live&learn issue 6

December 2006, No. 6

and

earnive

THE ETF MAGAZINE

Education gives growth and employment

Jan Andersson, MEP and chairman ofthe Committee on Social Affairs

The EuropeanTraining Foundationis the EuropeanUnion’s centre ofexpertise supportingvocationaleducation andtraining reforms inthe context of theEuropean Union’sexternal relationsprogrammes.www.etf.eu.int

Education is the keyto development.Economics, politics,culture and socialwelfare all dependon education. Goodeducation givespeople work, a voiceand the ability tomake qualifieddecisions.

HOW TOCONTACT US

Further informationon our activities,calls for tender andjob opportunitiescan be found on ourweb site:www.etf.europa.eu

For any additionalinformation pleasecontact:

ExternalCommunication UnitEuropean TrainingFoundationVilla GualinoViale SettimioSevero 65I – 10133 TorinoT +39 011 630 2222F +39 011 630 2200E [email protected]

CONTENTS

COVER STORY

Education gives growth and

employment......................................................3

IN FOCUS

ETF director welcomes new mission.............6

European Year of Equal Opportunities..........8

Entrepreneurship for all: Tunisia

shows the way................................................13

ETF joins new campaign on EU agencies ....15

Bulgaria and Romania enter the EU.............16

FEATURES

Improving life chances for young women

in Turkish orphanages ..................................11

South East Europe focuses on the

dual role of teachers......................................18

Women in education and employment

in 2010: from a woman’s point of view........20

LIVE and LEARN - The ETF MagazineCover photo: ETF

EDUCATION GIVES GROWTHAND EMPLOYMENTJAN ANDERSSON MEP ON EU SUPPORT TO

HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT

Praise for the virtues ofmigration and a passion for

long-term thinking are notstandard fare of everyvote-conscious politician today.But then Jan Anderssonreceived his mandate from aSwedish electorate that is notvery likely to question hisfreedom of thought andexpression.

Far away from his nativeHelsingborg, Jan Andersson isthe Chairman of the Committeeon Employment of the EuropeanParliament. Live and Learnvisited his offices in Brussels tosound him out on the future ofEU external support to humanresources development.

“Our work is more than justhuman resources and vocationaltraining,” he warns us when weask him what he considers theCommittee’s main achievementduring his time at the helm.“The best result of the past twoand a half years for me is ourcontribution to the ServicesDirective. I was closely involvedin that. As a group we stayed onthe case until the end. I don’t justthink it was the best result of ourCommittee. Perhaps it was eventhe most successful process forthe European Parliament ever.There are lots of directives stuckat Council level at the moment,but we succeeded.”

The Committee’s success onthe Services Directive isn’t allthat irrelevant. It illustrates whatinfluence it can exert. And this,together with a Committeechairman who has a permanentaddress in the camp of thosewho believe that education andtraining can change the world,holds some promise for the roleof human resourcesdevelopment in the first criticalyears of the new EU

programmes for externalassistance.

“But narrowed down tohuman resources development, Ithink I would vote for theThomas Mann initiative aboutthe European QualificationsFramework,” Jan Anderssonadds, referring to German MEPThomas Mann who submitted areport to the EuropeanParliament commenting on theproposed EQF. It formed thebasis for some essentialchanges made to theFramework, such asimprovement and clearerdistinction of its eight referencelevels and a more concise andcomprehensible expression of itsdescriptors. “This is ongoing andwill keep coming back at us but itis clear that our views will bereflected in the final outcome.”

Mobility

Andersson’s fondness of theEuropean QualificationsFramework stems from hispassionate views on Europeanmobility. “I have been involved ina lot of developments thatinvolved mobility and I cannotstress enough the importance ofit for growth and employment.We have less geographicalmobility than in the US. Andeven when there is muchmobility locally, there are bigdifferences among countries andamong different groups insociety.”

This is where educationenters the equation. “Mobility ofpeople is related to their level ofeducation. Education givesgrowth and employment. I justcame back from a conference inBerlin that covered socialstrategies for the future.

LIVE and LEARN - The ETF Magazine 3

COVER STORY

Jan Andersson was born inHelsingborg in southern Swedenin 1947. He was a teacher in hishome town until 1988. He enteredlocal politics in 1979 and was amember of the Swedish Parliamentfrom 1988 until 1995, when hemoved to the European Parliament.Jan Andersson is the currentchairman of the Committee onEmployment and Social Affairs.He is also involved in theallocation of ESF funds in Sweden.

Photo: EUP-Images

Find examples ofgood practice inthe EU and usethese to helpcountries developlong-termstraegies

The central theme there waseducation, the lifelong dimensionof it in particular. We discussedthe new labour market, the roleof change – how it dominatesevery aspect of our lives. If wewant to compete we cannot do iton salaries. And in fact, from amore social perspective, we donot even want to compete onsalaries. The only acceptableway for us to compete with therest of the world is by being thebest, but of course the greatchallenge is to keep the low skillsin on this too and not just focuson high technology.”

“We have to link our work andviews to demographic trends too.Less than 50% of the over-50s inBelgium are active in the labourmarket. The figure speaks foritself. We need these people.Getting them back has a lot to dowith health and safety at work butin my view it has even more to dowith lifelong learning. Most peopleof that age still don’t expect tohave to learn again and that’swhat we have to change.”

Europeanneighbourhood

Moving the spotlight towardsneighbouring countries that seekEU membership or partnership,Jan Andersson remarks thatbetween Member States and thecandidate countries there isoften a gap in employment andgrowth, but also in education.“We have to start thinking of thisat an earlier stage than we havedone so far. We have to start inadvance to make it easier forthese countries to becomemembers of the union. Thatmeans we need to help themfurther develop their educationand training systems and weneed to help them to prepare forthe philosophy and practice oflifelong learning.”

“This applies not only to thecountries that are preparing formembership but also to thebroader group of neighbourhoodcountries that often face an evenlarger gap. We need to helpthem develop their educationand training systems too,perhaps not so much with a viewtowards eventual membership,but rather focusing on peace,stability and indeed trade. Don’tforget that we are preparing freetrade agreements and that thisdoesn’t just mean improvedaccess to the internal market forthem. It also means access totheir markets for us so of coursetheir prosperity is in our interestin all respects.”

To the question whether weare doing enough today JanAndersson replies with aresounding, “No. We don’t doenough.” But he moderates thisin an unexpected direction: “Wedo not even do enoughourselves in the EuropeanUnion. The gaps among EUcountries are still too big and Iwould dare to say that even inthe Nordic Member States –which we always think of as veryadvanced in this field, notenough is being done yet. Weneed to start with ourselves.”

Does that mean we shouldkeep a low profile in foreignassistance in this field while weare sorting out our ownproblems? Not according toAndersson, who thinks that ETFhas an important role to play in,

for example, helping othercountries develop the socialstructures that underpin ahealthy lifelong learning culture.

“EU countries have madeconsiderable progress inbalancing the roles of state andsocial partners in humanresources development. Butsocial partners are still not verywell organised even in many ofthe new Member States. Peopleoften still see them as a part ofthe ruling establishment. Socialpartners have various roles toplay in education and training –in dealing with companies and indealing with individuals – andthey need to be prepared forthat. Many are not today.”

“In Europe, we also need tofind a solution to the problemthat companies in tightcompetition for human resourcesare becoming afraid to invest inthe training of their employees,lest they lose them tocompetitors. We have to findmodels of co-financing trainingamong all partners. Lifelonglearning accounts are aninteresting option here thatdeserve further development.”

Role of the ETF

All of these issues are corebusiness for the ETF and thenext question therefore almostpresents itself: while we aresorting out our own reformneeds, what role should the ETFplay in ongoing support toneighbouring countries?

“Find examples of goodpractice in the EU and use theseto help countries developlong-term strategies. I stresslong-term because humanresources development is atextbook example of a policy fieldthat needs long-term thinking.”

That doesn’t always go downwell with politicians – not evenEU politicians. In a constitutionaldemocracy, politicians typicallyhave a four-year temporarylicence to act. But in the eyes ofJan Andersson, this leaves animportant task to the agencies asthe more permanent elements ofthe EU institutionalinfrastructure.

“They can and shouldprovide more continuity and

4 LIVE and LEARN - The ETF Magazine

EDUCATION GIVES GROWTH AND EMPLOYMENTCOVER STORY

Jan Andersson has been very closely involved in the ServicesDirective

Photo

:E

UP

-Im

ages

promote the long-term vision.This is something the ETF muststress not only in its work withpartner country authorities butalso in its activities that involvesocial partners. Social partnerstoo are often still over concernedwith quick results when reallythey ought to take a morelong-term strategic position.”

“As far as politics areconcerned, short-term thinking isa serious problem and I do notsubscribe to the idea that it is anecessity for political survival.Olof Palme was the man whomade me go into politics. He is ashining example of how you canhave a long-term orientation as atop politician.”

“Another important task forthe ETF is to link strategies forlifelong learning in neighbouringcountries to those in theEuropean Union. This helpscandidate countries prepare formembership and generallyfurthers the role of education indemocracy development.”

Working withagencies

Jan Andersson believes thelink between the agencies andother European institutions mustbe strengthened further but he isnot certain how this could be donebest. “In Sweden agencies are anormal partner on the politicalscene, so I am accustomed toworking with agencies and I havelearned to appreciate their roles.But although things haveimproved in recent years, I still askmyself how we, the EuropeanParliament and the EuropeanCommission – can make betteruse of these resources.”

