Discussions about vocational education and training (VET) rarely set the blood pumping and heart racing. This programming document for 2018-20 outlines how Cedefop will support the European Commission, Member States and social partners to improve VET and raise skill levels. It features many important and interesting initiatives that will evolve over time. So, it is appropriate to outline here our aspirations and the driving force behind our plans; why they matter and why our guiding principle over the coming years will be 'to think European and act local'. We wish to follow President Junker's advice and focus, 'on the things that matter, concrete actions that improve people's lives'. The labour market is increasingly challenging and insecure. Globalisation, technology, an ageing labour force and economic uncertainty are all changing work profiles, job prospects and competitiveness. Digitalisation will make millions of jobs as we know them today redundant and create millions of new forms of employment. Without skills, both people and enterprises are lost. Their quality of life risks dipping into poverty. For more than a decade, the European Union (EU) has prioritised VET reform: to raise skill levels, to improve employment prospects and to provide enterprises with the skills they need. Progress has been made. Educational attainment is rising, VET systems are becoming more flexible and VET is increasingly available in most Member States at post-secondary and tertiary levels. More people are in lifelong learning and far fewer leave school or VET with low or no qualifications. European cooperation has had a strong and positive impact on these developments. Cedefop's role in this process and its expertise have strengthened European cooperation and helped design VET policies that promote economic excellence and social inclusion. But the labour market continues to change in ways that make firm predictions difficult. The only evolving certainty is that many workers and robots will be next to each other in new work environments. At the same time, we witness a patchy economic recovery in Europe. In some countries, employment is higher than in 2008 when the crisis began; others will not see a return to such levels for at least a decade, perhaps longer. Employers say they cannot find the skills they want, while many skills learned at school and in VET are underused or not used at all in work. Training providers are confident that learners leaving schools are ready for the jobs on the market. The challenge, however, is that jobs are changing due to 'the rise of the machines'. To keep pace with developments, the European Commission, Member States and social partners, at their meeting in Riga in June 2015, set out their aim to 'promote innovation and excellence in VET'. This phase of VET reform, until 2020, emphasises implementation and integration to add value to people's lives by engaging them in learning and working. Implementation of VET policy priorities identified at Riga - improving work-based learning, key competences, quality assurance in VET, access to VET and qualifications, and developing teachers and trainers - needs to be coherent and mutually reinforcing. Examples of good practice and innovation, for example in partnerships, curricula, teaching methods and technology, need to become systemic. Change needs to become practice at local level.
