Thematic strands of VET and HRD related research conferences

In the field of European VET and HRD research, and in the related research field of work and learning, three major annual conferences have established themselves:

• the programme run by VETNET (Vocational Education and Training Network) as part of the European conference of educational research (ECER), organised by the European Educational Research Association (EERA);
• the international conference on HRD (human resource development) research and practice across Europe, organised by the University Forum for HRD in collaboration with the Academy of HRD;
• the bi-annual international conference on Researching Work and Learning (RWL). 

The following overview, contrasting themes addressed by the three current conferences, may serve to identify related thematic strands of research and practice in Europe and at international level.

ECER theme:
Theory and Evidence in European Educational Research 

VETNET focus in general:
Vocational Education and Training Research
Main areas (source: About VETNET):

• Globalisation, VET Systems and Innovation
• Accreditation, Qualifications and Frameworks
• Work Based Learning, Apprenticeship and Re-Training
• Professionalisation, Competence Development and Life Long Learning
• Boundary Crossing, Transitions and Transfers
• Curriculum, Pedagogy and Learning Resources (including E-Learning)
• Cultural Diversity, Learners and VET 

Theme: 
HRD: Complexity and Imperfection in Practice

Streams:

• The Practice of HRD - A Practitioner Paper Stream 
• Learning and Performance at Work 
• Leadership and Management Development 
• SMEs and Entrepreneurship 
• Business Strategy, Organisational Learning and Knowledge Management 
• Gendered Issues in HRD 
• Constructing and Deconstructing: Insights on Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics within HRD 
• Critical Perspectives on HRD 
• Innovative Approaches to Supporting Learning and Teaching in HRD 
• Theoretical and Methodological Issues in HRD

Symposia (selection related to VET/HRD):

• Understanding workplace learning, organisational change and the relations between them
• Integrating workplace learning and institutional learning
• Re-thinking workplace learning
• Rethinking the 'centre' and the 'margins` in researching work/learning
• Vocational Education and Training - New models of apprenticeship
• Work, identities, gendered and other diversities and learning
• Professions and professionalization
• Learning and health promotion in the work place
• Action Research and Dialogue Driven Learning
• Education and Work - What are the common spaces?