Learning Connects No. 9

Why are skills important for social inclusion?

To understand just how pertinent the topic of skills is for social inclusion, this month's newsletter includes an article on the main findings from a joint survey on wellbeing within the European Union and ten of its neighbouring countries. Undertaken by the European Foundation for Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) and the ETF, the survey reveals not only the number of challenges faced by societies to address social inclusion, especially for groups including women, youth and vulnerable communities, but also the urgency with which these challenges need to be addressed.

Technological change, the greening of economies, globalisation and demographic factors, including migration and displacement due to environmental hazards and conflict, as well as the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 crisis, have profoundly influenced labour markets and the workplace and the skills people need to work and live. Education and skills development are critical to ensure individuals have access to, and remain engaged in, our fast-evolving workplaces and society.

In January and February of 2023, as the European Year of Skills gets underway, the ETF will focus its communication campaign on the importance of education and skills development for social inclusion with highlights, expert discussions and learning points from the EU’s neighbourhood regions at the various levels where the ETF provides support.

This month's newsletter launches this exploration with an interview of Lida Kita, one of the ETF's most experienced senior experts in vocational excellence, social inclusion, and country liaison. In a separate interview, the ETF's Governing Board Member from Sweden, Malin Mendes, provides insight into the priorities of Sweden on this topic as it assumes the Presidency of the European Union in January 2023.

What is the ETF doing to support skills for social inclusion?

To be effective in building more inclusive societies, policies for education, skills development and employment must be integrated and mutually reinforcing. The ETF's policy advice and activities to support partner countries in the EU's neighbouring regions are therefore targeted at the following multiple levels:

individual learner – primarily through the Creating New learning programme, the ETF supports the development of learner-centered curriculum approaches for technical, digital, personal, social and civic competence development; the continuous professional development of teachers on issues such as multiculturalism and special needs; and career guidance provision;
learning institution – the ETF’s Network for Excellence of vocational centres encourages the exchange of best practice to enhance visibility, collaboration and support innovative social inclusion practices;
business and enterprises – as part of the Skills for Enterprises (S4E) initiative, the ETF works to build employee and business adaptability and resilience through relevant training and skills development that respond to market and societal needs, encouraging high-level training provision, and engagement in supportive networks;
societal and system-level – provision of policy advice on labour market and employment policies and interventions, and expertise support for skills demand analysis and the inclusion of vulnerable individuals and communities, development and implementation of qualifications systems, and support for monitoring and adaptation of policy measures;
state level – by promoting good governance, as featured in the ETF’s GLAD network, which includes the participation of public and private sector, social partners, and civil society in decision-making and the strengthening of democratic processes;
international level – by building partnerships, as in the ETF Skills Lab Network, for international cooperation with multiple partners: international organisations, national authorities, research community, digital platforms, social partners, civil society, youth organisations and many others.

The ETF’s work is devised and delivered in the context of the EU’s policies, including the European Pillar of Social Rights, and the EU's external relations priorities in support of the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, in particular, quality education and decent work and economic growth, for prosperous, innovative and inclusive societies.

The ETF supports education, skills development and employment in the EU’s neighbouring regions – Western Balkans and Turkey, Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia - within a lifelong learning context reaching out to the most vulnerable in society. The aim is to establish policies and practices that enhance the role of human capital development in sustainability and social inclusion, emphasising its civic, social, and equity dimensions.

Vocational excellence and peer learning for social inclusion: insights from ETF's Lida Kita

Building societies that are inclusive and equitable is a key objective of governments and institutions across the world. Workforces that are inc...

Building societies that are inclusive and equitable is a key objective of governments and institutions across the world. Workforces that are inclusive enable employers to harness the potential of every working-age adult, while education that is accessible to all helps people to develop the competencies, knowledge and attitudes that are needed to reach their potential and better adapt to an ever-changing world.

Inclusion is a transversal issue for the ETF, cutting across multiple areas of operations to develop and collaborate with partners in Europe’s neighbouring regions to ensure that social inclusion is at the heart of policy-making decisions.

Catering for everyone

To ETF's Lida Kita, ETF Senior Human Capital Development Expert on Social Inclusion, and Country Liaison for Israel, Serbia and Türkiye, inclusion is much more than paying lip-service through the often-repeated mantra of caring for the excluded.

‘My view is that we should care about the overall system and how it caters for everyone. After all, all people have vulnerabilities – being included or excluded for different reasons; how you interact or are supported by the system. At a systemic level, why do we have segregation, and what can we do to not make vulnerabilities even bigger? Labelling peoples or groups can be disturbing,’ said Kita.

