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TRAILS at the European Week of Regions and Cities 2025: From Research to Policy Impact

15/10/2025

The European Week of Regions and Cities 2025 (EWRC) and the Horizon Europe “Feedback to Policy” event on Education and Skills offered an important opportunity for the TRAILS project to connect research results with policy discussions shaping Europe’s skills agenda in October 2025 in Brussels.

EARLALL team, as the TRAILS Communications Managers, actively engaged in discussions and networking opportunities throughout the event. The week provided a chance to meet representatives from the European Research Executive Agency (REA), the Joint Research Centre (JRC), and several Horizon Europe sister projects, including SKILLS Pulse, to exchange ideas and explore synergies on advancing evidence-based skills policies across Europe.

Contributing to the Horizon Europe “Feedback to Policy” Event

In parallel to the EU Regions Week, TRAILS partners Georgios Panos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) and Ioannis Pragidis (Democritus University of Thrace) participated in the Horizon Europe “Feedback to Policy” event on Education and Skills, held in Brussels on 13 October 2025.

During the session on addressing skills and labour shortages and skills mismatches, they presented TRAILS’ key achievements and upcoming contributions to EU policy and research:

  • Achieved Results: Integrated Data Infrastructure and Key Findings (2004–2023)
  • Who Benefits from TRAILS Results: Policymakers, education providers, employers, and citizens seeking to align training and labour market needs
  • Expected Results: EU-wide surveys on skills and training, counselling RCTs (behavioural trials), cross-country microdata evidence, vacancy–survey integration, and the TRAILS Portal

A key highlight of their intervention was the announcement that the TRAILS Portal will be launched by the end of 2025. The portal will provide a centralised, open-access platform designed to:

  • Visualise and explore labour market and skills data
  • Support evidence-based policymaking and stakeholder insight
  • Complement EU-level initiatives by improving access to harmonised, high-quality evidence

Building Bridges Between Research and Regional Action

TRAILS’ presence and interactions during the European Week of Regions and Cities underlined the project’s commitment to bridging the gap between academic research, EU policymaking, and regional implementation. By connecting with key institutions and sister projects, TRAILS continues to contribute to a shared European effort to better understand — and address — skills mismatches, labour shortages, and training needs in an evolving labour market.

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