On 18-19 September 2013, a Symposium will take place on the Innovation in Agricultural Training and Education. Location: George Mason University and Conference Center, Fairfax, Virginia. Read more at www.oired.vt.edu/innovate

On March 21 and 22, the professional master course on competence-based rural development was taking place in Tirana, and went well. Three groups of active students have tentatively developed competence profiles for stakeholders in rural communities, processing organisations, and financial institutions. The approach of multistakeholder analysis attemts were admirable and creative. A big compliment for these future leaders in rural development.

Continue reading Course on Competence-based Rural Development in Tirana went well

The Call for the WU sandwich PhD – program is open again. There will be a difference with the previous program: successful sandwich PhD-applicants will be offered a contract while at Wageningen University.

Continue reading Call for WU sandwich PhD proposals – deadline May 17, 2013

‘Public #employment services top growth #occupations show a shift towards #high-skilled occupations’. See http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=737&langId=en&pubId=7434

Continue reading Small increase in labour demand, especially for high-skilled professionals

Cedefop has published a Call for Tender about ‘Collection and review of skill mismatch policies and practices in the EU’. http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/working-with-us/public-procurements/21080.aspx

Researchers in universities have to comply with national systems of research assessment and related systems for promotion and tenure. But the strange thing is that research assessment systems differ by country. Which system contributes best to research quality improvement? That seems to me to be the key question, but it is a question which is easy to ask, but difficult to answer. I don’t see any answers in the piece of the TES anyway. What is good is that the piece alerts researchers to the relative value of the national research assessment systems and related promotion and tenure criteria, which, however, are difficult to avoid.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=422639&c=1&goback=%2Egde_2013888_member_219389266

ECS staff Dr Thomas Lans, Hasse Cox MSc and Dr Harm Biemans are heavily involved in research on Life Long Learning in Europe. First documents are being made available. Further results and publications are awaited in the coming years. Large organizations which are interested in participation in this European project are invited to contact us. Enjoy!

Continue reading ECS heavily involved in Life Long Learning in Europe

Groen onderwijs wordt geconfronteerd met bezuiniging van 55 miljoen op Groene+ middelen. De Groene+ is voor interessante innovatieprojecten. Vakblad Groen Onderwijs (www.groenonderwijs.nl) gaat hierop in. Belangrijke vragen voor dit jaar lijken mij. Waaruit blijkt overtuigend dat de Groene+ middelen effect hebben gehad op onderwijsinnovatie, goed gekwalificeerde uitstroom van het groene onderwijs, en doorwerken in het agri-foodsysteem en de groene ruimte.

Continue reading Bezuiniging van 55 miljoen op Groene+ middelen

Dear website visitors. Today I checked the number of website visitors and hits during the year 2012. I was a bit surprised. The total number of hits has been 242,346. I don’t know if it is much compared to other personal websites, but it is more than I expected. Thanks for visiting, I hope you find your visits useful.

Continue reading Website visitors – thank you

Today I returned from the 20th conference of the Academy for Human Resource Development in Arlington, in the Washington DC area, in the USA. Having been active in the Academy during its early years, it was good to see many old colleagues and friends, and learn that the Academy is going strong. With its around 600 members and a conference attendence of I guess around 300 delegates, it is one of the main academic networks specifically dedicated to theory and research on HRD. I have not been attending the AHRD conference since 2000, and it was interesting to see that many young colleagues are now involved. Two PhD students of ECS, Hasse Cox and Eghe Osagie, shared their research and made good contacts with colleague researchers in their field of 1. HRD and sustainable development and 2. innovation and multi-level learning. The next AHRD conference: February 19-22, 2014, Houston, Texas.