Working group on adult learning : findings report peer learning activity on national skills strategies (20-21 October 2022, Brussels)

The European Commission published its New Skills Agenda for Europe in 2016 containing ten actions aimed at improving the quality and relevance of skills formation; making skills and qualifications more visible and comparable; and improving skills intelligence and information for better career choices. This skills agenda was renewed in 2020 with the European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience containing twelve actions that support harnessing the digital and green transitions, ensuring a prompt and fair recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. This included policy guidance on building strategies and plans at national level that help people build their skills throughout life in an environment where lifelong learning is the norm. The European Commission has played a crucial role in actively supporting the development of skills strategies, in cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).. The OECD published its Skills Strategy in 20123, providing guidance and policy pointers for countries to develop better skills policies over the following decade, with financial support from the Commission. The OECD renewed the strategy based on its experiences in working on national skills strategies in 20194 and is currently preparing for the Commission a review of the whole skills strategy process. The ILO is in the process of adapting a Skills Strategy, and UNESCO, while not having a specific skills strategy, has Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) strategies from 2022 to 2029 that focus on equipping TVET systems to provide relevant skills and lifelong learning5. Skills strategies provide a powerful tool to bring together a wide group of stakeholders to rethink how the demand and supply of skills are connected with the economic and societal outcomes of skills development. As a result of international level initiatives, countries also feel the need to invest in skills (and skills strategies), not only from a narrow economic perspective, but from a broader societal perspective to address issues around just and fair transitions, greening, sustainable development, well-being and lifelong learning and overcoming crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.