European Training Foundation (ETF) and cooperation with ERI SEE
In 2024, ERI SEE continued its fruitful cooperation with the European Training Foundation (ETF) on a number of occasions, supporting the ETF events by sharing of experiences and lessons learnt from the South Eastern European (SEE) region.
In January 2024, the ETF organized its Annual Meeting of the ETF Forum for Quality Assurance in VET, where ERI SEE presented tools for external evaluation contributing to quality culture in South Eastern European region to the Forum members from 13 different countries. With its contribution on the strengths and challenges of the quality assurance measures in the education and training system, ERI SEE contributed to the learning opportunities for all the participants of the ETF Forum.
In addition, ETF is implementing a regional EU project – DARYA – with 5 Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan), with one of the components focusing on flexible and stakeholder relevant multi-country qualifications, starting first with a pilot activity on multi-country occupational standards in 2 agreed sectors. On the occasion of a ETF webinar in June 2024, ERI SEE presented the Western Balkan methodology and practices in the development of regionally-based occupational standards, developed in cooperation with the ERI SEE, VET and qualification agencies, Chambers of Commerce, and education and business representatives from the region.
Another milestone within the DARYA was the Conference on regional cooperation on skills and qualifications in Central Asia, organized in Kyrgyzstan in October 2024. The Conference focused on projecting sustainable scenarios of cooperation on qualifications and skills, based on the results of the DARYA regional feasibility study. ERI SEE contributed to the event by sharing its practices on the establishment, formalization, sustainability and expansion of the WB regional cooperation, the elements of which may be inspirational for the Central Asian region.
The cooperation with ETF also continued on the subject of Greening of VET, particularly in the construction sector, for which a webinar was organized in November 2024 under the GRETA initiative. GRETA – Greening Responses to Excellence through Thematic Actions – is an initiative supporting the greening of vocational education and training (VET) as a response to the green and digital transitions. GRETA falls within ETF Network for Excellence (ENE) and identifies key areas of its involvement: the green transition, skills for green transition and greening of VET.
On the occasion of the webinar, ERI SEE shared its activities within the green sector, particularly around the topics covered under the Renewable Energy Services in Education and Training (RESET) project funded by GIZ and implemented by ERI SEE, as well as recommendations on joining education and green activities.
