Making sense of skills intelligence, Knowledge Apéro in Brussels
On Thursday 12 February 2026, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini will host the Knowledge Apéro Making sense of skills intelligence: what is useful, usable, and worth acting on. The views of social partners, an informal networking event to explore how skills intelligence is produced, interpreted and applied. The event will take place at FGB's Brussels premises (19A Avenue Marnix Building A, 3rd floor) from 6:00 to 8:00 PM (CET).
Knowledge Apéros are informal after-work gatherings organised by FGB, where invited speakers and participants exchange ideas over a glass of wine, fostering connections and amplifying the value generated by individuals, institutions and companies.
"Skills shortages and emerging skills are central to today's labour-market debates, yet the evidence behind these claims is often complex, fragmented, and interpreted in different ways" says Liga Baltina, Head of FGB Labour Market and Skills Research Unit. During the evening, participants will be encouraged to step back from solutions and reflect on how skills intelligence is understood, trusted, and used in practice.
The Knowledge Apéro is organised around the final conference of the European social partners' project Skills development: reducing skills mismatches and skills shortages, in which FGB acts as expert subcontractor, taking place on 13 February. Beyond creating synergies, the event will also provide an opportunity to share and discuss insights from the SkillsPULSE project, coordinated by Fondazione Brodolini.
Key discussion points will include:
- Common misunderstandings around "skills shortages"
- Which skills evidence is most (and least) trusted
- Risks of over-reacting to "emerging skills" narratives
- What makes skills data easier to question and contextualise
- What better-functioning skills intelligence would mean in practice for employers and workers
Following an introduction by Liga Baltina, Giulia Martorana and Marina Ferent, researchers in the Labour Market and Skills Research Unit, will introduce the event's theme drawing from the work carried out by FGB within SkillsPULSE. The discussion will be moderated by Terence Hogarth, Professor at the Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, and member of FGB’s Scientific Committee, and will feature contributions from European and national trade unions and employer organisations.
The event is open to both invited and external guests, upon previous online registration via Eventbrite. Please note that FGB's Brussels office is located in a historic building which regrettably has some architectural barriers – namely steps at the entrance and very small lifts – and is not fully accessible to persons with reduced mobility
