Empowering Youth:

Making the European Year of Skills Work

13th of June 2023 10:00 AM onwards | online | In English

Trade unions and social activists have long witnessed continuous and fundamental challenges in the world of work. Upskilling and reskilling, life-long-learning have become mandatory requirements for all workers to keep up to date and relevant on the job market. The 2023 European Year of Skills (EYS) is a real opportunity for the EU as a whole and for member states as individual entities to start a paradigm shift in the way skills and workers are relating to the labour market. The European Commission even proposed 2023 to become a ‘skills revolution in Europe’.

Following the adoption of a Decision by the co-legislators on the EYS, ‘CESI Youth’, ‘OBESSU’ (the Organizing Bureau of European School Student Unions) and ‘StartNet – network transition education to work’ are once again joining forces to launch a forward-looking conversation on the future of work. What are the skills our education systems and job markets should really support young people to develop/ in developing? The event aims to gather different perspectives on young people and skills development in Europe, kicking off a conversation that shall accompany and impact this European year throughout.

In the spirit of involving social partners in co-creating a toolbox of skills for the future, ‘CESI Youth’ is particularly interested in advocating in favour of trade unions taking an active role in informing youngsters aged 13-17 of their work rights, the existing labour regulations and about the importance of unions in upholding workers’ rights. It recognizes the importance of skills in today’s fast-paced and competitive world, but it believes that young people should be placed at the heart of the educational systems and not as mere receivers of educational plans made to fill-in labour shortages. Similarly, ‘StartNet’ is pledging for educational collaboration leading to early vocational orientation at schools and life skills for young people. ‘OBESSU’ is advocating for the EU to propose a completely new skills agenda which takes into account the competences of critical thinking, communication and green skills, empathy, economic education and entrepreneurship, but also more STEM and ICTs skills.

We, ‘CESI Youth’, ‘StartNet – network transition education to work’ and ‘OBESSU’, kindly invite you to participate in this online debate on June 13th 2023 at 10 AM. Your contribution would be extremely valuable to the discussion.

The event is taking place in the framework of the European Year of Skills, following the European Youth Event in Strasbourg and the European Vocational Skills Week.

The provisional draft agenda includes the participation of:

• Matthäus Fandrejewski, CESI Youth Representative
• Tia Loukkola, Head of Innovation & Measuring Progress, Education & Skills Dir., OECD
• Beatrice Sarto, Policy Officer, European Commission Employment & Social Affairs Dir.
• Giuseppina Tucci, Secretary-General of OBESSU
• Jan Wilker, Project Manager, StartNET

Moderation provided by Gesa Spaetling, StartNet.

Please register for this online event here.