Leiden, Netherlands, 26 January 2024 – Representatives of the eight institutions in the SkiLMeeT consortium met in Leiden on 24-25 January to begin their three-year mission of exploring how the digital and green transformations are affecting skills shortages and mismatches in Europe.
The SkiLMeeT kick-off meeting was hosted by project coordinator TNO, the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research. It started with welcoming speeches by two representatives of TNO, Joost van Genabeek and Suhendan Adiguzel-Van Zoelen, and by Ronald Bachmann of RWI.
“The SkiLMeeT project, which stands for ‘Skills for labour markets in the green and digital transition’, will develop indicators of skills shortages and mismatches in Europe, and produce scientific articles and policy briefs with a commitment to the gold standard of open access publishing,” said Suhendan Adiguzel van Zoelen. “These materials will be immediately available on the project website.”
Following the introduction, Andrea Rotondo, project officer from the European Commission’s Research Executive Agency, delivered a presentation on the Agency’s expectations, outlining how SkiLMeeT should be managed in areas such as relations with the Commission, periodic reporting, collaboration with other projects, and impact assessment.
Simone Rosini, team leader at DG Employment, presented European Commission policy priorities in the social domain, highlighting that skills and labour shortages are relatively recent issues and citing new research and data gathered by various EU agencies.
In the second part of the day, presentations were made on the seven work packages. Ronald Bachmann discussed the objectives of WP1: Conceptual Framework and Joint Infrastructure, and WP5: Pathways to Reduce Skills Shortages and Mismatches. Ulrich Zierahn-Weilage of Utrecht University focused on the aims of WP2: Data on Labour and Skills Shortages, Skills Mismatches, and their Drivers. IBS President Piotr Lewandowski detailed the tasks ahead for WP3: Indicators on Labour and Skills Shortages and Mismatches. LISER’s Christina Gathmann addressed WP4: Drivers of Skills Shortages and Mismatches. Olga Markiewicz of Aldgate focused on WP6: Engagement, Communication, and Dissemination, while Suhendan Adiguzel-Van Zoelen presented WP7: Project Management.
On 25 January the group discussed linkages between the work packages and the work plan for 2024.
