Horizon Europe - A capabilities approach to meeting current and future training needs

Horizon Europe

A capabilities approach to meeting current

and future training needs

Skills2Capability is a major, multi-national, multi-institutional study funded through the EU Horizon programme and UK Horizon Guarantee funding.

The Skills2Capability project is about understanding how skill systems across Europe need to develop if they are assist people make labour market transitions – i.e. those between jobs, employers or sectors – and thereby reduce the level of skill mismatch which might otherwise arise.

This more than just about equipping people with the skills required to adapt to, say, technological change, at a given point in time. It is about conferring capabilities upon individuals so that they can effectively manage the labour market transitions they will increasingly need to make in the future. Some countries have been able to use their skills systems to deliver more of these capabilities than others (especially those capabilities related to well-being) from which lessons can be learnt.

The study addresses capabilities from both the demand side (what are the skills and capabilities which are currently in demand and are likely to be so in the future?), and the supply side (to what extent are the capabilities of interest reflected in vocational education and training programmes?). The research will provide decision makers in government and education authorities with information which gives them a better understanding of the capabilities that skills systems will need to supply in the future and along with insights into how they can be best delivered.

IER’s Contributions to Skills2Capabilities Outputs

Below is a list of reports, papers, blogs, policy briefs, and infographics that IER researchers contributed to as part of the Skills2Capabilities project. Each item links to the final published output.

IER Project Team:

Terence Hogarth (Principal Investigator at IER)

Emily Erickson

Sangwoo Lee

Stef Poole

Academic collaborator:

Sally-Anne Barnes (University of Leicester)

Project Duration:

January 2023 - December 2025

Co-funder:

Reports

WP2: The effectiveness of skills policies

• Report on country case studies on skills strategiesLink opens in a new window 
• Report on country case studies on skills programmesLink opens in a new window 

WP3: The Responsiveness and Proactiveness of VET Systems

• The responsiveness and proactiveness of VET – a comparative case study report of changes in VET on the occupational levelLink opens in a new window 

WP6: The supply of skills and lifelong learning among VET graduates over the life course

• Applying the capability approach to vocational curriculum: synthesis of qualitative and quantitative insightsLink opens in a new window 

WP8: Funding of VET and AL and the Sharing of Costs

• The Funding of VET in Austria, Norway and EnglandLink opens in a new window 
• Funding of skills – England case studyLink opens in a new window 

Blogs

• Skills funding - comparative evidence on fundingLink opens in a new window
• Skills funding - evidence from AustriaLink opens in a new window
• Skills funding - evidence from EnglandLink opens in a new window
• Funding of VET - NorwayLink opens in a new window
• IVET funding and demand led skills supplyLink opens in a new window
• Skills2Capabilities comes to a close: reflecting on IER’s role and contributionsLink opens in a new window

Policy Briefs

• Policy Brief 1.2 project summaryLink opens in a new window
• Policy Brief 2.0: Skills2Capabilities for a Union of SkillsLink opens in a new window

Infographics

• The funding of VET: What works - and what doesn'tLink opens in a new window
• The funding of VET: Lifelong learningLink opens in a new window
• The funding of VET: Funding of young learnersLink opens in a new window
• The funding of VET: Getting employers on boardLink opens in a new window
• The funding of VET: Who runs the skills system?Link opens in a new window
• The funding of VET: Lessons for policyLink opens in a new window

Papers

• The road less travelled: the passage towards a market-based apprenticeship system in EnglandLink opens in a new window