Jan Andersson has alreadyhinted at the role he sees foreducation and training in growthand stability. But current ETFwork, such as that for the ETFYearbook to be published laterthis year, suggests thateducation and training might alsohold clues towards solving othermore politically sensitive issuesin today’s world, such as povertyand migration. Here, Anderssondoesn’t question solutions. Hequestions the problem: “I find ithard to make a clear distinctionbetween migration and mobility.”

We need more mobility, ergowe need more migration?

“Well, people don’t alwayslike to hear it, but we need it. Weneed more free forms of mobility– getting people to where thejobs are and vice versa, becauseit is good for growth. As long aspeople are not ready to move,their chances of unemploymentremain unacceptably high. Ofcourse we need to be mindful ofproblems related to brain-drainbut even brain drain isn’t theplain negative thing it is oftenportrayed to be. Emigrants oftenreturn to their home countrieswith money, new skills and otherassociated benefits. And braindrain, or rather the spread of thenotion that better educatedpeople can move more freely towhere the jobs are, can createpressure from within too, asmore people will aspire to bettereducation.”

Normally, EuropeanParliament positions of influenceare a game of musical chairsevery two and a half years butbecause of unexpected changesin other committees, Anderssonwill be allowed to ride out adouble term, giving him two moreyears as the chairman of theEmployment and Social AffairsCommittee. We wind ourconversation down asking abouthis immediate ambitions –anything that in two years from

now can make him say: “Yes,that’s what I have wanted toachieve.”

But Andersson is not easilylured into visionary daydreaming.A Swede throughout, he keepsboth feet on the ground. “I haveno such specific ambitions butthat doesn’t mean there isn’tanything I want to achieve –quite the contrary. Still, I think mytop priority is of a more generalnature: not to lose sight – againthrough short-term thinking – ofour overall aim of safeguardingwhat we can admire the Unionfor: its striving for balancebetween economic growth andsocial welfare. To guarantee this,we need to be effective in ourlegislation and processes. TheLisbon Process in particularmust become more effectivethan it has been so far. TheEuropean Union is cooperationfor people – people who throughjobs and growth can createstability and prosperity. We mustuse our human capital in asensible and sensitive way.”

Find out more:Jan Andersson:http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch/view.do?id=2107Services Directive:http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/services/index_en.htm

We need more freeforms of mobility -getting people towhere the jobs areand vice-versa...


EDUCATION GIVES GROWTH AND EMPLOYMENTCOVER STORY

Less then 50% of the over-50s in Belgium are active in the labour market.

Photo

:©

Euro

pean

Com

munity,

2006

ETF DIRECTOR

WELCOMES NEW

MISSIONWe are ready to supportpolicy development saysMuriel Dunbar

As we approach the end of 2006 andthe launch of the new EU instruments forexternal support, the European TrainingFoundation can face its future challengeswith confidence. Years of thoroughpreparation, culminating in broadconsultations with staff, partners andpeers during the past twelve months, haveyielded a new mission. A shift in emphasistowards policy support through policylearning; a more comprehensive approachto human resources development; afocused staff development strategy; astreamlined internal structure – fromJanuary 2007 the sum of thesedevelopments will translate into increasedleverage for improving the impact of theETF’s work on the ground.

This new mission will allow the ETF torespond more effectively to new demands ofthe European Commission and other EUinstitutions. It also anticipates emergingneeds from the partner countries andimproves the ability of the ETF to helppartner country authorities to respond tothese needs pre-emptively rather thanretrospectively. The new mission for the ETFhas been under development throughout2006 and was finally outlined in the ETFMid-term Perspective 2007-2010 that wasdrafted this autumn. The new ETF mandateis awaiting Council approval in 2007.

Fading boundaries

Whether or not the mandate of theEuropean Training Foundation shouldremain limited to vocational education andtraining per se has been a recurring topicof debate in the past years. Within theEuropean Union, the ever broaderadoption of the lifelong learning philosophyhas gradually eroded the boundariesbetween the different forms and levels ofeducation. And since one of the keyactivities of the ETF is to share EUprinciples and expertise in education andtraining with its partner countries, the strictfocus on vocational education and traininghas lost some of its logic. A new mission

for the ETF has been under developmentthroughout 2006 and was finally outlined inthe ETF Mid-term Perspective 2007-2010that was drafted this autumn.

“The most crucial change that we willsee in the work of the ETF stems from therecognition that you cannot addressvocational education and training inisolation,” says ETF director MurielDunbar. “As such, the Mid-termPerspective anticipates that our newCouncil Regulation will move the focus ofour work from strictly vocational educationand training to a much broader skillsdevelopment in a lifelong learningperspective. While vocational educationand training will remain our core point ofreference, our work will to a much greaterextent than before include the areas ofoverlap with other educational sectors.”

Policy advice

Muriel Dunbar adds that the Mid-termPerspective also foresees a decisive shiftof emphasis of the work of the ETFtowards policy advice. This has been inthe making since 2003 and is not so mucha radical break with past activities as anatural development. “In the past most ofour field work has been at projectmanagement level,” Muriel Dunbarexplains. “As we developed our expertise,we increasingly moved the centre ofgravity to the policy level. In 2006, weprovided country analyses to DG Relexand DG Enlargement, assisting them inthe programming for the new Instrumentfor Pre-accession and the EuropeanNeighbourhood Policy Instrument. Thisconfirms that we are now at a stage wherewe can employ our expertise to supportpolicy development.”

“Our progress along the spectrum paysoff in both respects: we can now helpdevelop capacity in the partner countriesand be of more value to our colleagues inthe European Commission and theEuropean Parliament.”

The Mid-term Perpective is firmlyrooted in the basic ideas of the new EUinstruments of external support. These willoffer the framework for ETF assistance tothe Commission and the partner countries

in the years ahead. In the phrasing of thedraft perspective, during the 2007-2013programming cycle “the ETF will [...] seekto improve human resources developmentin partner countries in the areas ofeducation and training in a lifelonglearning perspective, and related labourmarket issues.”

The draft documents translate this intoa five-pronged approach. Some of it isnew. Other things remain unchanged. TheETF will continue its work in informationanalysis and dissemination but this workwill be even more tailored to assist policydevelopment than has been the case todate. It will help to strengthen the capacityof stakeholders in partner countries todevelop more relevant education andtraining policies. It will step up its efforts inthe field of donor cooperation. It will helpto increase the effectiveness andrelevance of EU assistance in humanresources development to partnercountries. And, crucially, it will help totransfer policy lessons between EUMember States and partner countries, aswell as among partner countriesthemselves, through networking anddissemination activities.

The method, however, will likelychange more drastically than the aimsbecause in the years ahead the ETF willdo more to engage its partner countriesfully in the process of identifying prioritiesin the context of their partnershipagreements with the EU. The ETF willparticularly help partner countries todevelop the capacity to use relevant EUpolicy lessons in their own contextsthrough policy learning.


IN FOCUS

ETF Director Muriel Dunbar anticipates a decisiveshift of the emphahsis of the work of the ETFtowards policy advice

Photo

:E

TF

/Alb

ert

oR

am

ella

New themes

“On the thematic front, two issueshave emerged that we want to deepen ourunderstanding of,” says Muriel Dunbar.“These are gender issues in educationand training and the relationship betweenmigration and skills development.”

“Gender equality and gendermainstreaming are areas that we feel havebeen underexposed in the work of the ETFso far, whereas they really should nothave been. You could say that we havesome catching up to do in this area. It maynot necessarily become a focal topic butrather something that we will betterintegrate into all of our activities, bothin-house and in our work in the partnercountries. After all that is what gendermainstreaming is all about: normalisinggender issues to the extent that they areissues no longer.”

“Migration and the way it relates toskills development is another matter. Ourwork in this field has only just started,mostly as an offshoot of our work on SkillsDevelopment for Poverty Reduction thatwas one of the themes of our AdvisoryForum conference Skills for Progress thisyear. The 2006 Yearbook will contain achapter researching literature on skills andmigration. This work is rathergroundbreaking, much of it is poorlycharted territory. It is also groundbreakingin the sense that it has brought us newpartners, such as DG Justice with whomwe have never worked before.”

The new Mid-term Perspective opensthe opportunity to better target theindividual efforts of different countries. “Allcountries have the aim to train graduatesthat match the needs of the labour markets.In recent years, most have also come torecognise the value of vocational educationand training as a tool for economic andsocial development. But still the prioritiesare different in each country and theirstarting points are different too. Thereforethey need individualised support. Our newMid-term Perspective allows us to focusour resources more efficiently by tailoringsupport and linking the intensity of supportto the level of openness to change andreform in each country. There is norationale behind evenly spreading limitedsupport among countries with suchdifferent starting positions. We mustreward and support countries that activelydevelop an environment that is conduciveto change.”

Broad support

“The changes to the ETF mandatehave been under preparation andconsultation for a long time,” says Peter

Greenwood, Head of the ETF’s Planning,Monitoring and Evaluation Unit. “Theimmediate trigger – other than the stock ofexperience that obviously gently guided usin this direction – was the latest ETFexternal evaluation that put words to manyof the things we have long thought about.From here we took a participatoryapproach. The ETF management teamproduced a draft strategy proposal in earlyspring that was discussed in all ETFdepartments. In May a focus groupredrafted the proposals and their ideaswere presented for open discussion at theJune Governing Board and AdvisoryForum conference. The Advisory Forummore than ratified it – Advisory Forummembers really confirmed that they feltthis was the road ahead.”

