Insights from the Conference in Turin
President of Ukrainian Marketing Association, Iryna LYLYK, participated in the conference “Adult Learning and Education in VET: The Role of Centers of Vocational Excellence (COVE).” The event, held on November 25-26, 2024, in Turin, Italy, focused on addressing the challenges faced by vocational education and training (VET) schools and on promoting ways of best practices exchange among EU countries and their neighbours. The conference was organized by the ETF in cooperation with EU associations of VET providers (EfVET, EVBB, and EVTA).
The conference aimed to address modern challenges such as changes in the labour market, automation, green and digital transformation, globalization, and population aging.
Main focus areas are changing labor markets, people change, and changes in educational technologies.
- Changing labor markets:
Digital technologies, accelerated automation, globalization, AI, demographic shifts, and post-COVID-19 economic recovery are fundamentally transforming the nature of work. These changes cause global challenges such as increasing unemployment risks, job uncertainty, and instability. - People change:
As people increasingly engage in the digital world—for work, learning, and entertainment—they face new difficulties, including weaker communication skills. Digitalization and automation are significantly changing labor markets, by exerting pressure on people, especially on low-skilled workers, while driving demand for qualifications upgrading and retraining. Lifelong learning is becoming essential for adaptation, resilience, and personal growth. However, adult participation in education and training remains extremely low, particularly among individuals with lower qualification levels. - Changing Learning Technologies:
- Digital Technologies:
Digital tools provide unprecedented possibility to access information and serve as powerful educational tool. However, the teacher’s role is evolving. Nowadays, it becomes particularly important not only to deliver knowledge and demonstrate studying materials, but also to actively engage students in learning process. Online education challenges include maintaining students’ attention and interest in virtual environments. Unfortunately, many teachers still lack digital competence levels for effective use of new technologies. In many countries, progress depends on government financial support. In countries, where such support exists, education digitalization is developing fast and efficient. Unfortunately, most teachers and students of vocational education establishments often just do not have sufficient skill levels to effectively use digital technologies in education. It causes problems that should be immediately solved in order to make modern technologies full-fledged part of learning process for everybody. - Virtual Reality (VR):
Using VR enhances learning opportunities by allowing individuals to try and experience various professions, understand their specifics (including risks), and make a choice: should you further study this profession or not. This can save a lot of time and efforts for both students and teachers. However, using VR teaching tools requires not only technological proficiency but also financial investment. - Artificial Intelligence (AI):
AI is significantly transforming learning and knowledge acquisition processes. European countries have adopted regulatory frameworks for AI use. However, while implementing these rules one should also consider competition with another countries: how these regulations will influence technological development and developing competitiveness in the sphere of adult education. - Adaptability and Flexibility:
Creating adaptable and flexible curricula is becoming critical challenge. It is extremely important to engage diverse target groups in lifelong learning.
- Digital Technologies:
Challenges in Ukraine
All these challenges are particularly important in Ukraine, a country fighting for its independence. Number of adults, who need retraining, upskilling, upgrading qualifications and acquiring new professions has significantly raised during the war. For veterans, internally displaced persons, women and men who lost breadwinners during the war, and older adults, education has become maybe the main lifeline for survival.
EU Policy Context
Adult education may be defined as a range of formal, non-formal, and informal learning activities undertaken by adults after completing initial education. Recognizing the diverse contexts, learners, and methods across countries, the EU acknowledges the critical role of lifelong learning in improving employment, competitiveness, and social inclusion. In result of the COVID-19 pandemic flexibility and digitalization in adult education became extremely important within political discussions and actions. There is understanding of the need to provide more possibilities for qualification upgrading and re-qualification for everybody.
The most important (and last) political initiatives in adult education are:
European Pillar of Social Rights, European Skills Agenda, and Council Resolution on a new European agenda for adult learning 2021 -2030, Recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, Osnabrück Declaration on vocational education and training, Upskilling Pathways Recommendation (2016, to be renewed in 2022), Upskilling Pathways – New opportunities for adults, Pact for Skills, EU Council Recommendation on Individual Learning Accounts, EU Council Recommendation on a European approach to micro-credentials for lifelong learning and employability.
https://openspace.etf.europa.eu/new-learning-club-adult-learnin