To promote social inclusion, there is a need to understand the current system and what can be changed, she added. The ETF is acting as a facilitator in peer-learning, exchanging knowledge and creating networks to make this happen.

One recent initiative is the Network for Excellence’s (ENE) Sharing Innovation in Social Inclusion (SISI), which aims to share and consolidate locally-sourced, innovative inclusion practices and activities. ENE and ENAIP NET, an Italian Vocational Education and training (VET) provider, are participating by opening up their networks in ETF partner countries and EU Member States.

While there are 253 Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) in 40 countries, with 57 in Türkiye, six in Israel, and six in Serbia, SISI is being carried out at nine CoVEs in Türkiye, Israel, Moldova, Albania, Georgia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

CoVEs are identifying the development needs and creating partnerships that remove barriers for marginalised groups seeking access to training and employment. This is through the sharing of tools and best practices with public and private VET providers, private sector companies, public sector entities, such as universities and research institutions, policymakers, youth organisations and civil society providers working on skills provision and mobilisation of young people in having their say in partner countries.

A further role is to identify and propose relevant opportunities to make applications for EU and other national and international programmes and schemes, such as Erasmus+, E-Twinning, and Technical Assistance and Information Exchange (TAIEX) calls.

Outreach

With regard to Erasmus+, a drawback to the programme had been that students around the EU and in neighbouring countries were not often aware of what types of support were available for education, training, and sports. As part of its 2021-2027 agenda, inclusivity is a key pillar.

‘Erasmus is focusing on outreach, and social media has helped a lot. Before, ministries put information on their website, but how many young people check that? You need awareness for young people to know more, and countries are seeing the benefit of Erasmus+. Through Facebook, for instance, it is amazing to see how Erasmus is reaching remote areas where support is needed,’ said Kita. ‘In Türkiye, the focus was Istanbul, Ankara and other bigger cities. Now the information is put in all social media that can reach young people in remote areas. You see more and more applications from all over the country. It is great work done by the Türkiye Erasmus office to have a wide country outreach, and you see that people have knowledge of Erasmus+,’ she added.

Bolstering inclusivity through awareness of programmes extends to the European Education Area, the Digital Education Action Plan, the European Skills Agenda, and the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027.

Through peer-learning about such programmes and other educational initiatives, ‘experiences can be shared as well as reflection on the difficulties and what the challenges are,’ said Kita.

Digital inclusivity

Technology is playing a growing role in inclusivity, evidenced by its use as a means of providing education during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the post-pandemic period, ‘we are seeing that technology is not just a buzzword but is becoming a backbone of policy agendas in many countries,’ she said.

In Türkiye’s VET sector for example, which works closely with the private sector, marginalised groups are being included through a national online policy that everyone can access.

‘It can be accessed through mobile phones and also on national TV, even for work-based learning, which we never thought was possible before. This has given a boost to some areas and some sectors, including agriculture in remote areas,’ said Kita.

Collaboration is also helping to create, literally, new means of communication. At the recently held 2022 Forum on Vocational Excellence in San Sebastian, Spain, the private sector, as part of an Erasmus project at Danish and German universities, announced it is developing a sign language for industry, as different sign languages were used for specific sectors.

‘This gives huge possibilities for engagement and shows how things can be discovered along the way,’ said Kita. ‘It is not just about funding, but knowing what you can do, and discovering things you thought were not doable.’

Through collaborations, knowledge-sharing and innovation, there can be a resultant impact on policy-making and delivery.

‘ETF members are providing evidence to policymakers that you can change the mantra, and how we treat what are called excluded or marginalised groups,’ said Kita.

The wellbeing emergency in the EU-27 and beyond

A new survey into wellbeing within the European Union and ten of its neighbour countries has revealed deep cause for concern.

The recently published report, 'Living, Working and Covid-19 in the European Union and ten neighbouring countries', jointly produced by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) and the ETF, undertakes a series of in-depth analyses into the Covid emergency and the on-going cost-of-living crisis.

Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, Eurofound, the Dublin-based EU Agency, has conducted five surveys. Between April 2020 to May 2022, it polled over 175,000 people using innovative methodologies to reach those sectors of the population often excluded from traditional surveys. In the fifth survey, ETF provided 18,461 voices from 10 EU neighbouring countries: Albania, Georgia, Jordan, Kosovo*, Lebanon, Moldova, Morocco, North Macedonia, Palestine** and Tunisia.

The information yielded by this quintet of surveys is eloquent: according to Daphne Ahrendt, a Senior Research Manager in Eurofound’s Social Policies Unit, the EU’s hope of ushering 'an upward convergence of wellbeing' is now threatened by 'a stark divergence in living standards,' with very large percentages of the populations falling into poverty and struggling to access healthcare, housing and education.

