LABOUR MARKET, EDUCATION AND TRAINING

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

In the upcoming years, Action Group 3 aims to pursue the following objectives:

• Fostering dual systems in all EUSALP countries and strengthening their potential to address market needs.
• Valuing soft skills in addition and as complementary to the technical and professional ones due to their importance in learning processes and the labour market. The aim is to study, experiment on and promote tools and processes that enable the development and formal recognition of soft skills in work-based learning (WBL) contexts. 
• Improving the connection between youth and the Alpine labour market by making young people aware of their possibilities in terms of mountain businesses, traditional professions, green jobs and remote working/training opportunities. These activities aim to reduce depopulation trends in inner Alpine areas, support employers in finding work force, strengthen and promote vocational education in connection with job opportunities in the Alpine region.
• Raising awareness on digital and remote opportunities of learning, training and working as a concrete solution to the abandonment of mountain areas, especially rural and internal areas.
• Strengthening VET and HVET cooperation in the Alpine Region with the involvement of political representatives.

The creation of an Alpine-wide network of VET institutions can contribute to the achievement of the aforementioned objectives by facilitating the connection and exchanges across countries, enabling the mobility of students and teachers, broadening the network of companies involved in dual training experiences, and pooling courses and training modules that respond to the evolving dynamics of the Alpine and global economies. Attention will be paid to those sectors and value chains that are relevant throughout the entire Alpine arch, such as timber/forestry, agri-food and tourism, in order to foster their contribution to circular economy practices.