WorldSkills Europe and EfVET partner to bridge skills competitions, TVET, and labour market demands

WorldSkills Europe and the European Forum of Technical and Vocational Education & Training (EfVET) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), establishing a collaboration to jointly support learners, trainers, and institutions across Europe by bridging skills competitions, policy, and practice to better align TVET with labour market demands and future skills.

The signing of the MoU was celebrated on 11 June 2026 in Helsinki, during the WorldSkills Europe General Assembly 2026.

EfVET is a non-profit EU umbrella association, established in 1991, with the purpose of building a network of TVET stakeholders, to secure a voice across Europe in European policymaking and practice arenas. The organisation represents 500+ TVET stakeholders in 60+ countries, reaching 5,000+ TVET providers, 200,000+ educators, and 2m+ learners.

The MoU agreement will see WorldSkills Europe and EfVET contribute to each other’s marketing and communication activities, increasing the reach and engagement of target audiences at events, in webinars, on podcasts, in newsletters, and other relevant work. EfVET and WorldSkills Europe will also participate at each other’s events, offering opportunities to contribute to event programmes, host booth spaces, and facilitate the participation of Members from both organisations.

Ben Blackledge, Chair of the Board, WorldSkills Europe, explained the significance of the partnership: “WorldSkills Europe and EfVET are united by a shared commitment to strengthen the attractiveness, quality, and excellence of technical and vocational training across Europe. Through our complementary networks and areas of expertise, WorldSkills Europe and EfVET are in a prime position to collaboratively support learners, trainers, and institutions to share and celebrate best practice and ensure that TVET can be better aligned with labour market demands and future skills.

"We look forward to working with EfVET to strengthen the skills and TVET ecosystems across Europe.”

Sylvia Liuti, VP Projects & Partnerships, EfVET, said: “By signing the Memorandum of Understanding with WorldSkills Europe, EfVET is continuing investing in building a strong VET providers’ association in Europe whose main ambition is to offer its members the best opportunities to progress and thrive in the VET ecosystem. Partnering with WorldSkills Europe means looking at EuroSkills Competitions as valuable opportunities to benchmark training provisions and pedagogies and use competitions to make VET more attractive and constantly focused on excellence.

"Since the WorldSkills Europe General Assembly in June 2026, we have committed to mutual exchange participation in our main annual events, also in view of reinforcing our communication and dissemination activities to further reach out to a wider audience in the VET domain.”