Building stronger skills systems in Europe with Cedefop

In 2025, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) marks its 50th anniversary. Since its founding in 1975, Cedefop has contributed to shaping how the EU approaches vocational education and training (VET), skills development, and labour market policy. As one of the EU's specialised agencies, Cedefop plays a key role in building knowledge and evidence to support policy design across Member States.

For more than a decade, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini has contributed through research, methodological tools, and policy analysis aimed at strengthening Europe’s skills intelligence and vocational training systems. Its collaboration with Cedefop has spanned a wide range of topics – from labour market foresight and entrepreneurship competence, to VET system analysis and governance of skills anticipation.

One of FGB's most visible contributions has been its work on the Skills Intelligence web portal, supporting Cedefop in providing accessible, up-to-date labour market and skills information to policy makers, EURES advisors, and the wider public. The platform serves as a central point for EU-wide data and analysis on labour market trends, skills mismatches, and future needs.

Over the years, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini has worked with Cedefop on a variety of projects. These include a study on entrepreneurship in vocational education, research on how countries anticipate future skill needs, and reviews of VET systems and apprenticeships in several EU Member States.

More recently, FGB has also supported reviews on upskilling opportunities for low-skilled adults in France and Italy, and started a research on how citizenship competence is developed and supported in initial vocational education and training.These examples reflect FGB's ongoing role in supporting Cedefop's work on skills and labour market policies in Europe.

Our work with Cedefop is rooted in a shared commitment to improving how skills are understood, developed, and matched across Europe. These projects reflect the value of long-term collaboration and of building evidence that is relevant for both policy and practice.

As Cedefop celebrates its 50th year, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini looks forward to continuing this collaboration. The cooperation has evolved over time, but the shared goals remain consistent: to contribute to a stronger, better-informed European skills system that can respond to ongoing economic, technological, and demographic changes.