EUNEC (European Network of Education Councils) organized a conference on vocational education with main focus on the labor market and the educational system. The conference took place from October 23th to 26th 2011 in Lisbon. Runar Kjellstad Nygård was representing OBESSU at this conference.
The theme of the conference “New skills for new jobs” had a tailored program to share good initiatives and ideas between countries. The program was filled with exciting speakers from both the private sector and the public sector.
António Câmara, CEO of Ydreams talked about how we need to teach students to be innovative and giving them the tools to think outside the box, from the perspective of an innovative global company.
José Pessanha from the European Commission spoke about the “Education and Traning in Europe 2020” and the modernization of VET in Europe - the flagship initiatives. ET 2020, Europe 2020, the Bruges Declaration, life long learning and the relationships between frameworks such EQF, ECVET and EQAVET.
Malgorzata Kuczera, policy analyst in the OECD Direcrorate for Education gave us a review on “Learning for jobs”.
There was also thematic working groups about qualification policies, flexible pathways in VET, early school leavers. The participants also got the opportunity to visit a vocational school named Salvaterra de Magos in the outskirts of Lisbon, and we visited the Pavilion of Knowledge – a science activity center in central Lisbon.