Young people and women particularly penalised

Young people and women have been particularly penalised by the recent crises. Some 9% in the EU and 23% in EU neighbouring countries of those aged 18-29 lost their jobs during the pandemic. And 28% of that same age bracket in the EU felt 'a strong feeling of social exclusion.' Those in the first half of their careers also suffered the highest incidence of mental health issues, a problem which has actually increased rather than subsided in the aftermath of the Covid emergency.

'The results are particularly alarming for those aged between 18 and 44,' says the fifth report, 'with 75% of them being considered at risk of depression.'

Although male respondents worked longer hours than their female counterparts, when unpaid household and care work was taken into account, the discrepancy was vast: men’s total work hours amounted to 74.1 in the EU-27 and 78.6 in EU neighbouring countries; for women, the respective figures were 91.7 and 112.6.

'This is the first time we have figures on gender differences in working hours within our partner countries', says Outi Kärkkäinen, a Senior Human Capital Development Expert at ETF with a focus on gender. 'Women work many more hours: the overall quantity of work they’re carrying out is far higher.' The perceived obstacles to returning to work are also to some extent different for men and women. 'It’s clear' says Kärkkäinen, 'that women primarily fear getting Covid at the workplace, reflecting the over-representation of women in the health and care sector, both in the EU-27 and the EU neighbouring countries.'

Declining trust in institutions

Another theme that has emerged strongly from the surveys is the declining trust in institutions. 'For governments to be able to implement policies,' says Ahrendt, 'especially those far-reaching ones required during the pandemic, you needed a trusting electorate. But we know from our other studies that there’s a firm relationship between trust and the perceived quality of a society and its institutions.' Over the course of the 2020, 2021 and 2022 surveys there has been, across the EU27, a discernible decrease in trust in police forces, healthcare delivery and national governments.

Trust in the European Union is even lower in those countries where large sections of the population are facing financial arrears, unable to access healthcare and suffering from unemployment. Greece, a clear outlier, had both the highest percentage of people losing their jobs in Spring 2021 (21%), the greatest percentage of people currently facing arrears (50%) and the lowest expression of trust in the EU. In many countries, there has been a vicious circle in which those parts of the population who are already vulnerable have struggled most to get access to healthcare during the pandemic, thereby increasing their vulnerability and decreasing their societal trust.

Innovative Outreach

The collaboration between Eurofound and ETF in the most recent survey has offered refined, granular information on countries rarely profiled by professional researchers. Eurofound and ETF conducted innovative outreach via the internet, placing advertising on Facebook rather than relying on the standard registers and the usual face-to-face survey techniques.

'This method was very important,' says Cristina Mereuta, a Senior Human Capital Development Expert at ETF, 'because we managed to contact refugees living in tents with no stable source of food. There were heart-breaking stories, but at least they could send an email and were able to tell those stories.'

It emerged that 81% of people in EU neighbouring countries are struggling to make ends meet. That figure rises to 90% for families with young children. 48% have no savings at all. The traditional routes to improve life chances and living standards – education and training – were out of reach for over 70% of the EU neighbouring country respondents (compared to 36% in the EU27). 84% of those unemployed in the partner countries described difficulties in accessing further education or training.

Feelings and Forebodings

The surveys also added clarity to forgotten aspects of wellbeing: the feelings and forebodings generated by unemployment, exclusion and a deleterious work-life balance. Rather than focus solely on cold facts, the surveys have revealed perceptions and pessimisms. It’s here that one of the central paradoxes emerged: 'While respondents in the European Union recorded a higher quality of life and well-being than those in the neighbouring countries,' the fifth report concluded, 'the latter are more optimistic about their own future and the future of their country than respondents in the EU-27.'

'It’s very intriguing', says Ahrendt, 'and perhaps that difference in optimism arises because in neighbouring countries expectations are lower and so it’s easier to satisfy them.' Mereuta agrees. 'I’m of the generation that saw what happened in the 1990s in Romania, with the sudden transition from a centralised to a market economy. Around 50% of the workforce lost or changed their jobs within a few years. The impact, from a sociological and psychological point of view, was very traumatic for many in Eastern Europe. So, in a way, these crises seem nothing new, it’s as if we’ve faced the worst of the worst before, there have been wars in the Balkans and so on. So for some people, the future is brighter because we come from very difficult situations. But it shows the fact that policy-makers have to look at peoples’ resilience.'