Muriel Dunbar confirms the role thatthe conference Skills for Progress playedin the development of the new Mid-termPerspective: “The whole conference wascarefully designed to help us along. Sogetting overwhelmingly positive feedbackfrom the conference was a wonderfulconfirmation that we are on the right track– that our partners want us to pursue themove towards policy advice.”


ETF DIRECTOR WELCOMES NEW MISSIONIN FOCUS

Future pillars of ETF activities

The Mid-term Perspective arranges future activities around three‘pillars’ of activity:

The first pillar comprises its support to education and trainingreform in the partner countries. It covers five groups of activity:

� Contributing to the enlargement process by supporting themodernisation and reform of education, labour market andtraining systems in candidate countries and potential candidatecountries.

� Contributing to prosperity and development in the Europeanneighbourhood through cooperation and partnership in humanresources policy development and implementation

� Contributing to economic cooperation and HRD developmentcooperation in Central Asia

� Supporting European Commission and partner country policydevelopment through innovation and learning.

� Providing quality support in the implementation and finalisationof the third phase of the EU’s Tempus programme.

The other two pillars comprise corporate communication – toincrease the profile of the ETF as a centre of expertise, andorganisational learning – to strengthen the collective expertise ofthe organisation and develop the infrastructure through which thisexpertise can be best harnessed.

Gender equality and gender mainstreaming areareas that we feel have been underexposed inthe work of the ETF

Photo

:sylv

ar

EUROPEAN YEAR OFEQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

Brigitte Degen does notexpect the 2007 European

Year of Equal Opportunities forAll to change overnight how wetreat and think about oneanother in terms of gender, raceor ethnic origin, religion or belief,age, disability, age and sexualorientation, but she does hope tosee a shift in the level anddirection of debate andbehaviour.

Ms Degen, Brussels-basedprogramme manager for theEuro 15 million budget for bothEU and national activities, is arealist with a career background

that began at the sharp end ofcommunity work in France –“working in the suburbs”, as sheputs it.

In conversation with a womanwhose wit, enthusiasm andvigour reveal that she retains thevisionary instinct necessary towork in such a challenging field,the dry words of the EuropeanUnion’s laudable andfar-reaching directives thatprovide for some of the world’smost extensiveanti-discrimination legislationcome to life.

“Globalisation, ethnicminorities and fragmentedsocieties have made Europe anenormous jigsaw,” Ms Degen,who works in the DGEmployment, Social Affairs andEqual Opportunities’anti-discrimination unit, says.

“There is a need forreconciliation and acceptanceand looking for new ways ofunderstanding and workingtogether.”

Top level policy directivesand treaty obligations – such asthe European Year AgainstRacism in 1997 and the legalguarantees againstdiscrimination on the six keygrounds of sex, race or ethnicorigin, religion or belief, age,disability, age and sexualorientation in Article 13 of theAmsterdam Treaty – giveEuropean Union citizens a levelof human rights protectionalmost without parallel.

But people don’t always knowabout them and transposingthese rights into national lawsacross the member states has,Ms Degen says, been “uneven,delayed or not totallysatisfactory.”

The 2007 Year of EqualOpportunities for All will go aboutraising awareness of our rights

and prompting debate through awide array of national, regionaland local measures as well as aEurope-wide campaign, that willencompass 30 countries – theEU 25, plus new membersBulgaria and Romania joiningJanuary 1st 2007 and the threeEFTA countries: Norway, Icelandand Liechtenstein.

Activities will be based on itsfour key themes – rights,representation, recognition andrespect.

Rights, according to the 2007Year of Equal Opportunities forAll official website, involves“raising awareness on the rightto equality andnon-discrimination andaddressing for the first time theproblem of multiplediscrimination” - for example, asMs Degen says, the sort that adisabled lesbian woman living ina deprived area may suffer.

As the website says – “Theidea will also be to show thatbeing equal does not meanbeing identical. Implementationof the equality principle has totake into account differences anddiversity so as to ensure thateach individual genuinely enjoysequal treatment.”

Representation is about“stimulating debate on ways toincrease the participation ofgroups in society which arevictims of discrimination, whileensuring a balanced participationof men and women.”

“Women are in the minority inour parliaments and ethnicminority MPs are even scarcer.Disabled people tend to besidelined in society…the Yearwill launch a series of debateson how to make it easier forunder-represented groups toparticipate more in society, whileensuring a balanced involvementof men and women.


IN FOCUS

The Year of Equal Opportunities for All will raise awareness ourrights and prompt debate throughout 30 countries

Photo

:B

rigitte

Degen

The European Commission has designated 2007 the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All as partof a concerted effort to promote equality and non-discrimination in Europe. In this interview, theprogramme manager Brigitte Degen explains the objectives of the Year

“Certain communities, suchas the Roma, are so deprivedthat positive action might have tobe taken for them so as toeliminate this inequality….takingpositive measures to promoteequal opportunities will give riseto debates and activitiesthroughout the Year.”

Recognition – “facilitating andcelebrating diversity andequality.”

“Action will be taken toinvolve the general public in anopen debate on the meaning ofdiversity in contemporary Europeand ways of valuing differencesin society.”

Respect – “promoting a morecohesive society.”

“Action will be taken to raiseawareness [of] the importance oferadicating clichés, stereotypesand violence, and promotinggood relations among allmembers of society, particularlyyoung people. The EuropeanYear will strive to promote anddisseminate the valuesunderlying equal treatment andthe fight against discrimination.”

“The Year is really very muchneeded because despite theefforts the EU has devoted tofighting against discrimination,there remains a need to raise thepublic’s awareness of theirrights, as the Commission GreenPaper Equality andnon-discrimination in an enlargedEuropean Union noted in 2004,”Ms Degen says.

By working through nationalimplementing bodies in each ofthe participating countries,managers of the Year hope tosee its aims translated intoconcrete projects that arerelevant to people incommunities throughoutEurope.

National strategies –identifying individual challengesto equal opportunities for all andhow they should be tackled,priorities and lists of actions tobe funded – will be drawn up bymid-December 2006.

Although most countries willnot individually receive muchmoney, approved projects fromindividual NGOs, rightsorganisations, trade unions andother bodies will be eligibleproviding they fit in the desirednational strategies and policies.

“Given the available budgetfor the Year, it’s not aboutfunding big projects, but aboutproviding seed money forinitiating dynamics andawareness raising activities,”says Ms Degen.

Ireland – where theimplementing body, the EqualityAuthority, receives an EU budgetof just Euro 150,000 (Euro300,000 when the nationalmatching funds are added) – willconcentrate on promotingsolidarity and cooperationbetween various NGOs to helpidentify common solutions toissues that often pitch differentcharitable groups working in thefield into a competitive scramblefor scarce funding.

“The concern in Ireland is towork with NGOs that are obviouslydifferent, but where there may bea common solution to variousproblems,” Ms Degen says, whichis about “promoting democracyand tolerance across society”.

Other activities such aswriting competitions for schoolsabout respect and tolerance,awards for companies with thebest diversity promotion polices,or training for trades unionists onthe impact of anti-discriminationmeasures in the workplace willbecome evident in countriesthroughout the EU following theYear’s formal launch lateJanuary at an inaugural “EqualitySummit” in Berlin – under thechairmanship of Germany whichwill hold the EU presidency then.

Individual national launchesfor the Year will then roll outthrough February and earlyMarch. A closing conferenceunder Portuguese chairmanship,probably in Lisbon, is scheduledfor late November to allowconclusions andrecommendations to be made intime for the last Council ofMinisters meeting in Brusselsunder the Portuguese presidencyin December.

Activities during the Year willnot only be confined to national,regional and local initiatives, butwill be visible across the EUthrough a range ofcommunity-wide measures.

The Berlin “Equality Summit”will bring together ministers, socialpartners and representatives fromthe NGO sector for the first time

to consider the challenges ofnon-discrimination and possibilitiesfor widening and improving equalopportunities for all.

A Europe-wide mediacampaign will dramaticallyincrease visibility of the Year’sissues across the participatingcountries through televisionmedia clips, posters, newspaperand radio announcements andthe activities of national“Ambassadors of the Year”whose job will be to championthe Year’s themes, issues,findings and events.

“Faces of the Year” willcelebrate diversity and highlightthe experience of those whohave had experience in differentways of discrimination and haveovercome it.

“People will testify to theirown experience, not only aboutdiscrimination but how they copewith discrimination,” Ms Degensays.

“But this won’t be done in anoutrageous way rather it will bedone with average people, withaverage experiences. Themessages will be about how theyare able to bring their own valuesto society; how they can be partof society with different roles andapproaches. We’d like to showpeople that there are manydifferent ways of succeeding inone’s own life.”

...despite theefforts the EU hasdevoted to fightingdiscrimination,there remains aneed to raisepublic awareness


EUROPEAN YEAR OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITIESIN FOCUS

Activities during the year will be visible across the EU through a widerange of community measures

Photo: ITCILO/M. Montesano

Photo: Guy Taylor

Whatever peoplemay think, thediversity ofEuropean societyis a fact of life

A media campaign contractorwill be on hand to develop theEU wide campaign as well as toassist national implementingbodies in tailoring their ownpromotional activities.

Another key instrument inhelping to promoteanti-discrimination policies andlaws will be the launch of a new‘Eurobarometer’ survey todiscover Europeans’ attitudestowards discrimination andopinions about positive action.

Initial findings will bedisclosed during the BerlinSummit, helping to set theagenda for further researchduring the Year.

Many in Europe mayquestion why, after so manyyears of determined action tocombat discrimination andintolerance, such an ambitiousproject as the Year is needednow.

