Movetia and SwissCore co-organise conference on International Collaboration in higher VET

30/05/2024

Setting the scene of HVET in the EU

On 27 May 2024, SwissCore and Norcore, together with Movetia, the Swiss Exchange and Mobility Agency, and HK-dir, the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills, organised a conference on “International Collaboration in higher VET”.

The conference on May 27 was kicked off with a welcome from Amanda Crameri, Head of Division, Movetia and Else Kathrine Nesmoen, Head of Department, HK-dir. They outlined the importance of HVET in the Swiss and Norwegian contexts and welcomed the conferences’ efforts to bring together a multitude of actors.

Marieke Vandeweyer, Team Leader, Senior Policy Analyst, OECD, presented the OECD’s work on HVET, including proposals for clarificiations of these programs across their countries. In some OECD countries, HVET is considered to be a short-cycle tertiary program or bachelor level programmes. The presentation painted the overall picture of diversity in the HVET sector.

Moreover, Boudewijn Grievink, Program manager of internationalisation, Katapult Network, Netherlands, presented the opportunities for HVET institutions to take part in CoVEs – Centres of Vocational Excellence. These partnerships are attractive for industry and HVET institutions to join thanks to the increased access to talent, knowledge, research and networking that they offer. Iñigo Araiztegui from TKNIKA, the Basque Applied VET research centre, presented the work of TKNIKA in building strong HVET institutions focused on internationalisation and joint capacity-building. He discussed the CoVE LCAMP – Learner-Centric Advanced Manufacturing Platform – that TKNIKA are coordinating and EARLALL is participating in. LCAMP is an example of how HVET cooperation internationally can result in lasting cooperation agreements, such as through the LCAMP Alliance, as well as innovation through the development of the Collaborative Learning Factory model.

Finally from the EU perspective, participants heard from Jan Varchola, Team Leader, DG EMPL, European Commission and Vito Borelli, Team Leader, DG EAC, European Commission. Both underlined the importance of taking advantage of the EU’s funding schemes including Erasmus+ and linkages with the Recovery and Resilience Fund, among other funding programs. They emphasised that HVET has a very strategical importance for the EU as a key and targeted measure to reskill and upskill to address upcoming mega-trends.

Networking and building HVET synergies

On the second day, 28 May, participants were invited to network and workshop core issues relevant to their work, including Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnerships, increasing impact in VET, CoVEs, and learning and staff mobility in HVET. More than 40 participants exchanged and built contacts to continue further collaboration on joint initiatives.