European Vocational Skills Week 2020 — Register for online events

If you want to know why this European Vocational Skills Week is so important, just ask WorldSkills Champion Jacqueline Tanzer.

A graphic designer and representative for Europe with the Champions Trust, Jacqueline has added to her busy workload as an official ambassador for Skills Week.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed this year’s event online, for the same reason the message is “more important than ever,” Jacqueline says.

“Countries are all facing very similar challenges, and we have to work together to find our way out of this difficult time.”

The turmoil created by coronavirus has also “seriously disrupted all forms of education and training and exposed even more the weaknesses of our systems and how fragile they are.”

“We should see this challenge as an opportunity to revolutionize VET, make it more timely, more resilient, and with that more attractive. Now is the time to make VET a first choice again, and the European Vocational Skills Week offers an excellent platform to push this agenda forward.”

The event began in 2016 and is supported by the European Commission. This year’s programme takes the theme of vocational education and training as a tool for green and digital economic transition.

Open to everyone, from large organizations to individuals, it will involve nearly 600 events in 35 countries. All designed to engage and inform young people about the potential of vocational education and training. 

There’s also the opportunity to vote in the Excellence in Vocational Educational and Training Awards, with the winners announced at the closing ceremony on November 13.

Along with Jacqueline, other familiar names supporting the week include Dita Traidas, President of WorldSkills Europe, Francis Hourant, CEO of WorldSkills Belgium, Pontus Slättman, CEO of WorldSkills Sweden, as well as fellow graphic designer and WorldSkills Champion, Katrīna Elizabete Lemantoviča.

For Jacqueline, European Vocational Skills Week is also a chance to reflect.

“My skill has made all the difference for me during this time,” she says.

“Mentally it has helped me a lot to be busy with work, having the comfort of a relatively unchanged routine, and not having my mind on the restraints of everyday-life too much.

Registration for European Vocational Skills Week is free. You can learn more at the official website, see the events programme and support and follow on social media through #DiscoverYourTalent and #EUVocationalSkills.