines.
Through common plenary discussions and presentation of best practices, the workshop will try to obtain answers and recommendations on how to develop and implement interdisciplinary programmes.

The first initiative of European and African countries to jointly fund collaborative research projects will be agreed today during a visit by Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn to Cape Town. The calls, to be launched in January with a budget of €11 million, will offer research funding in areas such as agriculture, health, climate change and energy, grouped under three headings: "Renewable Energy", "Interfacing Challenges" and "Idea driven research". The calls have been developed within the framework of the €2 million, three-year "ERA-Net for Africa" (ERAfrica) project.
Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: "Today's agreement is truly historic. It is the first time that European and African countries have jointly established a research agenda that will be funded by both sides. This can serve as a model for future cooperation between our two continents and encourage other countries to embrace this new form of partnership."
ERAfrica was set up to facilitate networking of African and European funders of research and innovation and to work towards joint project calls. Today's agreement concerns ministries and public institutions from 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Kenya, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Switzerland and Turkey. Together they have agreed to fund research for at least € 11 million, with the five African states contributing nearly €4 million.
The project calls are expected to be published in mid-January 2013, with a deadline for application of around mid-April 2013. Signing of the contracts is foreseen from December 2013 to May 2014.
The financial commitment agreement will be signed on the margins of the annual EU-Africa Joint Experts Group science cooperation forum meeting.
Background
ERAfrica was set up as part of the 2007-10 Action Plan of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES). It is funded from the EU's seventh framework programme for research and technological development (FP7). In addition to ERAfrica, FP7 has provided nearly €137 million in funding for over 900 African participations in EU research projects or initiatives.
The agreement follows the official launch on Nov 2 of a new bilateral EU-South Africa science cooperation project, ESASTAP Plus, providing a forum for cooperation between research ministries and institutions from South Africa, Germany, France, Greece, Italy and Switzerland to support South Africa’s participation in the Framework Programmes, but also reciprocal European participation in South African national programmes, and to target coordination of Member States and Associated Countries' research policies and programmes vis-à-vis South Africa, encouraging the development of new joint initiatives for mutually beneficial cooperation.
The Commissioner is on a week long visit to South Africa to mark the 15th anniversary of the European Union's first science and technology agreement with South Africa.