Dear Colleagues,

I’m pleased to share Cedefop’s latest publication, „Shaping learning and skills for Europe: a time for commitment” (2025), which marks 50 years of VET policy and research.

The publication presents a renewed vision for VET’s future, addressing key challenges like adult learning, skill mismatches, and integrating VET with policy objectives. It advocates for a broader VET and Skills development (VET-S) approach.

Key insights and recommendations:

  • Embed lifelong and lifewide learning into all systems
  • Inclusive VET-S systems for vulnerable groups
  • Next-generation skills intelligence to address skill mismatches
  • Quality assurance for new learning formats
  • Innovation in VET-S, integrating work-based, digital, and experiential learning

The publication highlights the importance of investing in adult upskilling and reskilling, and the need for collaboration to build inclusive, future-ready learning systems.

I invite you to explore the publication and consider its findings in your work to advance VET in Europe.

Access the publication: Shaping learning and skills for Europe: a time for commitment