An historical moment for the first-ever VET Winter Camp on vocational excellence held from 10 to 13 February 2025 in Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
Twenty-five selected vocational training experts from Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) across the EU neighbouring countries gathered for a landmark event organised by the European Training Foundation (ETF).
The four-day workshops were organised in close cooperation with three vocational training provider associations - EfVET, EVBB and EVTA - which play a key role in the steering committee of the Internationalising Vocational Excellence (InTVE) project.
This two-year EU-funded project, implemented by the ETF in close coordination with EC services, is part of the wider approach to position CoVEs as models of engines for the development of Vocational Education Training systems (VET). As the Union of Skills will soon be launched as a revolutionary step towards adult and lifelong learning, VET and skills retention, this model could significantly contribute to Europe's competitiveness.
The workshops were led by three experienced Centres of Vocational Excellence and Erasmus+ awarded projects: GreenoVET, PoVE Water and TalentJourney, the latter hosting the events at the Solski Centre of Nova Gorica, the third largest VET provider in Slovenia with over 2000 learners.
All three CoVEs started at national level and soon became international: a natural feature of the CoVEs as such. “It is paramount to move forward together toward collective solutions without losing sight of the path,” said Adriana Hodak, developer of TalentJourney. “We are not here to make money, but to pursue bigger goals: improving education at the local level to drive systemic change internationally.”
During the event, there was indeed a level of participation that "exceeded our expectations in terms of international engagement", said Georgios Zisimos, Head of Policy Advice Unit at the ETF.
9 EU neighbouring countries were represented at the camp: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Türkiye and Ukraine. They had the opportunity to exchange ideas and perspectives with VET providers from EU Member States. As one participant from Egypt told us, "this initiative lays the ground for new connections, thoughts and cooperation in the near future. We certainly want to apply for Erasmus+ projects in our country".
For the period 2021-2027, "the EU, through Erasmus+, has allocated 427 million euros for the development of CoVEs", said Trajche Velkovski. "Erasmus itself started with some pioneers, and now it's an unbreakable reality. I believe we're experiencing something similar these days: the future of excellence and vocational training lies in your advocacy and positive influence for years to come," Zisimos remarked.
"We see the CoVEs as engines to steer VET reforms at a broader level. These centres are international in nature: therefore they create synergies and partnerships beyond their local level," said Jolien van Uden, ETF senior expert on innovative teaching and learning and coordinator of InTVE and of the cluster on vocational excellence.
While the definition of CoVES and excellence itself may be a bit nuanced, and that was a central topic of the four-day events, one thing is clear: "It has to be inclusive and sustainable. Another word that came up a lot during these days was trust: it helps to minimise asymmetric information," added Doriana Monteleone, Human Capital Development Statistician at the ETF, who presented the results of ISATCOVE to the participants.
What is ISATCOVE? It's a international self-assessment tool developed and implemented by the ETF’s cluster on InTVE, to help planning progress and raise the standards of VET. It allows CoVEs to assess themselves against three dimensions of vocational education and training excellence: a) teaching and learning, b) partnership and coordination, c) governance and funding.
“In order to reshape, we need to unlearn. Mindset and tools are important in order to do that,” said Paolo Nardi, Executive Director at EfVET. The latter represents some 2000 organisations, encompassing 150,000 professionals and 2,000,000 learners. “The concept of excellence in policy was pioneered by visionaries like Joao Santos. Now, the ETF is taking it a step further, aiming to quantify what it truly means to be excellent through ISATCOVE,” he added.
Other tools, such as the canvas proposed by Miriam Korstanje and Boudewijn Grievink from PoVE Water/Katapult, enabled participants to "gather the best practices from each country within our groups to define new pathways forward in VET excellence," noted one participant.
As the Draghi report remains central to discussions on European competitiveness, "I believe excellence can be one of the main drivers of future developments. It allows us to standardise quality while respecting diversity and local well-being, creating knowledge triangles that benefit all parties and help avoid the risks of the so-called two-speed Europe," added Giulia Meschino, Secretary General of EVTA, a leading European network in the field of VET. It represents more than 40 members in the EU and beyond, reaching more than 20,000 staff, teachers and trainers, and more than 300,000 students and learners.
Networking, partnership, collaboration, sustainability (environmental and financial), mobility (for students but also for teachers and trainers), resource allocation, access to information, communication. As with everything related to education, the concept of excellence has many dimensions, and the close work carried out over the last two years within InTVE has paid off.
Two years leaving a strong legacy: new partnerships established and emerging, within and outside the ETF's ENE (which will soon reach 400 members), hundreds of open resources, an e-library and a "Cookbook on Vocational Excellence" to be launched soon this month.
In fact, the project will officially end in April 2025, before launching a new phase of internationalisation in VET, with a big take-away event organised in Turin on 12 and 13 March at the Polo del Novecento.
EVBB has more than 650 members in 74 countries on all continents, and tries to balance the needs of its heterogeneous members with the priorities of the European Commission. "However, it would be difficult to achieve such a success without the close partnership with the ETF, which has opened doors to different types of cooperation, for example in Ukraine," Sotiria Tsalamani, EU Project Manager at EVBB, told us. "We share a common vision with the ETF. The concept of CoVEs is evolving day by day, and these partnerships help everyone to keep up to date," she noted.
So, in the end, what is excellence? What are CoVEs? "An easy answer would be that it's not just one thing: it could be a school, a college, a project or a public-private partnership, or something else entirely; it's definitely an ecosystem of organic development of skills” Zisimos summarised, before underlying once again the importance for VET advocacy and the international dimension of Erasmus+. "We appreciate that the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Roxana Mînzatu and her services are looking for a strong social dialogue with all stakeholders, and the ETF's approach of working with all relevant parties has laid a strong foundation for new success stories," Nardi remarked.
"As we launch our new cookbook on Vocational Excellence, we may find that one recipe in Morocco is different from another in Albania," continued Zisimos. "Yet remembering that VET knows no borders".
These were no casual words as the participants were welcomed on the first day by the Mayor of Nova Gorica, Samo Turel. "Despite a difficult past in the last century in this area, we're now working in the opposite direction, removing physical borders and those that remain in our minds," he said, as Nova Gorica, Slovenia, and Gorizia, Italy, are the first twin European Capitals of Culture in EU history. Divided for half a century by an artificial yet harrowing border, they now see themselves as "2 Goricas, 1 City": with freedom, friendship and equality as bastions.
An emblematic place to hold the first VET Winter Camp, which "will hopefully be followed by a 2nd Summer Camp", as the participants joked, noting the dense yet warm rain that soaked both the old Italian Gorizia and the new Slovenian Gorica during the events. However, no weather can stop a group of passionate people who want to rethink and improve the education systems.
Partnerships, networks, and innovation within CoVEs share a common goal: breaking down barriers created by asymmetric information, mistrust, and lack of confidence. Achieving vocational excellence - an essential concept - is key to ensuring both collective and individual progress, reinforcing Europe's competitiveness and social cohesion while fostering future readiness.
Please log in or sign up to comment.