Or conversely, what chancesof success does the EU have intackling discrimination in the faceof challenges such as theshocking French race riots of2005 (and anniversary troublesthis year) or the accession of ahost of new member states, withthe historic, ethnic and culturaldiversity they bring.

Ms Degen does not hesitatefor a second before respondingwith the authority of one whose

working life has been dedicatedto the cause of combatingdiscrimination.

“Media have a key role toplay and the Year should allowopportunities to bring them intothe debate and see how they canhelp in addressing the fightagainst stereotypes andprejudice, whether at EU or atnational level.”

The decentralised approachof the Year should allow us totake into account the differentchallenges in an EU of 27Member States while at thesame time see how we can learnfrom each other to promote theoverall EU approach tonon-discrimination and equalopportunities for all. For examplewith the two most recentenlargements, we have gainedfurther diversity in terms ofhistory, traditions, and ethnicgroups such as the Roma.

There are alreadyencouraging signs of how theYear can stimulate newdevelopments at national level,she says: a Warsaw conferencerun under the aegis of Poland’sMinistry of Social Affairs inOctober (2006) for the first timebrought together 40 differentgroups a wide range of theminorities and others who sufferdiscrimination there. “Thisproves, she says, that it ispossible to build tolerance andrespect between different socialactors, even in countries wheresuch traditions are relativelythin”.

Although gender inequality isnot a minority issue in an EUwith persistent inequality inemployment rates – around 55%compared with 70% for men -and a pay gap of 15% betweenwomen and their better paidmale colleagues, equality ofopportunity for women and menis also part of the Year (as sexdiscrimination is part of Article13).

“After 30 years of feminismand the women’s lobby the issueis not yet solved and it remainsdifficult to find sustainablesolutions,” Ms Degen says,adding that the approach theYear takes on this issue is toraise awareness of the need topromote equality of opportunityfor both women and men – who

may also find themselvessuffering gender discrimination insome situations andenvironments. The Year alsowants to assess the differentways in which men and womenare affected by the other 5grounds of discrimination, whatwe call gender mainstreaming ofall grounds.

Separately from the Year –and in recognition of thepersistence of gender inequality– a new Euro 50 millionEuropean Institute for GenderEquality is due to be set up in2007 as part of theCommission’s ‘Roadmap forequality between men andwomen 2006-2010.'

The potentially damagingeconomic impact ofdiscrimination is a key part of themessage the Year will try to getacross, says Ms Degen.

“Promoting diversity –particularly in the businesssector – is an essential part ofthe Year; we are keen todemonstrate the possibilities thatpromoting diversity offer to bothindividuals and the economy asa whole. In France, for example,despite the press over the raceriots, we actually have manyexamples of young people fromthe ethnic minorities who havebeen promoted by the educationsector,” she says, drawing onknowledge from her native land.

“Whatever the people maythink, the diversity of Europeansociety is a fact of life. In aglobally competitive society youcannot afford to exclude groupsof people from the economicworkforce or from society atlarge.”

Asked to sum up what thedifference the Year will make, MsDegen pauses for a while beforesaying simply: “Of course, weshall not make a revolution inone year, but we hope to shiftthe level and direction of thedebate and increase awarenessof the rights that everyone has.Once you are using your rights,you also start behavingdifferently.”

Find out more:European Year of EqualOpportunities for Allhttp://equality2007.europa.eu


EUROPEAN YEAR OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITIESIN FOCUS

Promoting diversity is an essential part of the year

Photo: © European Community, 2006

IMPROVING LIFE CHANCES FOR

YOUNG WOMEN IN TURKISH

ORPHANAGES

Landing that first job is achallenge for any young

person, but imagine what it is likewhen you are a young womanwho has lived most of your life inan orphanage. You probably lackthe useful network of socialcontacts a family can provideand which many people incountries such as Turkey rely onheavily in order to help them findwork. Years of institutional lifemay have toughened you up ortaught you to live by the rules,but they may not have kept youin touch with the realities of lifeoutside the orphanage. They arein any case unlikely to haveequipped you with the kind ofskills you need for job-hunting.

When in 2005 the Turkishauthorities decided to dosomething to improve thelife-chances of the young womenin their care, they turned to theETF for help. Together theydesigned a series of one-monthintensive training coursesdesigned to provide job-seekingskills, information andempowerment. The success ofthis pilot has since encouragedthe Turkish authorities tointroduce vocational guidance forall the young people, male andfemale, living in Turkey’sorphanages.

There are currently around20,000 children living in 200state orphanages throughoutTurkey, run by the government’sdirectorate general of socialservices and child protection.Until recently, the Turkishemployment agency ISKURwould generally help both male

and female orphans get a start inlife by providing jobs in the publicsector. However, since the late1990s pressure from the IMF onthe Turkish government toreduce the size of its publicsector has made this practicedifficult to continue.

Outside the public sector,employment prospects forTurkish women are notencouraging. Whilebetter-educated professionalwomen have made greatprogress in recent years, overallonly 26% of Turkish women areemployed and most of this work– around 65% - is unpaid. Theemployment rate actuallydecreased for women during thelast ten years – down from 31%in the mid 1990s to just 24.3% in2004. This is mainly due to thedecrease in women doing unpaidwork in agriculture as manyTurkish families have migratedfrom the countryside to the cities.“The European Commission hasmade improving the position ofwomen one of its priorities inTurkey,” says Milena Corradini,the ETF’s country manager forTurkey, “employment figures forTurkish women are still very low,especially if you compare it tothe 60% participation rate EUcountries are aiming for underthe Lisbon Agenda.”

ISKUR and the ETF came upwith an intensive four-weekcourse designed to help bridgethe transition from orphanage lifeto the world of work. It includedmodules on informationtechnology, sales techniques,public relations, but also covered

womens’ rights andempowerment, communicationstechniques, family law andworking relations.

First courses

A list was drawn up of all theyoung women living inorphanages who had completedtheir secondary education buthad not managed to find work.Staff from ISKUR then set out toconvince the young women,unused to participating in thiskind of course, to sign up. Theyorganised seminars in regionalcapitals all over Turkey and 72young women decided to attendthe first courses in July andAugust 2005.

The training was given byISKUR staff, aided by specialistsfrom local NGOs. Personalisedjob counselling was provided bythe Ministry of NationalEducation and input was alsoprovided by business peoplefrom the private sector. “Theymet with the girls, talked to themabout working life in theircompanies and used thisopportunity to dispel their fearsabout working for the privatesector,” says Corradini. With theaccent very much on activeparticipation, the young womenwere encouraged to talk abouttheir personal histories and theirhopes for the future. Individualinterviews were also carried outwith each of the participants andprovide a fascinating insight intolives often lived in toughconditions.

The EuropeanCommission hasmade improvingthe position ofwomen one of itspriorities in Turkey


Photo

:E

TF

...there is awidespreadconviction thatwork empowerswomen and cangive them freedomand a sense ofdignity

The reasons that had broughtthe young women into state carewere varied; not all had lost oneor both parents. Divorce,domestic violence, poverty,migration and the chances of abetter education were also cited.Some girls had been told whythey were being placed in anorphanage, whereas others hadsimply been abandoned by theirfamilies in a public place. Somehad spent most of their lives incare and could not rememberany other surroundings, otherscould still remember, at timeswith anger, life at home with theirfamilies.

The young women believedthat growing up in state caregave them “the chance to getbetter food, clothes and to go toschool,” but being “children ofthe state” meant there were norelatives to be concerned abouttheir future. Those who were stillin contact with family membersdid not see them as a source offuture support. Rather they sawthem as entailing the risk offuture obligations such as takingcare of children or the elderly.They generally felt themselves tobe in a weak position in society.Most of them believed that aswomen, the alternative to theorphanage would have been noeducation, hard manual work inthe fields, an early marriage andlots of children who would thengrow up to be in the same weakposition as their mothers.

Most said that althoughorphanage life had taught them alot, it had not given them anysense of normal daily lifeoutside. They did not feel readyfor a more independent lifestyle,including further education orfinding a job when they reached18. A very small number alreadyhad some work experience,usually in small businesses inthe informal sector. Some hadexperienced sexual harassmentat work and they believed theirorphan status had made thiskind of persecution more likely tohappen.

Sense of dignity

In spite of all the problems,there was a widespreadconviction that work empowerswomen and can give themfreedom and a sense of dignity.However the overwhelmingpreference was for public sectorjobs – a “desk job” in agovernment institution orteaching, seen as providing amore secure work environmentthan the private sector, althoughmost were aware that this optionis fast disappearing. None of theparticipants had received anycareer guidance at school. Nonehad any idea of alternatives toworking in the public sector oroptions for career development.

For many participants,attending the course was new inmore ways than one. Travellinglong distances by bus, staying ina hotel and moving in thisunfamiliar environment madesome initially uneasy. Howeveras the course progressed, theprofessional skills of the projectstaff allowed many to “feelspecial and important” for thefirst time in their lives. Theprogramme of social activities

laid on at weekends, includingtrips to museums and thetheatre, also helped to create aconstructive and supportiveworking environment.

The participants appreciatedthe contents of the training theyreceived, particularly the units onhuman rights, empowerment andjob-hunting and communicationtechniques. When the monthcame to a close, manyparticipants said they feltthemselves to be “betterprepared” for adult life. Attitudestowards job options had alsoshifted as many were nowprepared to entertain the idea oflooking for work in the private aswell as the public sector.

In March 2006, ISKURcontacted the originalparticipants to find out wherethey were now. Of the 72 youngwomen, 30 were now in workand a further eleven were eitherenrolled in some form of highereducation or preparing to takethe university entrance exam.

