Torino Process: Towards Lifelong Learning, Launch of a new Torino Process round

The European Training Foundation (ETF) officially launched the next round of its Torino Process with an online event that attracted over 100 participants from partner countries and organisations. The launch marks the sixth time since 2010 when ETF and its partner countries will engage in a regular review of vocational education and training, this time with a focus on lifelong learning and system performance.

In addition to the thematic emphasis, the process will include other new features, said Xavier Matheu , Director ad interim, ETF. “We want to focus on a single, overarching strategic priority,” he noted. In that respect, the goals for this round might be “broader and more ambitious” than usual, but ETF officials want the process “to be lighter and more streamlined in terms of implementation and participation” – thereby lifting some of the reporting burden off of national officials and other stakeholders.

Some songs remain the same. The Torino Process will still be designed “for monitoring and policy planning purposes for regional and national governments, the EU [European Union], and international partners,” Matheu noted. “The goal has always been to deliver findings and policy recommendations based on solid evidence and rigorous analysis, and which are immediately applicable.”

The Torino Process is constantly under revision, “The analytical framework, in particular, has been constantly adapted to the specific challenges that countries have faced,” said Hugues Moussy, Head of Systems Performance and Assessment Unit at the ETF. “The world doesn't stand still,” said Mihaylo Milovanovitch, Senior Human Capital Development Expert at the ETF. “We always try to adjust as much as possible on the basis of what we have learned from previous rounds.”

As part of that exercise in adaptation, “We saw two things that are really striking” in all partner countries, Milovanovitch recalled. “There is pressure to continue adapting and changing. The reasons may be different, but it is true in all countries and all contexts. The second really interesting observation is the growing number of policy initiatives. We counted hundreds. It is very difficult, maybe even impossible, to continue cataloguing all these policies without having some sort of focus.”

This takes place within the context of a series of pressing challenges such as technological advances, digitalisation, climate change and demographic shifts, said Emmanuelle Roure, Policy Officer for International Policy and External Relations at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. In response, “We need inclusive VET systems designed from a lifelong learning perspective,” she said. She added that “In a fast-changing global economy, skills are key for boosting our competitiveness and ensuring fair and inclusive societies.”

Added to the above-mentioned long-term trends in our “turbulent times,” as he called them, we have punctual events such as the COVID pandemic and its aftermath and “Russia's military aggressions against Ukraine,” said Javier Menendez Bonilla, Thematic Leader at the European Commission’s Directorate General for the European Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations. These further emphasise the need for a shift towards “green and digital economies.”

In addition to emergency measures for Ukraine and other crises, “Systems must be able to reskill workers from transition industries so that they adapt,” he said. “Curricula must address competencies that are necessary for the green and digital economies. Reforms must also ensure that no one is left behind.”

The bulk of the programme was left to Milovanovitch and Abdelaziz Jaouani, Senior Human Capital Development Expert at the ETF, to present what are known as Level 1 and Level 2 of the next round of the Torino Process. They outlined that during another online event the week prior.

In a nutshell, Level 1 will involve all partner countries. It will essentially measure whether VET policies and systems meet their stated goals and the needs of their constituents in a lifelong learning perspective. “It's really about monitoring system performance,” said Milovanovitch.

Level 2 will be an opt-in, “on-demand” (as Milovanovitch put it) analysis of national policies and systems to explain the monitoring results delivered on Level 1 and focus on areas of importance for advancing lifelong learning. Countries which opt for such analysis will decide the scope. It “is about analysis and policy reviews,” said Jaouani. As he put it, “Participating countries will have the possibility to decide on the thematic areas they would like to focus on. They may opt for an analysis or overview of lifelong learning or opt to focus on a specific area, for example, adult learning, career guidance and counselling, or recognition of prior learning.”

The final part of the three-plus hour session involved breakout discussions among participants. Reports back from the four groups revealed a wide range of reactions. Moderator Elena Carrero Perez, Senior Human Capital Development Expert, ETF, summed up a few consensus points: further “bilateral discussions” between the ETF and country officials will be needed to ensure smooth implementation; many participants would prefer gradual rather than abrupt changes in relation to past rounds of the Torino Process; and most people expressed interest in Level 2 but would like further clarification and discussions.

Hugues Moussy wrapped up the day by stressing two main points. Monitoring may seem to look backwards, but instead it “is a forward-looking exercise,” he said. “You want to get lessons from the past, but you really want to prepare for the future” in terms of dialogue and advice regarding policy. He also emphasized the need for dissemination and debate about the results of the studies and for peer-to-peer exchanges and learning across countries and regions – all “anchored in a multi-stakeholder participatory mode” involving not only governments but also other interested parties.