Originally conceived to offer real-time and in-depth analysis during the course of the pandemic, these surveys also provide vital insights into the consequences of other, overlapping crises: the energy, inflation, food, health, housing and security challenges faced by the European continent and beyond. Summarising the surveys’ findings, Mereuta says,

'it’s really shocking and a very serious situation. The levels of pessimism, dismay and financial struggles amongst citizens in both the EU and our ten ETF partner countries are very high.'

The conclusion of the report calls on policy-makers to heed this statistical alarm call and frame legislation to consolidate social protection schemes, to improve access to education, training and decent housing, and to encourage working practises which reflect people’s preferences. If not, it’s clear that free-falling wellbeing and incomes will continue to affect trust not merely in the EU, but in society itself.

^{* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.}

^{** This designation shall not be construed as recognition of a State of Palestine and is without prejudice to the individual position of the Member States on this issue.}

Time for a chat with Malin Mendes, the ETF's Governing Board Member from Sweden

Malin, tell us about how you came to be a member of the ETF governing board?

I am a big believer in education and training as an extremely powerful tool for transforming societies and people's possibilities to a meaningful working life as well as personal life and life as an active citizen. After many years working in the field of vocational education and training at the Ministry of Education and Research in Sweden, and regarding my special interest for the ETF and its mission, I think I was a natural choice when Sweden appointed a new member of the governing board in 2018.

What would you say are the most pressing issues in the field of human capital development in the EU’s neighbouring regions for 2023?

As in the EU Member States I believe that the overarching challenge in the neighbouring regions is to ensure vocational education and training systems are adaptive and responsive to changing needs of the society and the labour market. Part of this is also to attract young and less young people to the VET programmes on offer. Supporting the green transition through the provision of the right skills to achieve this change is essential in 2023 and the years ahead.

As well as economic development, how important do you think skills development is for strengthening social and democratic processes?

Absolutely essential. Having skills that lead to a job gives independence and the possibility to create a good life for oneself. VET also needs to promote democratic values and contribute to social cohesion as well as provide learners with skills to critically analyse information and prevent the spread of non-factual information and news through a good factual base and the promotion of critical thinking.

What good practice examples on skills development from Sweden do you think are particularly relevant for ETF partner countries?

I always like to spread the word on our Higher Vocational Education (HVE) system. It is a demand-driven, post-secondary high quality education form that involves working life representatives through the whole process of designing training programmes, managing them throughout their lifespan and follow up on quality and performance. The shorter courses and longer programmes constantly adapt to changing labour market demands, and courses and programmes geared towards new and emerging skills evolve rapidly. Our widely available upper secondary level VET programmes in municipal adult education should also be mentioned. We see clearly that the number of young people in initial vocational education and training will not be sufficient to meet the labour market needs for VET skills and therefore the availability of upskilling and reskilling for adults is key too.

To what extent will the Swedish Presidency of the European Union, from January to June 2023, focus on education and skills development?

The European Year of Skills is taking place in 2023, and the Presidency intends to link up with this and one of its focus areas, matching skills to labour market needs. The Presidency will highlight how education can contribute to transition and upskilling, and will initiate a discussion on the conditions necessary for both individuals and businesses to be able to obtain the skills they need for the green transition.

In addition, the Presidency will move the work on the European Education Area forward, for example regarding mutual recognition of qualifications. The Presidency also plans to begin considering both Council recommendations announced by the Commission on digitalisation in the area of education.

More information on the Swedish Presidency programme can be found here: https://swedish-presidency.consilium.europa.eu/en/

4 facts on skills and social inclusion

Providing equal access to opportunities, resources, education, training and work is essential to create cohesive societies whose citizens are in...

Providing equal access to opportunities, resources, education, training and work is essential to create cohesive societies whose citizens are included, active and engaged.

This year, Eurofound and the ETF conducted a far-reaching survey of the EU’s 27 member states and 10 neighbouring countries ¹ to assess the challenges and concerns of the cost of living, well-being and work in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here below are some of the key findings focused on inclusion:

41% of respondents aged 18-29 from the EU’s neighbouring countries feel excluded from society, compared to 28% of their peers from the EU-27.
73% of respondents from the EU’s neighbouring countries reported lacking sufficient access to education and training, as compared to 36% of respondents in the EU-27.
19% of respondents from the EU’s neighbouring countries consider their internet connectivity to be extremely problematic, in contrast to 7% of respondents from the EU-27.
People aged 30-44 in the EU’s neighbouring countries expressed lower levels of life satisfaction (4.2 mean score out of 10) than their EU-27 peers (5.8 mean score out of 10) yet paradoxically remained more optimist about their own future and the future of their country.

¹ ^{Albania, Georgia, Jordan, Kosovo*, Lebanon, Moldova, Morocco, North Macedonia, Palestine** and Tunisia}