Bi-National Expert Workshop "Globally Competitive and Sustainable Qualifications in VET"
Volker Rein
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the US Department of Education (ED) have agreed to intensify their cooperation in education. As a first step, both partners started with a bi-national expert workshop on "Globally Competitive and Sustainable Qualifications in Vocational Education and Training", in Bonn My 4. to 6 facilitated by BIBB.
As countries with strong economic, scientific and technological capacities, as well as innovation potential, Germany and the United States of America have a strategic interest in internationally competitive concepts for qualification. Both countries design education and training based on the economic and societal demands of lifelong-learning which focus on competencies and employability, as well as the promotion of transparent and transferable qualifications and career paths. Challenged by the current global economic crisis and global climate change, Germany and the US are interested in viable competitive models for education and training which adequately address the demands of sustainable economic development.
The workshop focused on the areas "Automotive Production" and "Green Occupations" a selection that seems to be unusual. For a long time automotive production has had the image of an environment polluting industry which is one of the major sources of climate change. On the other hand the fast growing environmental industries of recycling, renewable energy, energy efficiency etc. have a very positive image as the "new economy" of sustainability. However both industries follow the same parameters in the long run. The major "OEMs" in the automotive industry in both countries are working hard on electro-mobility based car systems taking into account that electricity will be generated predominantly by renewable energy sources in the long run. In both countries "sustainable" production is seen as a big opportunity for economic growth, successful market strategies and last but not least for employability and education.
Focusing on these two areas, the workshop discussed intensively on qualification standards and training concept approaches, and their practicability; the design of learning and career paths; the consequences of new technologies (electro-mobility, energy efficiency and renewable energy, etc.); and, last but not least, current education system developments. 30 education and training experts from the BMBF and ED, as well as from industry and education associations, companies, unions, and education and research institutions from both countries discussed and defined specific areas and objectives of the prospective cooperation, as well as the appropriate formats and methods to carry this out.
In the area of Automotive Production the bi-national cooperation initative E 4 Cars will address the need to carry out R& D work on the qualification requirements of e-mobility. Automotive stakeholders from both countries will inforce their communication and cooperation on global competitive qualification standards and other questions of common interests in the Global Automotive Technical Education Network. One initiative will compare mechatronics technician qualification profiles from both countries via the existing european qualifications frameworks and based on relevant sector studies. The Green Occupations experts agreed on the development of education and training pilot schemes conc. wind and solar energy respectively on sustainable construction technology (e.g. smart grid). The already existing transatlantic expert exchange on renewable energy shall be continued and extended. Last but not least a bi-national expert dialogue has been initiated conc. a Transnational Education & Training Terminology that will take into account the existing transnational and transsectoral terminologies from european qualifications frameworks and CEDEFOP.
Beyond the promotion of further discussions and developments of these cooperation initiatives BMBF and ED will focus their cooperation on topics of Lifelong Learning (e.g. aspects of transparency and permeability of qualifications).
Contact:
- Dr. Volker Rein, BIBB, 0049/228/1072419, rein@bibb.de
- Dr. Gail Schwartz, ED, 001/202/45-7788, gail.schwartz@ed.gov
