The Engineers4Europe Project has now reached its 30th month within its 36-month duration. The main objectives for the final year focus on testing the online courses and disseminating them at the Roadshow events, along with finalizing the European Engineering Skills Strategy, which will serve as the foundation for the Skills Council’s continuation beyond the project’s duration.
- The consortium convened in Madrid on 14-15 March 2024 to primarily discuss the status of the E4E curriculum and the second round of research as input to the Skills Strategy. Over two half-day sessions, the partners gathered valuable insights to implement and to further reflect on after the project.
- A second round of research was conducted from May to June 2024, consisting of an online survey and desk research by all 13 E4E-partners. The objective was to develop the second and current version of the Skills Strategy, which was submitted to the Commission. The second online survey received responses from 7.712 engineers representing over 35 nationalities. Both engineering professionals and students answered six key questions, covering topics such as the most essential competencies for future engineers, ways to better prepare students for the labour market and preferred policies to address labour shortages. The desk research focused on the latest industry trends, developments in higher education and VET institutions, professional skills and policy initiatives.
- The Skills Council convened on 16-17 May 2024 in Brussels. Divided in different stakeholder groups, they formulated concrete, actionable measures on the following topics: “How can engineering education be proactive to the other stakeholder groups and how can it better align particularly with industry”, “How can professional engineering Organizations be proactive to other stakeholder groups and how can they better align particularly with industry”, “What are the specific requests industry has to the other stakeholder groups and how can it proactively assist in closing the skills gap?” and “How can policy making be proactive to the other stakeholder groups and how can it better align particularly with industry”.
- With insights from the second round of research and the Skills Council meeting, the current European Engineering Skills Strategy, one of the project's key objectives, was developed. Particularly noteworthy are its conclusions and recommendations, presented as clear statements and concrete measures for each stakeholder group. The Strategy emphasizes innovative curricula, stronger partnerships between education and industry, the role of Professional Organizations in mobility, upskilling and reskilling engineers and systemic support from policymakers.
The consortium and Skills Council convened again in 2024 in Berlin on 5-6 December 2024. During this two-day meeting, the main topics discussed included the launch of the four online micro-credentials and the continuation of the Skills Council. Mrs. Antoaneta ANGELOVA-KRASTEVA, Director of Innovation, Digital Education and International Cooperation in DG EAC, opened the Skills Council meeting by noting the importance of projects like Engineers4Europe for the European Commission.
The four Engineers4Europe online micro-credentials are now available, free of any charge, via the E4E Learning Platform. Based on the European Competence Frameworks that are prioritized in the project (GreenComp, EntreComp, DigComp, LifeComp), the courses focus on upskilling green, entrepreneurial, digital and transversal skills. Each course offers approximately 12 hours of self-paced learning, with certificates available upon completion (green skills, transversal skills) or after each module (entrepreneurial skills, digital skills). The courses are aimed at both (engineering) professionals and students, helping them to enhance their competencies identified by the E4E Project as indispensable for the future engineer. We encourage all staff in our partners’ networks to test the courses but to also promote them towards their networks to increase the reach of the project and to help achieve the objective of 750 learners!
In the light of the dissemination of the Project, each partner organizes a Roadshow event in the final year of the project to inform stakeholders in their respective countries about the outcomes of the E4E Project. Events have already been held in Lisbon (17 September 2024), Bratislava (7 November 2024), Berlin (6 December 2024), Athens (17 December 2024) and Mechelen (6 February 2025). Upcoming events are scheduled for Thessaloniki (6 March 2025), Dublin (27 March 2025), Prague (11 April 2025) and Madrid (15 July 2025).