Dialogue with US-partners intensified
Hans-Joachim Kissling, Maren Verfürth
From 6 to 9 June 2001, two VET experts from BIBB met with representatives of the Department of Education, the Department of Labor and other institutions from the vocational education and training field in Washington, D.C. and with collaborative partners at a summer workshop in Lexington, Kentucky. The meetings in Washington, D.C. revolved around the resumption of the dialogue launched last year with the US Department of Education regarding the next steps for future collaboration and around establishing contact with the experts at the Department of Labor who are responsible for vocational education and training.
In Lexington, the BIBB experts attended the Sharpening the Focus: Retooling the Automotive Workforce summer workshop organised by the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers. In addition to talks with current project partners such as the AMTEC and Macomb College, BIBB's representatives had the opportunity to build up contacts with colleges and the automobile industry, including representatives of the new VW plant in Chattanooga. The German model for collaboration between government and industry which the BIBB experts reported on met with strong interest at the sessions conducted during the workshop.
