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Rural Vision
News article8 May 2023Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy

Welcome the European Year of Skills!

The EU co-legislators agreed on the European Year of Skills on March 7, 2023. The initiative will provide a unique opportunity to push for a skills revolution in Europe, promoting upskilling and reskilling of all working-age people, regardless of their current skills level.

A European Year of Skills Festival was held on May 9 in Brussels to celebrate the start of the European Year. The festival aimed to inspire stakeholders to invest in skills and the general public to think more about their skills.

To achieve real impact, the European Commission needs all stakeholders and labour market actors to join forces. Throughout the year, there will be opportunities to engage in discussions, learn from each other, and promote work in the field of skills development across Europe. To organise events related to skills development, participants can register on the interactive events map through this survey. EYS National Coordinators will shape the Year in their respective countries.

A Communication Toolkit for the 2023 European Year of Skills was created to help participants prepare their communication activities, events, and media relations. When communicating skills-related activities on social media, please link them to the Year using the hashtag #EuropeanYearofSkills.

The European Commission is eager to hear inspiring testimonials of people who successfully acquired new skillsets for the labour market and stories of successful projects linked to skills and the labour market. It would be great to have good examples coming from rural areas also highlighted. Participants can fill in the attached template for either testimonials or project stories, along with relevant communication material such as videos, photos, and the privacy consent form signed. They can then send them to EMPL-SHARE-YOUR-SKILLS-STORYatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (EMPL-SHARE-YOUR-SKILLS-STORY[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

To stay informed and engaged, you can subscribe to the European Year of Skills newsletter. For events and activities in your countries, you can reach out to National Coordinators.

For other queries, you can contact the Year’s official email address: EMPL-EY-SKILLSatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (EMPL-EY-SKILLS[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)