Encouraged by the successof this pioneering initiative,ISKUR and the Ministry ofNational Education, have sincedeveloped more training coursesbased on this original template.As a result regular courses andcareers guidance are nowprovided to both girls and boysliving in Turkey’s orphanages.“This group of people really needsome kind of bridging coursebetween their life in theorphanage and an independentlife outside,” says Corradini, “thisproject has acted as a catalystand has helped the Turkishauthorities understand that theyneed to do something for thiscategory of people.”

Find out more:

Turkihs Employment Agency,ISKUR - http://www.iskur.gov.tr/


FEATURE

Women in the orphanage showed a preference for the public sector -a "desk job" being the most popular option

Divorce, domestic violence, poverty and migration were amongst the factorsbringing women to the orphanage

Photo

:E

TF

Photo

:E

TF

ENTREPRENEURSHIPFOR ALL: TUNISIASHOWS THE WAYA book by Tunisian author Tahar El-Mili throws new light on how topromote effective entrepreneurship learning.

Tahar El-Mili is convinced thatteaching people how to be

entrepreneurs calls for a lot morethan simply showing them how todraw up a business plan. Theprocess should begin muchearlier by teaching peoplegeneric skills and entrepreneurialattitudes from nursery level. Itshould continue for some timeafter a new business has been setup, by providing support to theentrepreneur during those vitalfirst few years. This is one of themain messages he aims to putacross in his new book entitledWe are all entrepreneurs;enterprise skills and training.

The book, published inFrench, adopts a holisticapproach which shows howentrepreneurship learning can beintroduced at all levels andbranches of the educationsystem. It puts forward a newway of teachingentrepreneurship, based uponencouraging students to takeresponsibility for their ownlearning, transforming the role ofteachers into facilitators andusing a project-based approach.

This 232-page volume is thefruit of El-Mili’s thirty years ofexperience as a teacher, trainerof trainers and consultant onentrepreneurship learning in hisnative Tunisia and further afield.“Everything in this book isbacked up by experience,” hesays, “this is not a work oftheory, it is based uponobservation in the field.”

Entrepreneurialskills must startearly

The first section of the bookdescribes FORTI, a jointTunisian-German project on

promoting entrepreneurshiplearning which ran from 1995until 2005. FORTI began as amodest initiative aiming to helpyoung people from theimpoverished Kasserine regionof Tunisia to set up their ownbusinesses. An impact studyafter the first four years found areasonable degree of success infostering new businesses but alsohighlighted the shortcomings ofjust sticking to the business planapproach. “We realised thatproviding support to someone justbefore they set up a business isfine, but it is not enough,” saysEl-Mili, “if someone has no likingfor taking risks, he may be able tocome up with a very impressivebusiness plan, but he will nevermake a success of his business.Similarly, someone who has nocommunication skills will not beable to sell and so will not find amarket.”

This realisation lead El-Milito take a closer look at theeducation young people hadreceived before they came tohim for entrepreneurshiptraining. He came to theconclusion that there is ageneric set of entrepreneurialskills which people startdeveloping very early on – theseinclude a sense of initiative,being aware of yoursurroundings, a willingness totake risks, the acceptance ofdifference and a positiveattitude towards other people.Attempting to teach these skillsto people aged 20 – 24 may wellbe a case of too little too late.“Entrepreneurial competencescan be developed above all atnursery and infant school age,”says El-Mili, “this is not commonpractice right now and this iswhy we are trying to push thegovernment and primary

schools to integrate theseskills at an early stage.” Hisexperience with FORTI hasshown there is also a need toprovide support and advice toentrepreneurs during the periodafter a new business has beenset up. “This is the time whenentrepreneurs start to come upagainst the real problems ofrunning a business so there isstill a need for intervention,”says El-Mili.

Over the following fewyears, FORTI was expanded totake in five new regions inTunisia and the scope of theproject was broadened toencompass training before andsupport after setting up abusiness. The second impactstudy provided two positiveresults. The survival rate fornew enterprises after threeyears had improved. And, moresignificantly, people completingthe training claimed it hadhelped them develop in moreways then one. “People saidthey had developed a morepositive attitude to life and amore co-operative approach,”says El-Mili, “they said thateven if they hadn’t managed toset up a business, they had stillgained a lot in terms of theirgeneral behaviour.” Howeverthe study picked out one weakpoint – the lack of a coherentmodel of how to teachentrepreneurship skills.

Spelling out whichskills when

The second section of thebook is devoted to the El-MiliMatrix – a grid pattern that spellsout which kind of skills arerequired before, during and aftersetting up a business.

Entrepreneurialskills can bedeveloped aboveall at nursery andinfant school age


IN FOCUS

Tahar El-Mili, author of the bookWe are all entrepreneurs;enterprise skills and training

Photo

:E

TF

...an effort must bemade to motivatelearners andencourage them totake responsibilityfor their ownlearning

The basic set which shouldbe developed from an early agebreaks down into four categories;personal qualities, collective orsocial competences, competencesto do with an individual’ssurroundings and certaintechniques. These competencesbegin to develop in the family, atschool and in the generalenvironment and continue toevolve after completingeducation through a person’sexperience of life. The secondset, which an entrepreneurneeds at the time of setting up abusiness, includes skills such asthe ability to identifyopportunities or the ability to sellthe project to others in order toget funding. The third set, knownas consolidation competences,are those which will contribute tothe long-term survival and healthof the business over time. Theseinclude operational skills,strategic skills, support skills andleadership skills.

The third section of the bookis El-Mili’s answer to the need fora methodology for teaching andlearning entrepreneurship skills.In these pages, he argues forsome very different ways ofteaching and learning fromtraditional methods. First aneffort must be made to motivatelearners and encourage them totake responsibility for their ownlearning. This can be done if theteaching content is very firmlyrooted in the local context and ifthe teacher concentrates ongiving learners tools to learn forthemselves rather than merelypassing on information. “You areaiming to provoke a culturalchange in learners, making themadapt, become resourceful andable to search out theinformation they need, as well asdeveloping a capacity forself-criticism and seekingfeedback,” says El-Mili. As wellas this form of learning which isbased upon action and thelearner’s own experience, heproposes using a project-basedapproach with a clearly definedset of goals. The learning shouldbe completed by a process ofevaluation in which the learner isencouraged to participate bylooking at how far he or she hascome and what has beenachieved.

Big changes forteachers

Using this new methodologymeans big changes for teachers.When it was introduced inTunisia via FORTI, El-Mili foundmost teachers were reluctant tojoin in. “All the trainers wereagainst it as they thought itwould mean more work,” herecalls, “but when they tried itout, they found it much moreenjoyable. The teacher becomesa facilitator, someone who givessupport, and the teacher-studentrelation is no longer anauthoritarian one of superior andinferior, it becomes somethingmuch more positive.” Tunisianteachers are now activelydemanding training in the newmethodology.

So far 1,000 Tunisian teachershave completed the training. Aspart of a new Tunisian-Canadianproject called Espace Métiers, themethodology will soon be madeavailable to many more. TaharEl-Mili is keeping busy. Apart fromhis involvement in Espace Métiers,he is about to embark upon a newproject providing training in thenew method to lecturers inbusiness studies at Al-ManarUniversity in Tunis. He has alsorecently published a second book,entitled We are all entrepreneurs;a user’s guide for all involved intraining, which providesguidelines, resources and otherpractical information foreveryone involved in helpingentrepreneurs and introducingentrepreneurship learning intoeducation and training systems.


IN FOCUS

Tous entrepreneurs! Compétences Entrpreneurialeset Formation, Deutsche Gesellschaft fürZusammearbeit (GTZ) GmbH, ISBN: 9973-789-22-9

Tous entrepreneurs! Guides à l'usage des acteursde formation, Deutsche Gesellschaft fürZusammearbeit (GTZ) GmbH, ISBN: 9973-789-23-7


IN FOCUS

ETF JOINS NEW CAMPAIGNON EU AGENCIES

“WHATEVER YOU DO, WE WORK FOR YOU”

This new slogan will launch the first

joint campaign to inform European

citizens about the activities and

services of the decentralised EU

agencies in December 2006.

From Stockholm to Crete and fromLisbon to Warsaw some 28 EU agenciesincluding the ETF have been establishedto provide service, information andknow-how to the EU Member States andtheir citizens.

The agencies are involved in manyand varied activities. Improving theenvironment, protecting health,contributing to food safety, makingtransportation safe, processing trademarks, supporting training and education,strengthening and consolidatingmultilingualism, ensuring security andjustice and looking after fundamentalrights.

Each agency is unique and fulfils anindividual function. Some answer the needto develop scientific or technical know-howin certain fields others have the role ofintegrating different interest groups andthus facilitating dialogue at European andinternational level.

With more than 2,500 staff andsignificant budgetary resources, theagencies and their activities have becomecentral to the operations of the EuropeanUnion and they play a key role in theimplementation of EU policies.

President of the EuropeanCommission, José Manuel Barroso,underlined the central role of thedecentralised EU agencies at a meetingearlier this year:

“The agencies are our satellites –picking up signals on the ground,processing them, and beaming them backand forth. Through their activities theagencies contribute to making “Europe”closer to the European citizens andhopefully easier to understand, and Iconsider this as being of utmostimportance”.

The December campaign has twoelements: An advertising campaign in anumber of in-flight magazines Europe wideand a joint publication on the activities ofthe agencies across Europe.

