European Year of Skills: “Grounded in the present, qualified for the future”, a conference with Comece, Fafce, Don Bosco International, Ekd, Elsia

“Grounded in the present, qualified for the future” is the subject of a conference due to take place in Brussels on May 31st as part of the European Year of Skills that is going on across the EU. The event is jointly organised by Fafce, Comece and Don Bosco International (Dbi), in partnership with the Brussels office of the German Evangelical Church (Ekd) and the European Laudato Si’ Alliance (Elsia). The core of the debate will focus on “requalification and update of skills on the background of the current challenges in the job market and education in the EU”, the invitation explains. If this Year’s goal is to “face the current situation of the job market in the EU by responding to the shortage of qualified labour all over Europe”, then the matter should be addressed in terms of the “sharp demographic decline, the multiple educational challenges and the refugee issues”. The meeting, which will be held in the premises of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (Comece), aims at redefining the concept of skills beyond the requirements imposed by competitiveness and the need for employment. The ritual greetings and a video speech from Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, will open the conference; they will be followed by three panels about “ecological and digital skills for inclusive and digitally responsible learning”; “educational and vocational training for technical skills and inclusion”; “informal skills learnt in the family”.
Valentina Bombelli