Network for excellence

Vocational excellence

ETF Network for Excellence: an international network of centres of vocational excellence

What are the centres of vocational excellence? 

Centres of excellence in vocational education and training are vocational institutions recognised for excellence in identifying and imparting relevant, high-quality, specialised technical skills. In contributing to regional skills strategies, they promote employment and regional development. They work closely with employers, including small and medium-sized enterprises, to foster innovation, applied research, entrepreneurship and reskilling.

Centres of vocational excellence are:

  • attractive to learners because they offer responsive, flexible, personalised learning pathways, up-to-date technology, and a fast track into employment and higher education. 
  • inspirational for teachers, trainers and managers because they offer models of advanced practice in teaching, teacher training, organisational development and leadership. 
  • compelling for policy makers because they show how, through greater autonomy and cooperation, educational and training providers can become a driving force for the continuing improvement of education and training systems. 

ETF Network for Excellence (ENE): What for? 

ENE is intended to encourage the sharing of ideas, practices and experience between centres of vocational excellence at both national and international levels. The development and sharing of excellence is supported by ENE self-assessment tool (ENESAT) that helps centres align their own development with that of other members of the network. In addition, ENE works on development partnerships through which groups of centres of excellence work together to improve in specific domains.  

In partnership with Skillman.eu, ENE delivers webinars on key issues for vocational excellence. The ETF has launched the Community of Innovative Educators, an online platform that addresses innovation in teaching and learning. 

ENE mirrors the European Union initiative on centres of vocational excellence. Through the Erasmus+ programme, the EU is providing sustained funding for the development of platforms and support services for centres of vocational excellence. The ETF places particular importance on the contribution that such centres can make to improve vocational education and training systems and also on their contribution to the internationalisation of vocational education. 

What are ENE priorities? 

ENE is working on 10 themes:

  • ​​​Lifelong learning and vocational excellence
  • Education-business cooperation (e.g., work-based learning, public-private partnerships) 
  • Pedagogy and professional development 
  • Entrepreneurial dimension of vocational excellence
  • Industry 4.0/5.0 and digitalisation
  • Autonomy and institutional development (financing, leadership, governance) 
  • Going green – supporting sustainable goals 
  • Smart specialisation – mobilising innovation, ecosystems, and SMEs
  • Excellence in social inclusion and equity
  • Career guidance and vocational excellence

Join the network 

ENE members are committed to improving the functions, processes, organisational characteristics and relations with partners that characterise centres of vocational excellence. They are also committed to national and international collaboration and, in particular, to sharing practices with other ENE members.

The network is open to members from all countries and includes individual training providers, clusters of providers and centres that coordinate other providers. Policymakers (ministries, other national and regional stakeholders, etc.) from EU Member States and ETF partner countries are invited to engage in the actions of the network. Since its creation in December 2020, ENE has grown steadily. In February 2024, it comprised some 303 centres of vocational excellence from 49 countries.  

To join the network, send your request to: etf.network.for.excellence@etf.europa.eu You will be invited to an introductory meeting with the ENE Secretariat and asked to complete a simple registration form. 

Where can I find more information? 

  • ENE self-assessment tool: ENESAT 

  

        Více informací

        Briefing note on the ETF Network for Excellence (ENE)
        EXPLORING VOCATIONAL EXCELLENCE
        The ETF network for excellence_Concept note
        The ETF network for excellence_PPT presentation
        The ETF network for excellence_Leaflet
        Quality assurance and quality development among vocational education providers in Sub-Saharan Africa