Find out more:http://europa.eu/agencies/

BULGARIA AND ROMANIAENTER THE EUWE GOT THE BEST VALUE FOR MONEY IN ASSISTANCE

The ETF’spersistent drivefor partnershipbore fruits thatcan be harvestedin the years ahead

In all likelihood, Romania andBulgaria will join the European

Union on the first of January2007. Their accession waspreceded by a decade and a halfof intense preparations. Since1995, the ETF has helped thetwo countries to get theireducation and training systemsready for an internal market inconstant flux. According to CesarBirzea, Director of the RomanianInstitute of Education Sciences,ETF methods were oftenunconventional but constitutedsome of the best value formoney in internationalassistance, “The ways of theETF left a lasting impact oneducation and trainingdevelopment in Romania,” hesays. “Its persistent drive forpartnership bore fruits that canbe harvested in the yearsahead.”

ETF cooperation throughPhare started in 1996 with thePhare VET Reform Programmethat operated in parallel in allcountries participating in thePhare Programme. Although itwas quite different from the typesof support which followed, italready showed elements ofwhat would later become thehallmark of ETF intervention: thelack of intervention. In the wordsof Birzea: “the partnershipapproach.”

The Phare VET ReformProgrammes pushed regionalexchanges of information amongstaff of the ProgrammeManagement Units whileintroducing them to some of thebasic elements of vocationaleducation and training reform,occupational standardsdevelopment and socialdialogue. But from the outset itbecame clear that one of thegreat hurdles to be overcome inthe years ahead would bestakeholder involvement andinterministerial cooperation.

“Direct support to Romaniaand Bulgaria started in 1997,”

says Birzea, “with theestablishment of the nationalobservatories. The whole idea ofa national observatorymonitoring developments invocational education and trainingand collecting labour marketstatistics was novel. The initialcapacity for it had to bedeveloped from scratch and theETF took the lead in that.”

Enormous symboliccontribution

Birzea headed the RomanianObservatory and retains hisbelief in the value of theinitiative: “The direct financialsupport may have seemedinsignificant in the face of someof the foreign assistancepumped into the country at thetime but the symboliccontribution was enormous. InRomania in 1997, simply invitingpartners from the differentministries with a stake invocational education and trainingaround one table amounted toentering uncharted territory.”

“The ETF championednetworking and working togetherin this field in Romania and thevalue of this cannot be

overestimated. The communityspirit that was developed laid thefoundation for a whole range ofjoint reform activities thatfollowed.”

“The Key Indicators projectwas a highlight, not just becausewe gathered some data that hadnever been collected before butalso because it launched a wholedebate about which statisticsactually are vital and why. Itforced people to think andrethink. We discussed the keyissues with different authorities.It seems a trivial mater today,but it wasn’t at the time. Togather representatives fromdifferent ministries in the steeringcommittee of the Observatorywas an achievement. Ministriesweren’t always good partners.”

The promotion of stakeholdercooperation became anincreasingly structural element inthe work of the ETF in its partnercountries.

“All of the strategicdocuments we developed withthe help of the ETF in thoseyears are highlights for me too,not only because of theimportance of their contents, butalso because they incorporatedand promoted this spirit ofpartnership,” says Birzea. “The


IN FOCUS

Cesar Birzea has followed the ETF’s interventions in Romania for over adecade

Photo

:E

TF

/Alb

ert

oR

am

ella

National Strategy for HumanResources Development that wedeveloped with the support of theETF became fully integrated intothe Romanian NationalDevelopment Plan of 2000. Lateron, drawing up the NationalEmployment Plan was yetanother one of those exercises inworking together.”

Work very often spilt overinto other domains. Vocationaleducation and training cannot beseen in isolation from labourmarket issues and social affairs.“The Special PreparatoryProgramme for the ESF helpedRomania and Bulgaria anticipateco-funding mechanisms of thetype that the European StructuralFunds use and that we enter intocompetition for from 2007. InRomania, we started out withcapacity training in preparationfor the Social Funds. This wasbadly needed. We thendeveloped a national contest forESF-type projects, and ransmall-scale projects at the 20winning schools.”

Working on sectoralpartnerships

Finally, in the last few years,working together was taken to itsmost literal level with the work onsectoral partnerships in

education, training andqualifications. Today, one of themost critical issues on the roadtowards true lifelong learning issecuring the involvement ofemployers and social partners inthe development of their ownsector by strengthening itshuman resources. Romania hasmade impressive progress hereand is now an example for othercountries working on theseissues.

Birzea sticks to his belief inthe working philosophies of theETF: “The thing you have to givethe ETF credit for is that it neversends a contingent of experts totell us what to do. Instead itoffers partnership, expertisesharing and later on policylearning. We learned from andwith our peers in the EuropeanUnion, but also in countries suchas the former Yugoslav Republicof Macedonia and Turkey. WithMoldovan and Ukrainiancolleagues we engaged in amutual evaluation of continuingtraining. This work resulted in amanual that is used in all threecountries today. It is this workingmethod that has been soparticularly helpful and that theETF must continue to refine andoperate in other countries.”

Of course, this is not to saythat there aren’t any drawbacksto the methods of ETF

involvement. “The smallerbudget for direct support has itslimitations,” Birzea concedes.“Projects may provide a goodfoundation for furtherdevelopment but if the funding tofollow them up properly islacking, there is a risk that theeffects do not reach the criticalmass required for substantialchange. But this is notsomething within the control ofthe ETF. Potentially moredamaging is the risk of raisingfalse expectations – a risk theETF must be constantly aware ofin its work.”

“But even if more moneycould be made available, I doubtif the ETF ever should getinvolved in furtherimplementation and financing ofit. Instead of extending the workof the ETF to beyond where ithas proven its added value, itshould try to encourage follow-upactivity by getting other donorsmore closely involved right fromthe outset. The ETF can thenfully concentrate on thelong-term implications of humanresources development andretain the incredible value formoney it offers.”

Find out more:Romanian Institute of EducationSciences: http://www.ise.ro/en/

The thing youhave to give theETF credit for isthat it never sendscontingents ofexperts to tell uswhat to do...


BULGARIA AND ROMANIA ENTER THE EUIN FOCUS

Cesar Birzea

Cesar Birzea is the director of the Romaniannational Institute of Education Sciences. Heholds a teaching chair at the University ofBucharest where he teaches education policyand European policy. He currently chairs theEducation Committee of the Council ofEurope, of which he has been a membersince 1993.

Photo

:E

TF

/Alb

ert

oR

am

ella

BlackSea

ROMANIA

Bucharest

Ukraine

Ukraine

HungaryOradea

Iasi

Cluj-Napoca

Constanta

Ploiesti

BrasovSibiu

Giurgiu

Craiova

Timisoara

Serbia andMontenegro

Deva

Alba Iulia

Targu Mures

Sighisoara

Suceava

Moravita

Snagov

Sinaia

Scornicesti

Bulgaria

Moldova

SOUTH EAST EUROPE FOCUSES

ON THE DUAL ROLE OF TEACHERSby Søren Nielsen

...in anenvironment ofrapid change, thereform of teacherand trainereducation haslagged behind VETcurriculum reform

Teachers have a dual role inany VET reform. They are

professionals working at the rockface of the education system, butat the same time they arestakeholders in the system andtherefore have an interest in thesuccess of any attempts toimprove it. All too often, VETreforms tend to focus on this firstrole to the exclusion of thesecond. However, there is agrowing recognition that failure tofully engage teachers andtrainers as active participants inthe reform process is one of themain reasons why manyeducational reforms the worldover have gone wrong in thepast. This is why the dual role ofteachers as both workingprofessionals and vitalstakeholders in the VET reformprocess was chosen as the maintheme of the ETF’s 2006 annualconference on VET teachers andtrainers in South East Europe.

This, the sixth event of itskind, brought together membersof the ETF’s VET teachertraining network in Belgrade from14 – 16 September 2006. Thethree-day programme consistedof plenary sessions, workshopsand visits to key institutions and

schools. Some 30 VETspecialists, typically a smallgroup including representativesof the ministry of education,teacher training institutes andschools, from each of the 11countries invited, attended. Thenetwork is made up of Albania,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Croatia, Kosovo, FYRMacedonia, Serbia andMontenegro. Several EUcountries, including new EUmember Slovenia, as well ascandidate countries Bulgaria,Romania and Turkey also takepart.

The conference is part of anongoing dialogue which aims tostimulate and share goodpractice in VET teacher training,with a particular focus on the roleof teachers in VET reform in thecountries of South East Europe.Throughout this region, radicalVET and labour market reformsare underway which affect therole of teachers and trainers andcall for new skills. These includethe increased autonomy ofschools, student-centredlearning, a competency-basedapproach to programme designand the policy of adapting VETschools to the needs of local

labour markets and communitiesand of all students, includingadult learners.

Teacher trainingneeds more attention

However, in an environmentof rapid change, the reform ofteacher and trainer educationhas lagged behind VETcurriculum reform in manycountries. Moreover curriculumreform is typically interpretednarrowly as content whileneglecting its implications formethodology, such as how toorganise new learningprocesses. All of the countriesare currently designing andimplementing VET reforms, to aconsiderable extent driven byforeign donors – but they areoften undertaking the sameactivities but without learningfrom each other. It is in responseto these challenges that the ETFhas established the VET teacherand trainer network in SouthEast Europe. The aim is to helppeople share innovation and bestpractice across the region.

