No. 1/1999
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No. 1/1999 |
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The mid-term priorities 1997-2000 laid down by CEDEFOP's Management Board determine the 1999 Work Programme. Promotion of competences and lifelong learning, observation of developments in the Member States, and support of mobility and exchanges continue to be the three pillars under which twelve projects have been classified by subject. Their purpose is to contribute to a better understanding of developments in the key areas of VET in the European Union. Through its networks CEDEFOP can bring together a broad range of expert knowledge and continue to expand its function as a platform for the exchange of information and experience between policy makers, researchers and practitioners in the field of VET.
In 1999 CEDEFOP has four projects for the promotion of competences and lifelong learning. The Centre will examine the question of how the abilities develop which make lifelong learning possible at all. The subjects of the surveys are key qualifications and curriculum development, learning in small and medium-sized enterprises, steps taken by public and private companies to assess knowledge acquired through non-formal learning and the impact of modern information and communication technologies on skill requirements. Five projects focus on the observation of VET trends in the EU Member States. CEDEFOP publishes full descriptions and summaries of the VET systems in hard copy and electronic form, working on specific items, such as brief descriptions of the initial vocational training systems in the Member States and in the Central and Eastern European candidate countries with EURYDICE and the European Training Foundation. When observing innovation, the Centre particularly examines those ideas which are tested in the Leonardo da Vinci programme. In close cooperation with Directorate-General XXII of the European Commission and Eurostat, a special edition will be published this year of the key data on VET in the EU under the aspect of "Transition from school to work". Furthermore, the Centre will publish the first European Report on Vocational Education and Training Policy and data on structures for the financing of VET in the Member States. Three projects support mobility and exchanges in Europe. The themes here are the creation with the European Commission of a European Forum for transparency of vocational qualifications, and the role of international qualifications in in-company developments. CEDEFOP will also design different VET scenarios this year in order to give new impulses to the VET debate in Europe. CEDEFOP's two thematic networks - research on trends in occupations and qualifications and the training of trainers - build a bridge covering all three mid-term priorities. Exchange and dialogue are an integral part of the 1999 study visit programme with 60 seminars and workshops for some 750 VET professionals and the "Agora Thessaloniki". It brings experts from research and policy, employer and employee organizations together three times a year for an exchange of opinion. The intention here is to make the actors more aware of the interaction between research and policy. As a partner in policy development, CEDEFOP will be concentrating this year on the specific information needs of the social partners. The Centre will support cooperation in research by, inter alia, publishing the fifth edition of the European Research Directory and preparing the second Report on Research in Vocational Education and Training. In addition to its non-periodical publications, including descriptions of the VET systems and the final reports of CEDEFOP projects, the Centre will this year issue three numbers of the European Journal "Vocational Training" following a new concept. Instead of dealing with one single topic, the journal will in future address several subjects in one number. Three numbers of CEDEFOP Info will also appear this year. In addition to its library and documentation service, CEDEFOP created the "Electronic Training Village" last year. This project has immediately become a hit and has more than 1,500 "residents" - registered users - who meet on-line for an exchange of experience and information. CEDEFOP's Internet site - addressed to a broad public - will continue to expand this year. This applies both to its size and the number of language versions. Apart from this ambitious work programme with an unchanged annual budget of almost 5.4 million Euro there are other reasons which make 1999 an important year for CEDEFOP. Firstly, the Centre will move into its new premises. Secondly, the Management Board will adopt new mid-term priorities for the years 2000 to 2003. The CEDEFOP 1999 Work Programme and the Annual Report 1998 are available free of charge in DE, EN, FR and GR from CEDEFOP Thessaloniki, PO Box 27 - Finikas, GR-55102, Tel. (30-31) 490 111, Fax (30-31) 490 102, e-mail: info@cedefop.eu.int and in the CEDEFOP Brussels office, 20, Av. d'Auderghem, B-1040 Brussels, Tel. (32-2) 230 19 78, Fax (32-2) 230 58 24, e-mail: info@cedefop.be. The full text is also available in the Electronic Training Village.Source: CEDEFOP/SK |
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