ReferNet Regional Meeting
in Bonn, 3-4 May 2007
On 3-4 May 2007, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) hosted the 2007 ReferNet Regional Meeting for the Central Europe Countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, United Kingdom). The two main topics of the meeting were the future ReferNet Multi-Annual Work Programme (2008-11) in the light of the Helsinki Communiqué and indicators and quantitative data available on VET in Europe.
Agenda of the ReferNet Regional Meeting in Bonn
List of participants
Wednesday, 2 May 2007 (arrival day)
Participants of the guided walking tour in front of the Beethoven House
Thursday, 3 May 2007
The ReferNet Regional Meeting was officially opened by Prof. Dr. Reinhold Weiß, Deputy President and Head of Research of BIBB.
- Prof. Dr. Reinhold Weiß
Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training), Bonn
Inaugural address
The first session dealt with the main results of the Helsinki Communiqué, the follow-up of the Copenhagen Declaration and the Maastricht Communiqé. After an introduction by Marc Willem, Acting Head of Area D "Documentation and Dissemination" at Cedefop, each country reported on the progress made in this process. The high proportion of low skilled people in the EU (in 2005 about 72 million persons between 25 and 64 years in the EU 25 - 30 % of the working age population) was identified as one of the main challenges that has to be tackled in the next years. As already stated in the Maastricht Study (2004), by 2010 only 15 % of newly created jobs will be for people with basic schooling, whereas 50 % will require highly skilled workers. With regard to the forthcoming demographic change (it is estimated, that by 2010, 55-64 year olds will outnumber the 15-24 year olds) and its possible consequences for the European labour markets (major skill shortages), upskilling especially of disadvantaged young people will be crucial.
Marc Willem, CEDEFOP
Country participants
In the afternoon, the annual ReferNet Work Programme 2008 and the new multi-annual Work Programme 2008-11 were reflected. One of the main future tasks of ReferNet will be to support Cedefop in policy reporting. In order to benefit from the different experiences in the participating countries, central points for the future role of ReferNet were discussed in four working groups. The results were presented by each working group on flip charts. On this basis, a joint paper of the participating ReferNet members was prepared by the German ReferNet.
Work programme
Friday, 4 May 2007
The second day was mainly dedicated to the two topics: indicators and benchmarks on the one hand and knowledge management in VET on the other hand.
- Katja Nestler
Cedefop
Available data on VET in Europe
- Dr. Georg Hanf
Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training), Bonn
Indicators and benchmarks in the Lisbon agenda
- Dr. Uta Roth and Dr. Susanne Thalemann
Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training), Bonn
Knowledge management in VET - the KIBB project
- Markus Linten
Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training), Bonn
VET literature database of BIBB
