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European Vocational Skills Week
News article13 December 2018Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

Thank you from European Vocational Skills Week 2018

EVSW

Well done! Thanks to you, the third annual European Vocational Skills Week was a huge success!

The third European Vocational Skills Week ran from 5-9 November 2018. Key events and activities took place in Vienna this year, organised in close cooperation with the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Key events and activities during the week in Vienna included discussions around the future of VET, making adult learning work for the future, the fifth anniversary of the European Alliance for Apprenticeships, and a huge celebration of European Vocational Skills Week award nominees. This was alongside a wide variety of discussions and networking opportunities for event attendees to enjoy!

Visit our live blog for a full summary from the Week and a run-through of the events and activities that took place.

A variety of national opening events were also being held in other EU Member States, along with hundreds of VET-related events and activities at local and regional level. With over 1730 events and activities registered in 44 countries across Europe, it was the best so far. We couldn’t have done it without you!

You can still register your event or activity until the end of the year on our interactive map.

Stay tuned for headline results from the Week. We will be releasing a two-page summary very soon! If you would like to view photos from the events and activities in Vienna, visit our Flickr album!

Watch our highlights video from the national, regional and local events involved in European Vocational Skills Week 2018.

Awards ceremony during the Closing of the Week

The winners of the European Vocational Skills Week Awards for VET Excellence have been announced!

Marianne Thyssen, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, announced the award winners during the Closing event of the Week in Vienna, on 9 November.

The Awards highlighted good practice and recognised excellence in vocational education and training (VET) all over Europe. Awards were presented across various categories for either organisations or individuals.

Commissioner Marianne Thyssen closed the ceremony by stating “My message to VET students is: never stop learning. And my message to everyone else: let’s do what we can to make that possible! If you ask me what our mission should be, I’d say to provide a lifetime of quality learning, for everyone!”

Read our latest article to find out who the award winners are!

Share your story

Don’t forget you can still share your story about vocational education and training on our website! By sharing your story you will help raise awareness of the wealth of opportunities available through VET and inspire others.

Tell us about a traineeship or apprenticeship that helped you to #DiscoverYourTalent, or how the opportunity to re-skill led to a new career.

Read inspiring stories from Miguel and Rubén and learn all about our European Vocational Skills Week Ambassador Jinko Adams’ drive to dance.

Join the conversation

Throughout European Vocational Skills Week, a number of social media activities took place. This included live posting from the Week and Facebook Live interviews. You can still catch these interviews on Facebook. Watch as we meet some of the ambassadors from the Week, talk about the future of adult learning with Byron Auguste, CEO and Co-Founder at Opportunity@Work and Duncan Cass-Beggs, Counsellor for Strategic Foresight at the OECD and meet some of the VET Excellence award winners.

To celebrate the Week we have made a Spotify playlist! Have a listen and let us know if it inspires you to #DiscoverYourTalent!

You can still be part of the conversation on social media! Share your thoughts and photos from the Week campaign – in either Vienna or elsewhere - by using #EUVocationalSkills and #DiscoverYourTalent.

Announcement of the next European Vocational Skills Week

At the end of the Closing in Vienna, Commissioner Thyssen announced that the European Vocational Skills Week 2019 will take place in Helsinki, Finland, on 14-18th October! Do log that in your diary!

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