If you are looking for current EU supported research projects in VET or
HRD you may find it difficult to trace any. The times of initial
promotion under Leonardo 'surveys and analyses' and TSER are long past. 

However, several European research teams have managed to use the
potential of the present action programmes (Leonardo II, Gruntvig etc)
to explore issues related to VET/HRD. Also, quite a number of projects
and expert networks supported under the EU Framework programmes
(FP5-IHP, FP6-Citizens, FP6-IST) address themes which involve various
VET/HRD aspects. 

An overview of selected European projects related to VET/HRD research is
presented as part of the WIFO Monitor on the page below. Issues
addressed in these projects include learning in various contexts,
accreditation of skills, self-assessment, guidance and counselling,
knowledge management, participation etc - partly in broad contexts of
socio-economic analysis.

Project overview <http://www.b.shuttle.de/wifo/vet/th-pro.htm>

These projects are linked to detailed information provided by the ERO
Base in the European Training Village (see page below). This resource
base, which is maintained by the Cedefop ReferNet of experts from all EU
member states, contains a large stock of both European and national
projects. Especially worth noting are numerous projects from the new
Central and Eastern European countries collected in this database.

ERO Base
<http://www.trainingvillage.gr/etv/projects_networks/ero/base.asp>

Please check whether current European projects you may be involved in
are included in the ERO Base and/or the Overview. You are welcome to
insert information on additional projects directly in the ERO Base.
Alternatively you may contact the ERO Base Administrator, Petr Vicenik
<petr.vicenik@cedefop.europa.eu>, or myself about any updates on
European projects. 

Public workshops or conferences on projects are highlights of research
debate,  providing feedback to the broader community. A topical example
is the following event:

In the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci project VQTS (Vocational
Qualification Transfer
System), 3s is inviting you to participate in the conference "Towards an
ECVET model: New
approaches to transparency, mobility and international recognition of
competences", taking place in Prague 18 September 2006. Please find
details on the website below:

VQTS Conference <http://www.vocationalqualification.net/vq/>

Again, information on project events is not easy to obtain - you are
welcome to send announcements for dissemination in this Newsletter.
Public workshops of European projects are also included in the following
conference page:

Conferences <http://www.b.shuttle.de/wifo/educ/r-con.htm>

European projects in VET/HRD have been analysed, as part of the Cedefop
supported European Research Overview, over a longer period. Both the
themes of projects (1) and the network relations (2), investigated in
representative samples, offer insight in major research trends. 

(1) The thematic analysis of European projects revealed a dominating
concern with processes of VET/HRD, such as learning and work, competence
development and assessment, while issues of the system, administration
or finance were less considered (see paper below). These patterns are
now being compared with research profiles of national VET/HRD
institutions (see theses on 'Mapping HRD and VET research across
Europe', especially thesis No 5). 

Themes <http://www.b.shuttle.de/wifo/vet-pr/themes.htm>
Theses <http://www.b.shuttle.de/wifo/vet-hrd/theses.htm>

(2) The current initiatives of project teams, mostly centred on partners
with longer experience in collaboration, provide interesting evidence of
strategic networking, which was first analysed in a working paper (link
below) and will be followed up in further studies:

Networking <http://www.b.shuttle.de/wifo/vet-pr/networks.htm>

Finally, if you look for plain information about the EU programmes
supporting VET/HRD related projects, including latest calls for tender,
you may check the link page below:

EU programmes <http://www.b.shuttle.de/wifo/educ/r-pro.htm>
 

With best wishes
Sabine Manning