Abstract:

Stimulating open, accessible and flexible job market systems represent one of the main pillar of the European strategic framework stimulating and valorising sustainable and inclusive development processes, as confirmed by EaSI frame and the other main relevant EU programs and initiatives (Rethinking Education 2030, Toward a job rich economy, New Skills for New Jobs, Erasmus Plus and so on) and systems and frames, such us the EQF and ECVET, that boosts the transparency and recognition of the learning outcomes and confirm the need to implement innovative and dynamic tools to improve employment and employability.

Within this frame ESCO (European Skills, Competences and Occupations) and EURES systems have been launched to address the gaps between education & training system and the labour market. Gaps strongly addressed also by the Youth employment initiatives (including the youth guarantee frame at each national level) aimed at improve youth employment and employability also by realising a more effective, robust and integrated skill (short term) matching and (medium/long term) alignment among education and job market systems.

The project SMART (Skill MAtching for Regional developmenT), a LLP-Leonardo da Vinci TOI project, addresses the skills matching challenge, aiming at providing models, profiles and tools to harmonize labour market skills demand and supply.

More specifically the project aims at:
- implementing a trust and knowledge based multi-actor governance model by mobilising key stakeholders within an effective cooperation model, also contributing to integrate employment, industrial and environmental policies;
- realizing an innovative ontology based technology enhanced labour market intelligence tool able to identify (and anticipate) skills gaps and needs. The system is envisaged to provide structured feedbacks to labour institutions, VET providers and educational institutions;
- defining a common EU frame of the professional qualification and competence (and learning outcomes) systems for the construction sector, with special refer to the tourism sector in the Andalusian region.
The present paper is articulated in three main sections.
The first one will present the main evidences of a comparative analysis carried on both at EU and (project partners) national level on three main, interrelated, dimensions:
- political and programmatic, aimed at define an organic and synthetic frame comparing the approaches, the policies and the programs employed (ended, ongoing and to be implemented) to deal with the skills demand/supply alignment and the job market structures and dynamics;
- technological, focusing on the existing EU and national competences adaptive systems, skills assessment and forecasting tools and their (potential) integration with the EURES system;
- existing practices and projects addressing the skill match challenge, with special refer to the Progress and LLP frames.

Evidences of the comparative analysis will represent the main frame of the contributions and evidences to the “skill match challenge” emerging from the project SMART, presented in the second section of the paper.

The last section of the present contribution will highlight the open challenges, the expected results and the main critical issues to be addressed to support an effective, EU- and national- wide skill competences need.

Keywords:

Project outcomes and conclusions, University/Industry experiences, New Experiences for Curriculum, Skill needs of Labour.