It is hoped that eachparticipating team will take homefresh ideas from the conferencewhich can then be used asinputs to national policydevelopment and to upcomingCARDS (soon to become IPA)and other projects. They mayalso conduct teacher trainingdevelopment tasks inspired bythe conference to promote thisdialogue and networking in termsof policy, training provision andpractice. The conferencediscussions raised several keyquestions; what can be done tohelp schools become learningorganisations and mediators ofVET learning policy? How cannational policy initiatives benefitfrom the innovations thatindividual teachers and schoolsare undertaking? How canteacher training anddevelopment be brought closerto schools and enterprises?


FEATURE

Participants at the sixth annual VET teacher training workshop in Belgrade, 14-16 September 2006

Photo

:E

TF

Difficult questionsfor the ETF

There were also toughquestions for the ETF. Ifteachers are to take on more ofan active role in the reformprocess, this will oblige the ETFin turn to adopt a radicallydifferent approach to its work. Itmay find itself shifting from beingthe controlling taskmaster thatprovides knowledge andsolutions to the partners to moreof an enabling role as a broker ofinformation and a learningfacilitator. But the questionremains – how should this newfunction fit in the VET teachertraining network?

The conference discussedthe on-going transformation ofVET systems and the changingrole of VET teachers. Aparticular from of policy learningbecame a most innovative, albeitunintended, part of this genuinelearning conference. The keyquestions above were discussedin a panel discussion chaired byMs Donka Banovic, chair of thestanding committee on educationin the Serbian parliament in theSerbo-Croat language. Thediscussions turned out to be solively, informative and to thepoint that it was decided tocontinue the panel discussion byhaving questions from and anopen debate with all plenaryparticipants. It turned out that theexcellent chairing of the panel byMs Banovic is no coincidence.The conference learned that theSerbian parliament regularlyinvites key actors, academicsand professionals to similar

preparatory events oneducational policy to helppolicymakers shape policyoptions. This experience madeclear that the ETF may beunderestimating the quality andbreadth of ongoing nationaleducational policy debate in thepartner countries. This maymean that initiatives for policylearning can be established onexisting learning platforms, atleast in some countries. The ETFwill look into this possibility in thenear future.

Looking to the futureof the network

The VET teacher trainingnetwork has already achieved agreat deal as a platform fordissemination of EU as well aslocal policy developments and asa forum for stimulating jointinitiatives. But delegatesstressed the need to anchornetwork activities in nationalinstitutions to give it moresustainability. New national VETcentres in Albania, Croatia, FYRMacedonia, Montenegro andSerbia are already members ofthe network. Institutions coveringeducation but not solelydedicated to VET also exist inBosnia-Herzegovina andKosovo. The next phase couldsupport these new institutionswithin the broad framework ofthe network. This could be doneby linking the ETF’s ongoingactivities in the fields of policylearning, development ofteachers as professionals andstakeholders in VET reform with

a sharpened focus on howinternational assistance canbetter contribute to sustainablereform of national educationsystems. Experience has shownthat educational reforms will onlysucceed if local stakeholders arein the driving seat. So localknowledge and initiative mustalways be the starting point forchange. For this reason, the nextphase will take a peer learningapproach, focusing on how toorganise policy learningplatforms and environments inand between the countriesinvolved.

The network will thus use thisknowledge-sharing approach tohelp decision-makers, staff fromVET schools and the wider VETteacher training network learnabout VET reform experiencesfrom elsewhere when formulatingtheir own reform objectives. Thenetwork will test the principle ofparticipating in ‘Communities ofPractice’ as the best way toachieve certain learningoutcomes, to measure theprofessionalism of VET centrestaff and to make themstakeholders in reform. The ETFwill support a developmentproject over the next few yearswith a focus on key areas.Knowledge about action at anoperational level should alsolead to action at tactical andstrategic levels in the internalorganisation of participating VETcentres. Knowledge sharing willbe integrated into workprocesses that create value forthe VET centres.

The VET teachertraining networkhas achieved agreat deal as aplatform for EUand local policydevelopments


SOUTH EAST EUROPE FOCUSES ON

THE DUAL ROLE OF TEACHERSFEATURE

Looking to the future of the teacher training network

Conference participants discussing the on-going transformation of VETsystems and the changing role of VET teachers

Photo

:E

TF

Photo

:E

TF

Søren Nielsen isthe ETF teamleader for theorganisation oflearningprocesses andteacher trainingin the WesternBalkans

WOMEN IN EDUCATION

AND EMPLOYMENT

IN 2010: FROM A

WOMAN’S POINT OF

VIEWBy Evgeniya Koeva

“You must study” – these were thewords that echoed in the Woman` s earswhile she was sitting on the veranda andhaving a cup of coffee after a heavymorning. These were the last words of hergrand-grandfather that he whispered toher grandmother before he was executedby the communists for some unknownreason. He was sentenced by the “people`s court” which was formed by thegoverning communist party with thehorrible purpose to get rid of those thathad served the king or been suspected ofopposition activity against the new regime.No one told her then 10 year old grannyand her mother on what grounds the headof their family was murdered – there hadbeen no trial process, no publicity and norespect for human rights. There were onlya decision of an illegal court…and a wishof a desperate father who tried toformulate his best fatherly advice in just asentence. Unfortunately, the Woman` sgrandmother could not completely followthe advice, as she was not allowed tocontinue her studies at university. Thesame restrictions applied to all children of“the people` s enemies” no matter howbright, ambitious and potential theyseemed to be.

“Thanks God it is different now”, theWoman was thinking. In 2010 you werenot likely to witness a brutal murder likeher grand-grandfather` s in Europe, nor bedeprived of your right of education.Bulgarian society had long agocondemned the destructive role ofcommunism and recognized democracyas the only legitimate form of governance.Bulgaria was now a member of theEuropean Union that had never beforebeen so close to its Lisbon goal ofbecoming the most competitive anddynamic knowledge-based economy in theworld. Vocational and life long training andeducation had long ago been promoted as

major values of modern European societyand more and more European citizenswere benefiting from various relatedprogrammes on local, national andinternational level. The Woman herselfhad passion for education. It was morethan 15 years ago when she graduatedfrom university with a PublicAdministration major as one of the top 10students of her class. The Erasmusprogramme gave her the chance tocomplete her M.A. in France where shecould establish contacts and strikefriendships with a number of native andinternational students. “It seems thatpeople come from different planers”, shethought at the beginning of her firstexperience abroad as she was curiouslyexploring the cultural diversity thatsurrounded her. It did not take her a lot oftime to realize that people actually sharedmuch in common, and freedom of mindwas the most important thing you neededto fit in. Countries were also different. AndFrance was different. From her homecountry. The Woman was surprised to findout that access to vocational educationand training was rather facilitated, andcitizens were encouraged to enroll invocational courses under various trainingprogrammes. Bulgaria was still a stepbehind at that time. Provision of suchtraining and education was mainly apriority of high schools and universities.Middle aged and even younger Bulgarianswere not particularly willing to enhancetheir professional qualification or addanother value to their higher education byenrolling in a vocational training course. “Iwill not get promoted, because I can`tpossibly cope with the new accountingprogramme”, the Woman` s cousin oncecomplained. “Well, why don`t you sign in acourse and get a certificate?”, the Womansuggested. “I`ve already graduated fromuniversity. Enough is enough. Andbesides, I don`t have the time”, her cousinreplied. She never got the promotionthough.

Things changed a lot over the last tenyears. It was due to the new way ofunderstanding vocational education andtraining that was promoted through thepre-accession instruments and initiatives,and later – through the structural funds. Alot of training programmes were launchedand a lot of projects with VET componentswere implemented in Bulgaria to fightunemployment and social exclusion.Provision of VET, on its part, was greatlydecentralized and a good number oforganizations with adjourning VET centresestablished themselves as quality trainingproviders. The role of experts increased.Human resources management gainedpopularity in the country and companiesbegan to identify training needs in theirfields of activity and hire VET bodies andinstitutions to organize relevant trainings.Investment in human capital was not onlya proclamation of the European Union, butalso a real priority of almost everybusiness in Bulgaria.

“Not like in communist times”, theWoman sighed with relief, recalling hergrandmother` s stories about herunfulfilled dreams to study Economics atuniversity. The government did not allowher granny to reach out for a brighterfuture, but it also did another thing – itdeprived society of what an individualcould have contributed to its developmentif access to education had been free foreveryone. The world was full of sadness.The Woman had a sad story too. She hada fight with her husband in the morning. Itwas not an unusual thing to happen, butthis time they did lose their nerves overeach other and both agreed that a divorceshould be arranged. Her husband wasvery drunk and started nagging at herabout her “career obsession” and “painfulambitions”. He reminded her that she wasnot as intelligent as she considered herselfto be and that she could never make itwithout him by her side. The Womanfrowned. Was it her mistake to have


