A three-day long event was organized by the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) between 30th January and 2nd February 2017 to officially launch the project “Learning by Doing - Targeted capacity building of VET partnerships in the Danube Region for the effective modernization of VET systems”. Covering the entire Danube region, almost 100 participants, representatives of ministries, national authorities, chambers, companies, vocational schools, the European Commission, CEDEFOP, PA8 of EUSDR and 24 project partners from 14 countries attended the international event to discuss the future of Work Based Learning (WBL) in Vocational Education and Training (VET).

As results of the economic crises, fragile labor markets and structural problems are still apparent challenges in many countries in the Danube region. More demand-driven WBL schemes in VET could reduce economic and demographic inequalities by easing the transition from training to work, boosting young employment and reducing labor market disparities.

The “Learning by Doing” project aims to improve the capacities of all relevant VET actors through reinforcing regional, national and transnational partnerships in order to support the transition of existing VET systems towards more demand-driven vocational education in the Danube Region. The project will critically analyze existing VET policies and key challenges in respecting partner countries and support the creation of national/regional visions and strategies on the transformation of VET systems by facilitating transnational knowledge exchange and capacity building actions.

The first day of the event was dedicated to an Open Seminar to introduce European Union and national perspectives on the transition of VET. Welcome speeches, made by the Priority Area Coordinator of EUSDR PA8, the Hungarian National Coordinator of the Danube Strategy and the President of BCCI, were followed by plenary sessions with the participation of VET experts from the European Commission, CEDEFOP, Slovenia, Slovakia and Hungary.

Through the plenary and moderated workshop sessions key aspects of VET transition such as teaching and learning processes, legislative framework, cooperation and motivation of stakeholders were thoroughly discussed by the participants.

During the second and third days of the kick-off conference “Learning by Doing” project partners had the opportunity to receive detailed information on technical and thematic issues of project implementation through interactive workshop sessions.

The “Learning by Doing” project is co-financed by European Union Funds (ERDF, IPA) under the Danube Transnational Programme with a total budget of EUR 2.3 million. The project started on 1st January 2017 and ends on 30th June 2019.