Pact for Skills
The Pact for Skills is a flagship initiative of the European Commission, launched in the frame of the European Skills Agenda.
The initiative is a long reaching effort to spur upskilling and reskilling of the European workforce in line with the aspirations of key industrial ecosystems as identified by the European Commission.
The Pact for Skills is thus declined across these ecosystems, providing a platform of cooperation for like-minded organisations that wish to cooperate further and deeper for the upskilling effort of the workforce in their respective ecosystems. The platform is powered also by a double layer of Support Service provisions, both at Pact for Skills level and at single ecosystem levels.
The EVBB is not only a proud signatory of the Pact for Skills since its launch, but also the co-coordinator of the Pact for Skills in Tourism.
Under each industrial ecosystem, it is in fact possible for one or more organizations to register a Large-Scale Skills Partnership (or LSP), which would provide a ground-based coordination for concrete upskilling and reskilling activities.
In the context of EVBB’s wide commitment to the Tourism industrial ecosystem, it has levelled up its cooperation with the LSP coordinator – the European Federation of Rural Tourism (Ruraltour), undertaking the role of co-coordinator.
The Tourism ecosystem has been in fact one of the most seriously hit by the CoVid-19 pandemic, exerting incredible pressure on the socioeconomic texture of the industry: forced closing and implementation of digitally-powered remote solutions for service provision, the consideration of its environmental impact and the social value it weighs on millions of small and medium-sized enterprises across the Continent just to name a few challenges. It is thus evident how a more coordinated and relevant effort, backed by the European Union and its most proactive sectoral players, would only receive attention and warm welcome from the industry.
The Pact for Skills in Tourism is the tool to address these current and future challenges through a close cooperation between social partners, training and education system, and public authorities. The Pact for Skills in Tourism sets the vision of 12 objectives and indicators, to be achieved until 2030 across Europe.
They include amongst others:
- Improving and extending the skills of the full tourism workforce
- Awareness of and access to opportunities for training for all tourism services
- More hands-on learning and training through blended concepts
- Increase training activities and participation by 40-80% over current values
- Detect new and emerging skills at an early stage and provide quick training opportunities to avoid gaps
- Retain current workers and attract new employees to work in tourism
- Better quality of jobs – more stable and better paid contracts due to higher qualification
The European Association of Vocational Training Providers (EVBB) is actively participating in the Pact for Skills in Tourism, both at the European level and in collaboration with national and regional entities. By collaborating with various stakeholders and actively engaging in shaping skills development in the tourism sector, EVBB contributes to a more skilled, competitive, and resilient workforce that can meet the challenges and opportunities of the dynamic tourism industry.
Read here our full statement in terms of commitments towards upskilling and reskilling of the tourism workforce in Europe and beyond.
The first level of involvement is transnational, through the activities of the LSP. However, more mature level of cooperation can be achieved, and it is proactively fostered at national and especially regional level.
Get involved in the activities of the Pact for Skills to join a community of experienced and enthusiast training and tourism professionals to scale up the sustainability of your activities. Find all the instructions here, or reach out to our contact person at the LSP – Antonio Gennarelli.
