On 6 and 7 February, 2025, in Dortmund, Germany, the third in-person meeting of the “Skills2Capabilities” project was held. The project is funded by Horizon Europe Program (Grant Agreement № 101094758). The Bulgarian team was represented by assoc. prof. PhD Veneta Krasteva.
The event was hosted by the German partners from TU Dortmund University and Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Bonn, who organised the meeting at the International conference center of the TU Dortmund.
Automated suspension railway (H-Bahn) at the Dortmund university campus
The host Philipp Grollmann opens the meeting
The event began with a plenary guest lecture: Multiple Transitions and the Future of Skills Policy, presented by Dr. Kirak Ryu, Head of Employment, Skills Development, and Qualifications Research department at Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET), South Korea. Dr. Ryu presented results of a large-scale study on the impact of complex transformations resulting from the use of digital technologies and related innovations, the restructuring of industrial systems and the structure of work in response to the climate crisis on the development of professional skills and related policies in South Korea. The study has two main goals: to explore what are the new strategic tasks that vocational skills policy must address in response to the technology and green transformations; and to explore the impact of these changes on work and the labor market. Various scenarios of action have been developed, and some of the findings of the Korean researchers are: the effects of economic expansion resulting from digital transformation outweigh the effects of production contraction from decarbonisation, leading to higher GDP; the highest reduction in unemployment rates is observed in non-routine green tasks, suggesting a strong link between complex transitions and non-routine green tasks; a need is identified to expand programmes for continuous capacity development and support for workers in the digital and green energy sectors, as well as to improve retraining programmes aimed at improving workers’ skills and facilitating retraining.
The meeting continued with a discussion of the project work tasks – what has been accomplished in the first two years and what is to be completed by the end of 2025.
Triin Roosalu (Tallin University) presented the work of the Estonian and Bulgarian teams within Work package 5: „Drivers and effects of skills mismatch“. In the second year of the project, the Estonian and Bulgarian teams prepared two reports, a third is currently being finalised and a fourth summary report is pending.
Triin Roosalu presents the work within WP5
The first report (D5.1): Quantitative analysis report: Understanding mismatches from the supply and demand side, elaborated by Liisa Martma (Tallin University) explores the dynamics of skill mismatches over time and the factors influencing transitions between different mismatch positions. The analysis is based on data from the 2014 European Skills and Jobs Survey and explores the individual job choices and external constraints in creating mismatches, as well as how these mismatches can be resolved through job mobility, changes in job tasks, and workplace characteristics.
The second report (D5.3), prepared by the Bulgarian team, studies the relationships between skills mismatch and inclusive economic growth, as well as perceptions of social justice. It understands the skills/education mismatch as having much broader implications than purely economic ones. This understanding is consistent with the capability approach, which allows to go beyond the economic and instrumental perspective on skill formation and to consider other roles of the mismatch between skills, education and work, and how they differ in different socio-economic contexts. The analysis is based on data from the European Social Survey 2018 and official statistical sources. Both reports are accompanied by a dataset containing the main indicators used in the research and their description. The full text of both reports in English can be found at: Results – Skills2Capabilities.
The two teams are finalising a third report, using data from the 2021 European Skills and Jobs Survey which explores how employees’ perceptions of skill obsolescence and job insecurity affect trining participation and the influence of skills/educational mismatch on well-being at work.
Another work package in which the IPS-BAS team participates is WP7: The role of policy, services and stakeholders in supporting VET systems: innovative practice. Sally-Anne Barnes (University of Leicester) presented the results of an analysis of skills development systems in seven countries, including Bulgaria. Based on the national reports provided by the research teams, the synthesis analysis presents the role of legislation, policy, strategy, resources, stakeholders and career guidance and counselling services in vocational education and training systems (the full text is available in English here: D7.1 S2C WP7 Deliverable 7.1 Report v18122024). The next activity to be carried out within this package is a case study identified as an innovative practice in vocational education and training. The Bulgarian team will examine a vocational high school with dual education programme that develops skills needed for the labor market.
During the second day of the meeting, the results and upcoming activities on the remaining work packages were discussed. In the frame of WP 4: Challenges and Changes in the Demand for VET Skills, the IPS-BAS team is about to conduct an empirical study in the Pernik region on issues related to the impact of the green transition and the challenges in skills demand. The work promises to be interesting and significant in view of the transformations in the country, related to Bulgaria’s commitments under the so-called Green Deal.
As part of the programme, the German colleagues had organized a visit to the exhibition DASA Working World (Exibitions | DASA Dortmund). It presents various professions and aspects of work in the past, present and future in an exhibition area covering around 13,000 square meters. It is the permanent educational facility of the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Care (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin) and informs the general public about the world of work and its importance for the individual and society.
To follow the project for intriguing analyses and results, please visit the project website: Skills2Capabilities, as well as the website of IPS-BAS: Skills2Capabilities – Институт по философия и социология при БАН (ips-bas.org).
