ENE Newsletter | December 2025

Blog Series

The ETF Network for Excellence (ENE): Driving Vocational Excellence Worldwide

Issue: December 2025

Introduction

The European Training Foundation (ETF) acts as an important facilitator for partnerships, peer learning and practice sharing in vocational excellence. To tap into the knowledge accumulated globally, the ETF Network for Excellence – ENE – is a global network of centres for vocational excellence and VET providers working to promote quality, innovation, and international collaboration in vocational education and training (VET). 

In a snapshot: What to expect as an ENE Member:

🌍 Events – Join inspiring webinars, workshops, and peer exchanges.

📚 Resources – Access curated tools, good practices, and success stories from across the world.

💬 Conversations – Share your insights, ask questions, and learn from others in the network.

🌍 Networking - Connect with VET institutions across regions.

ETF Network for Excellence (ENE): Driving Vocational Excellence Worldwide

🌟 ENE Milestone

Launch of the ENE ATLAS: We are happy to have your Institution on board!

We are excited to announce an important step in the evolution of our network: the launch of the ENE ATLAS, a new online registry that brings together ENE members and their expertise in one dynamic, searchable space.

The ENE ATLAS will serve as a living reference point for both existing and new members — enhancing visibility, strengthening connections, and boosting collaboration across our community.

It’s designed to help you:

🔎 Find peers and partners

📣 Showcase your work and expertise

💡 Discover new opportunities for cooperation and innovation

📊 Stay tuned — the ENE ATLAS is taking shape, and we are delighted to have your institution actively contributing to this shared achievement.

Over the past weeks, our team has been reaching out to you as ENE Members to reconfirm your participation in the ETF Network for Excellence (ENE) and to gather the most up-to-date information from your institution.

We’re working on integrating your profiles and building a comprehensive, user-friendly hub that will make it easier than ever to connect with potential partners, explore good practices, and navigate the richness of the ENE community.

Explore ENE Atlas now and find new partners for 2026!

Happening in the ENE Network 🌐

ENE continues to champion grassroots initiatives and strengthen stakeholder cooperation for the digital transition in education

We’re spotlighting the DIGI ENE event “Exploring the pedagogical use of Artificial Intelligence” - a vibrant space where practical insights, innovative tools, and real-world experiences came together.

Participants exchanged ideas on how AI can enrich teaching and learning, shared hands-on examples, and explored new ways to integrate emerging technologies into everyday educational practice.

ENE is helping vocational education go green through peer learning

The European Training Foundation’s global partnership for green excellence — GRETA (Greening Responses to Excellence through Thematic Actions) — continues to drive innovation in vocational education systems. GRETA supports centres of vocational excellence working in key green sectors such as sustainable construction, renewable energy, and climate-friendly building technologies.

Constructing change – green session connected to COP30

Linked to CO30, an inspiring session highlighted how skills and innovation can accelerate the green transformation of the construction sector. The new GRETA study "Accelerating Vocational Excellence in the Construction Sector", was presented, offering a forward-looking vision for developing the capabilities needed for a climate-neutral future.

Insights from Ukraine showcased how vocational excellence is being embedded through the new VET Law, strengthening quality, autonomy, and industry partnerships.

The Danish Technological Institute has worked with GRETA since 2021, and in the session it shared insights on innovation in green building technologies

Closing the Skills Gap: Green and Digital Skills for a Competitive Europe

This month, ENE’s green transition work was also highlighted on a major European stage. At the 14th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region in Sarajevo (2025), foreign ministers adopted the Sarajevo Danube Declaration, reaffirming the region’s commitment to a stronger, safer, and more connected future. Read more HERE

Activity Spotlight

We’re spotlighting the DIGI ENE Initiative for digital excellence 2025, a space where ideas meet real-world experience.

Digital transformation in education is rarely a straight path. Countries start from different points and progress at different speeds across the various pillars of digitalisation. The DIGI ENE Initiative supports its members in developing holistic, system-wide strategies for using technology to achieve their education goals.

Co-designing for impact in 2025

This year, the ETF invited DIGI ENE members to co-design a workshop at the Forum of Vocational Excellence in Kolding. The Forum offered an exceptional platform for learning and exchange across the entire Community of Practice of Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs), with one clear objective:

🔗 to create meaningful matchmaking opportunities between CoVEs at national and international levels.

Peer learning through immersion

Following the Forum, DIGI ENE members participated in study visits to leading VET institutions in Denmark, recognised for their innovation in teaching and learning. These visits will provide an immersive, hands-on experience that includes:

Networking with peers and practitioners
Exposure to cutting-edge educational technologies
Reflective sessions to connect learning with each member’s context
Co-design activities for sharing collective insights
Direct engagement with host institutions to support knowledge transfer

The overall aim is to strengthen collaboration, inspire new practices, and support the continuous digital enhancement of vocational education systems across the ENE community.

Project Spotlight

ETF — bringing European and international experience in vocational training, supporting regional and cross-country partnerships through the new initiative “Towards a Global TVET Agenda”.

The initiative is Funded by the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ) and implemented by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB). The initiative brings together UNESCO-UNEVOC, International Labour Organization (ILO), OECD - OCDE, and the European Training Foundation (ETF) in reforming skills systems ready for both opportunity and uncertainty. WorldSkills International is an associated partner. The initiative demonstrates the power of global collaboration. 

The ETF contribution "Partnership for Excellence" focuses on:

Developing a global understanding of vocational excellence
Creating an evidence base on vocational excellence
Fostering collaboration and partnership

Knowledge Corner

NEW report: Towards vocational excellence: Building skills ecosystems for the future | ETF

This report explores how vocational education and training (VET) is evolving to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world of work. The publication highlights the role of Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) as dynamic hubs that connect education, research, industry, and society, ensuring that skills development supports both people and systems. Based on the experience of the ETF Network for Excellence (ENE) with more than 330 institutions across 50+ countries, the report presents insights on skills ecosystems, lifelong learning, quality assurance, teacher empowerment, internationalisation, and policy frameworks.

NEW report: Vocational excellence in the construction sector

The construction sector faces a major skills gap in green building practices, limiting its ability to meet climate goals. Accelerating vocational excellence is key to closing this gap. This policy paper presents a strategic framework that connects bottom-up innovation with top-down policy, highlighting the urgent need for skills to drive the green transition across the construction value chain. Through real-world examples and effective methods, it shows how partnerships, research, training, and financing models can address the skills shortage. Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) emerge as dynamic ecosystems linking education, industry, and policymakers. The paper offers policy recommendations to accelerate vocational excellence and drive sustainable transformation in construction.

Contact information

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact directly:

ETF.Network.for.Excellence@etf.europa.eu

More information about ENE can be found on the following links:

Warm regards, 

Management of the ETF Network for Excellence (ENE)