FEATURE

Evgenia Koeva, author of the essay on Womenin Education and Employment in 2010

Photo: ETF/Alberto Ramella

married this man, or married at all? Wasthere any truth in what he said? What wasthe “perfect family” formula? It was as ifyesterday when all her close friends andrelatives assured her that she was tooyoung to settle down and encouraged herambition to study and acquire professionalskills and knowledge. On the other dayshe found herself with a husband and twolittle kids, and on the verge of breakingdown. At the beginning she was full ofenthusiasm and absolutely sure that shewould be a perfect wife and a perfectmother. It was shortly after she returnedfrom a traineeship at the Committee of theRegions when she met her husband andfell in love. She felt blessed to experienceprofessional and personal life success likethat. She was one of the few youngEuropean citizens that were invited to atraineeship period at the Committee of theRegions after a long selection process.The Committee` s officers were impressedby her educational background andprofessional experience which were quiteindicating to the Woman` s interests inregional policy and development. StrategicPlanning for Regional Development andLocal and Regional Management weremain courses of the Master` s programmethat she attended in France and thatinspired her to initiate her professionalexperience in a relevant field. Her two yearexperience at the Ministry of RegionalDevelopment in her home countryprovided her with a practical approach totackling regional disparities andimplementing measures in accordancewith identified needs. The Woman soon

proved to be one of the most successfulyoung experts working in the ministry andwas appointed a leader of an expert teamthat needed to complete research andanalysis assignments. “I am just fullytaking advantage of what I` ve studied”,she told a co-worker who was astonishedby her competence of regional policy. “Andyou need to have the passion”. She couldnotice that many of her colleagues did notactually enjoy working at the ministry.Some of them were just happy enough tohave a job in a state institution and neverasked themselves if the position they heldmatched their education and talents. TheWoman found the answer to this questionas soon as she was offered the job. Theministry funded her participation in twovocational training courses – one in Smalland Medium-Sized Enterprises, and theother – in Business Administration thatfurther enhanced her knowledge ofregional policy. Then a new opportunityfollowed and she won a scholarship for theRegional Administrators and ManagersProgramme that was offered by the USGeorgetown University. She could designan impressing business plan that indicatedthe reasons for her visit and results sheintended to achieve. Her study tour toAmerica proved to be experience of alifetime. American approach to educationwas somewhat different from the one shehad already known, but it had its specificflavour and provided her with theopportunity to look at regionaldevelopment from another perspective.Besides, the Georgetown University wasone of the most prestigious higher

educational institutions in the UnitedStates and the Woman could indeedappreciate the quality of coursesperformed and professionalism oflecturers involved. The best thing of it allwas comparison between Europe andAmerica. She was fully aware of thecompetition that existed between the twocontinents. But even at the end of hertraining programme she could not tellwhich one of the two was better. Theywere unique and charming in their ownspecial way and they both excelled withVET provision.

France had once astonished her with adiversity of cultures and nations, and theStates had more to offer her. She met aguy from Syria, Walid, with whom she hada heated debate over women` s status inArab society. “I`ll never let my sister comehere and study at university”, her Syrianfriend said. “A woman` s place is at home.She should raise her children and be afaithful and decent wife. She needs noeducation to do this.” The Woman wasshocked. Walid spoke so confidently of thematter, as if it were the most natural thingthe world had ever known. The Syrian toldher just as calmly that his neighbour hadbeaten his wife to death several yearsago, because he had suspected her ofadultery. “I don`t blame him. A womanthat` s unfaithful doesn`t deserve to live”.


WOMEN IN EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT IN 2010:

FROM A WOMAN’S POINT OF VIEWFEATUREP

hoto

:IT

CIL

O/M

.M

onte

sano

Photo: © European Community, 2006

The Woman tried to overcome her horrorand explain the Western understanding ofgenders and that men and women weretreated on an equal basis. She told Walidthat attitude to women in his country wasobviously more than cruel and that noother definition but “slaves” could beattributed to poor Syrian women. Herfriend did not seem to bother much. Hejust smiled and said that every Westerncitizen would respond this way. “Westernwomen are as much slaves as ours. Atleast we respect and love them. We don` tmake them keep diets and look likeskeletons. We don` t make them lookyounger and undergo surgeries. We likewomen as they are.”

Walid was one of the many interestingpersons the Woman met in the States.While contemplating on the variouscharacters she came across during herstay overseas she felt satisfied to havelearnt so much about the others. Not thatshe liked most of it, but it helped her a lot todefine her own position and recognize hertrue identity. The Regional Administrators

programme, on the other hand, turned outto be a perfect supplement to herbackground in the field. She returned homeas confident as she should be and soonafterwards applied for a traineeship at theCommittee of the Regions.

The woman smiled as sheremembered the special atmosphere thisperiod of her life had. If only she could turnback time – she would gladly experiencethese several months over and over again.No family commitments, no fights, noconcerns about children, no competition atthe working place. It was so much easierto be a diligent trainee and acquire skillsand knowledge in areas she had come tolove and chosen for her future realization.Things did not alter much over the comingyears. Successful career and personalhappiness were two sides of a coin – theWoman could not simply have themtogether.

Her personal misfortunes began whenher second son was born. From thatmoment on time was the hardest thing tomanage and use rationally. It wasimpossible to pay attention to your littlekids and husband, see to all exhaustinghousekeeping and progress in your job.Especially when you had invested somuch in your education and wanted tocontribute to the development of yourcommunity. Lack of time and wearinessmade the Woman and her husbandnervous and provoked frequent scandalsand fights that seemed to scare love away.It had been almost an year since shemoved to a place of her own with her twosons.

“Men hate it when women are bettereducated than them”, a friend of hers toldher when troubles in the family started.Maybe she was right. Maybe the Womanshould have concentrated more on herprivate affairs, than spent so much time ingaining knowledge. And then she thoughtof it again. She thought of all the happymoments that education and training hadbrought around. The latest success shehad was her promotion at the nationalAgency of Regions where she wascurrently holding a post. As a member ofthe voting commission told her, no onecould resist a CV like hers. She wasappointed a head of the Structural Fundsdepartment, and her salary – almostdoubled. For the first time, in 2010, she



FROM A WOMAN’S POINT OF VIEWFEATUREP

hoto

:©

Euro

pean

Com

munity,

2006

Photo

:©

Euro

pean

Com

munity,

2006

could feel independent. The Womanpoured herself another cup of coffee andlit a cigarette. She contemplated overindependence - she could have neverbeen able to understand its true meaningif she had not struggled for it over theyears. “I can` t afford to leave him just foreconomic reasons”, this same friend said.She had to bear her husband` s loveaffairs, as she was entirely dependant onhis money. It was not the case with theWoman. No matter how hard lifesometimes was and what hardships sheneeded to overcome, no one could forceher to live a life that she disliked. TheWoman was relieved to know that she wasable to provide for her children` s needsand maintain a decent life with what sheearned. Independence – the word hadnever before had such a sweet flavour toher. That was the role of education andtraining and the Woman knew she owedher independence to the skills andknowledge she had acquired during theyears of training at home and abroad. Shedid not have any idea of what wouldbecome of her marriage and whether adivorce would be finally agreed with herhusband. She searched for any trace oflove somewhere deep in her heart andthought that maybe her marriage deserveda second chance if both parties workedout a compromise. In any case she wascomforted to know that no matter whatdestiny would bring she would stay on herown. Not every woman had an opportunitylike that. Her cousin who once wasunwilling to raise her qualification, herfriend that needed to tolerate a husbandshe disliked and many other womenaround her were still dependant onsomeone else and scared of initiatives. Atleast no one had restricted their access toeducation. But there were differentcountries and different customs. TheWoman recalled Walid-her Syrian friend.Was it possible that even now, in 2010,

some women were still kept uneducatedand taught that raising children was theirprimary and utmost obligation? TheWoman definitely preferred to keep a diet.She felt sorry for all women around theglobe that were treated as lower than men,like that woman that had been beaten todeath by her husband. She was sure thatmost of them had never had access toeducation, as well as the opportunity todisplay their potential and talents.Vocational training and education hadgranted the Woman recognition by hercommunity. She was SOMEONE at herworking place and the promotion wouldfurther bring respect to her career way.She knew who she was and what shewanted. Her international experience hadtaught her how to approach variousmentalities and she had never been inconflict with her co-workers or those shecontacted every day. Training andeducation helped her to take efficientdecisions and implement well sustainedmeasures that were mostly orientated totackling regional problems. It was due tothe efforts of people like the Woman thather home country was currentlyexperiencing an economic boom andleveling with other West Europeancountries.

“You must study”… The Woman triedto picture the painful goodbye meeting of afather and a daughter. He was only 35.The Woman recalled his face from thefaded black and white photos she hadseen – he had been such a strong andhandsome man. How must he have felt toknow that he was leaving his young wifeand little kid all alone? But now theWoman was sure that hergrand-grandfather could not have providedhis daughter with a wiser advice. Sometruths are universal and eternal…And sheknew that from her own experience.



FROM A WOMAN’S POINT OF VIEWFEATURE

Bulgarian Evgeniya Koeva, 24, submitted this essay as part of acompetition related to the ETF Conference on Women in Educationheld in March 2006. This contribution won her a prize and she iscurrently carrying out a practical placement with the ETF in theExternazl Communication Unit. Prior to this she worked as a projectconsultant and coordinator for a consultancy company on issuesrelated to PHARE project management and as an expert ininternational relations and translation with the Municipality of the cityof Varna. With a bachelor’s degree in European Studies from the‘St. Clement Ohridsky’ University of Sofia, she is now following aMaster’s degree course in European Research at the same institution.Ms Koeva is also president of the Youth for United Europe NGO and isa volunteer in its Graffiti and Youth for Europe projects.

Photo

:E

TF

/Alb

ert

oR

am

ella

Photo: Farl

HOW TO CONTACT US

Further information can be foundon the ETF website: www.etf.europa.eu

For any additional information, please contact:

External Communication UnitEuropean Training FoundationVilla GualinoViale Settimio Severo, 65I – 10133 Torino

+39 011 630 2222+39 011 630 2200info@etf.

TFE europa.eu

Publications Office

Publications.europa.eu

TA

-AF

-04-0

01-E

N-C

live&learn issue 6

Documents

andersson isthe chairman

eu agencies

new campaign

new mission

dependon education

new euprogrammes

etf magazinecover photo

best result of ourcommittee