Advancing Governance, Learning, Action, and Dialogue for better skills systems
🌍 GLAD is an ETF-supported community accelerating skills system reform through governance, peer learning, action, and structured dialogue, which opens doors to transformative opportunities that enhance institutional capacity, visibility, and impact in the global VET landscape. Our Community facilitates peer learning, exchange of best practices, and joint action across ETF partner countries.
⛳ Members engage through diverse channels including online sessions, face-to-face events, and collaborative session that support the governance of vocational education and training, skills development and lifelong learning across all partner regions.
Learn more about GLAD: It's time to be GLAD
What can you do in the ETF GLAD - the Governance, Learning, Actions and Dialogues Community and Network?
EXPLORE AND SHARE GOVERNANCE PRACTICES
Share best practices, and innovative solutions across diverse regions and contexts to learn and develop partnership-based governance mechanisms. Browse PRACTICES from all the ETF countries in the ETF database on Open Space: Vocational Excellence e-Library
ENGAGE IN COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS
GLAD brings together reform leaders, practitioners, partners, and experts to shape better skills systems. As a member of the GLAD community, you can actively learn from Peers and Experts, see Webinars.
ENJOY OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEER-TO-PEER KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE
The GLAD Network features within the wider open ETF GLAD community to help improve skills development and lifelong learning governance. It has a targeted membership of designated ACVT members and alternate members from candidate countries. Participants decided upon thematic sub-groups for their work in 2025 focused on key governance issues that candidate countries experience in HCD reforms and propose ways forward.
- Collaborative Event: "VET developments in candidate countries: closing the Osnabrück cycle", Milan, April 2025
CREATE IMPACTFUL PARTNERSHIPS
Connect with VET institutions, industries, and policymakers, social partners to create impactful collaborations. Strengthen long-term partnerships that help sustain reform.
-
ETF Quality Assurance Forum members in Chisinau 16-18 May 2023
- Montenegro hosts the 10th Western Balkans Civil Society Forum: Spotlight on skills, social dialogue and EU integration
STAY INFORMED
Stay connected to current and future EU tool developments, resources, research papers.
- Work-based learning: an introduction to key concepts
- Skills Anticipation and Matching e-Toolkit
- European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Vocational Education and Training
|
Tools to spark debates and initiate strategic conversations at country level. These tools envisage the participation of all relevant actors in agreeing on common actions and sharing responsibilities with a view to better functioning lifelong-oriented VET and skills systems. The Toolkit is designed to help partner countries implement their own reform agenda by tackling the systemic level. Watch a video Introduction to the Toolkit/ min. 30 |
Member Spotlight: North Macedonia's steps to improve its VET system
The country began participating in the EU monitoring process of its VET policies almost ten years ago. This process has become an inspiration for more effective planning of VET modernisation in line with Europe's strategic goals and objectives,' adds Nadica Kostoska, Deputy Head of Sector for the European Union at the Ministry of Education and Science of North Macedonia.
"In recent years, VET has been high on the agenda of education policy makers and institutions. The successful implementation of dual education, a key milestone, has paved the way for a comprehensive policy that addresses the need for more attractive, relevant and harmonised VET with labour market needs," says Goran Spasovski, Director General for Vocational Education and Training (DGVT) for the Republic of North Macedonia.
"The establishment of the Regional VET Centres is a strategic objective in the process of rationalising investment in VET, and the European Training Foundation (ETF) plays a crucial role in supporting Macedonian institutions to achieve excellence in this field," says Kostoska. 'Undoubtedly, in ETF we can find a partner to better exploit the opportunities of digital transformation by promoting innovation, sustainability and easier access to cutting-edge technology in VET.'
Resources
The ETF and Cedefop continue to support the European Commission and participating countries by monitoring and analysing the implementation of agreed actions, and by reporting regularly to the Advisory Committee on Vocational Training and the Directors-General for Vocational Education and Training.
Copenhagen Process monitoring deliverables:
The ETF has published summaries of its monitoring of policy developments in each country covering 2021-2022 and 2023:
- Policy developments in 2021–2022: Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye
- Policy developments in 2023: Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye
The 2024-2025 monitoring outcomes will be published by the end of 2025.
AND much more:
- Transforming vocational education and training: ETF monitoring initiatives and deliverables
- Herning Declaration on attractive and inclusive Vocational Education and Training
- 2025 edition of the Torino Process Guidelines: the Torino Process provides countries with the possibility to engage in voluntary reviews of their VET policies. The purpose of the reviews is to help contextualise the monitoring results and identify ways to improve the performance of VET through targeted policy interventions.
- More on GLAD Resources.
Please log in or sign up to comment.