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Events
The first partners meeting, Vytautas Magnus University, the 5th-6th February 2024.
The kick-off meeting of the project took place at the Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas (Lithuania) on the 5th and 6th of February 2024. This meeting covered many topics of discussion. The project officer Mr. Angel Fuentes Mateos from the European Commission presented the Horizon programme and general requirements for the project management, financial management, dissemination, and exploitation of the projects. Project coordinator Vidmantas Tūtlys presented the goal, objectives, and work packages of the SKILLS4JUSTICE project. There were also discussed the principles and requirements of project management and financial management. Then partners discussed planning of dissemination and data management processes. Significant share of the meeting was dedicated to the drafting of the theoretical framework of the research and development of the methodologies of research in the work packages 2 and 3 dealing with the analysis and modelling of skill matching and migration pathways in the project partner countries. Partners decided that the next partners meeting will be hosted by the ITB University of Bremen (Germany) on the 16th-17th September 2024.
27 - 30 August 2024 - European Conference on Educational Research, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus. Vocational Education and Training Network (VETNET) Research Workshop Skills Shortage and Recruitment of Skilled Workers in the EU, UK, and Norway: Development of Local Human Capital or Immigration? 30th of August 2024
Presenters: Vidmantas Tūtlys, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania, Michael Gessler, Andreas Saniter, Kristina Kühn, ITB Bremen University, Germany.
In this workshop the representatives of the project consortium presented the first interim findings of research executed in the framework of the EU Horizon Europe programme project “Skill Partnerships for Sustainable and Just Migration Patterns (Skills4Justice) implemented in 2023-2026. Research workshop aimed to disclose and discuss the implications of the skills shortage models of two migration destination countries in Europe (Lithuania and Germany) for the choices of economic stakeholders and policy makers between the investment in the development of local human capital and attracting migrant workforce. The workshop was based on the following research questions: 1) What are the common and specific features of skill matching and skills shortages in the countries? 2) How are the eventual skill mismatches and shortages regarded and treated by the enterprises, education and training providers and policy makers? 3) Tow what extent and how immigration and attracting foreign workforce is favored as solution of skill matching and shortage problems?
The participants of the workshop outlined the relevance and importance of the conducted research study. During the discussion there was outlined that research on migration and skill matching should take into consideration the ever-present gap between the policy intentions and plans and their real implications for the solution of targeted problems. Skills-based integration of migrant workers in the labour markets of destination countries is a highly complex process, especially when it comes to matching of the skills and qualifications possessed by the migrant workers with the skills demand of the enterprises. This matching is often strongly biased by the subjective and diverging understanding of the essence of needed skills by the migrant workers themselves, employers and governments. In discussing the typical problems of relationship between skills shortages and migration in the destination countries, the participants of research workshop outlined the challenges related to the fair division of responsibilities and costs of the integration of labour migrants, difficulties in developing social capital and trust in the skills of migrant workers and their proving instruments, lack of experience and know how of the responsible institutions, social partners and society in general in accepting and integrating migrant workers, strengthening of the polarized politics in the field of migration in the context of geopolitical tensions in Europe. There were also outlined challenges of the recognition of skills of migrant workers, promotion of the vocational education and training pathway amongst them, difficulties of language education. From the point of view of the origin countries and migrant workers themselves the biggest challenges, according to the participants of workshop, concern enhancing of the return or circular migration to enable mutual benefits from the accumulation of skills, as well as lack of understanding and knowledge about the economic costs and psychological consequences of the labour market integration for the migrants themselves.
Conference paper: https://zenodo.org/records/13237349
Slides of the workshop:
ECER 2024 SKILLS4JUSTICE workshop_20240830_KK
The third partners meeting, ITB Bremen University, 16th-17th of September 2024
On the 16th and 17th of September 2024 the partners of Skills4Justice project met at the Institute of Technology and Education of the University of Bremen, Germany. The meeting weas dedicated for the discussion of the progress and interim findings of research activities related to the design of the skill matching models of the destination and origin countries (work packages 2 and 3) and launching of the preparation for the survey of migrant workers planned in 2025 (work package 4). The presentations of partners gave a rather comprehensive picture to the commonalities and differences of the research findings concerning the interrelations between the skill matching and migration, as well as the multi-level context of these interactions. The interim research findings indicated important topics for the planned comparative studies and related publications which were also discussed in this meeting. There can be explored implications of the patterns of recruitment and employment of the migrant workers for the skill formation in the origin countries. Other interesting areas of research concern employment patterns of migrant workers in relation to skills shortages/mismatches in the different sectors of economy influenced by the green transition and digitalization, as well as emerging skill partnerships on recruitment and training of migrant workers in the sectors of economy. Attention of researchers will also be focused on the implications of the military conflicts and natural disasters for the forced emigration and resulting skill formation pathways of the forced migrants in the areas of employment and skill formation. Representatives from the Ankara University leading the survey of migrant workers in the work package 4 introduced the outline draft of the research methodology, key stages and methods of research covering desktop study, statistical analysis related to the situation of the migrant workers in the countries, quantitative survey and interviews with migrant workers. There were discussed the next steps for the preparation of this research activity.
