The special focus of this issue of BWP takes Guideline 4 on the modernization of vocational education and training (developed by IKBB - the Committee on Innovation in Vocational Education and Training) as its point of departure. From here it goes on to examine key aspects of this subject such as the training module concept, the shift in the focus of vocational training regulations in the direction of skill descriptions, thoughts on occupational families that share the same core qualifications, issues involving permeability and transparency in the education system and concepts for how initial and continuing vocational training could be better interlinked with one another at regulatory level. In the BWP interview, ARNO LESKIEN (ministerial counsellor at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research) talks about the successes that have already been accomplished in the ongoing efforts to make the German vocational education and training system more flexible and outlines the steps that have yet to be taken. In light of the challenges facing the (vocational) education system, MANFRED KREMER, president of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, argues in this issue's commentary for more openness when testing alternative models and concepts and conducting empirical examinations of them. Other subjects featured in this issue include a report on the experience gathered in developing a bilingual training module in connection with a Leonardo project and questions regarding the legal parameters for stays abroad when undergoing vocational training.