Future of Skills in the Twin Transition webinar

06/02/2026

On 3 February, SkiLMeeT, a sister project to TRAILS, organised an online webinar on The Future of Skills in the Context of the Twin Transition. The event brought together academic and practitioner perspectives to discuss labour market changes and policy responses linked to Europe’s digital and green transitions.

Prof. Vassil Kirov opened the webinar, highlighting the urgency of addressing skills challenges in the twin transition and the need to support workers and regions facing structural change. SkiLMeeT’s mission was presented as advancing research on demographic change, skills mismatches, and labour shortages, using data-driven approaches to better match skills supply and demand across Europe.

Prof. Dr. Ronald Bachmann from RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research shared insights on job-to-job transitions, wages, and job quality during times of transformation. His research emphasised the importance of non-monetary factors such as job security and manageable workloads, and addressed skills recognition in sectors experiencing labour shortages, proposing inclusive policies to engage vulnerable groups and drive transformation.

Monia El Faziki from SEA Europe presented the employer and sectoral perspective, showcasing findings from the LeaderSHIP project on skills in the European maritime and shipbuilding sector. She highlighted the sector’s active participation in the Pact for Skills, the importance of collaboration between businesses and education, and strategies to address upcoming workforce retirements, including promoting inclusive working environments and improving sector attractiveness for the green transition.

The webinar concluded that coordinated European action and strong regional ecosystems are essential to tackle skills challenges arising from the twin transition, ensuring that both digital and green transformations are reflected in future skills policies.

Speakers emphasised the importance of stakeholder engagement and strong regional ecosystems to better align education and training with labour market needs. A shared conclusion from both academia and the labour market was that coordinated EU-level action is essential to tackle these challenges, ensuring that the digital and green transitions are fully reflected in future skills policies.