Education Policy

Education and training are crucial to maintaining and strengthening the competitiveness of European footwear companies given that workers represent the main asset of the industry. The process of making a shoe is complex and requires artistic and technical skills as well as specific know-how in order to combine craftsmanship with the opportunities brought by new technologies and digitalisation. A quality shoe undergoes numerous stages of production before it is finished. The exact number of operations involved can vary drastically but often goes beyond 200, depending on the model, the selected production method, and the tools used.  

It is well-recognised that a successful future of the European industry can only be possible with a skilled and motivated workforce. The CEC is contributing to monitoring the demand and supply of skills in education and industry together with the textile, clothing, and leather industries through the Erasmus+ Blueprint projects METASKILLS4TCLF and AEQUALIS4TCLF. Further work of contributing to a TCLF Skills Observatory is underway. 

In collaboration with education providers and industry, CEC’s objectives include: 

• Support the development and continuous updating of occupations within the footwear industry.  

• Promoting education and vocational training that responds to evolving industry needs.  

• Promoting and increasing the visibility of job opportunities that the industry offers. 

• Communicating and promoting the attractiveness of the footwear sector and the career opportunities it offers, particularly to younger generations. 

In this regard, the CEC together with other European partners participate in European Commission funded projects supporting education, such as:  

• METASKILLS4TCLF (Erasmus+ Blueprint) ­– Alliance for Cooperation on Digital and Circular Economy Skills for the TCLF sector across Europe 

• AEQUALIS4TCLF (Erasmus+ Blueprint) ­– Creating More Sustainable and Innovative TCLF Industries with Thriving Skilled People 

• TCLF SkillBridge (Single Market Programme) – Support to organisations for actions in the context of the EU Textile, Clothing, Leather, and Footwear Pact for Skills 

• ECOSTEP (Horizon Europe) – Ecodesign Criteria for Sustainability in Footwear and Testing Methods for Evaluation of Performance 

A European Network of TCLF Education Providers Promoting Excellence 

Conducted within the framework of the Erasmus+ Blueprint projects METASKILLS4TCLF and AEQUALIS4TCLF, this initiative brings together European Vocational and Training (VET) and Higher Education (HE) institutions to further strengthen TCLF skills provision in Europe through the implementation of ambitious joint actions. With members from Belgium, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, Croatia, Czechia, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Serbia, and Slovenia, the Network of European TCLF education providers fosters collaboration and skills transfer, implements concrete actions to strengthen the quality and efficiency of TCLF education, and reaches out to public authorities to make sure that the necessary investments are directed toward the modernisation of education systems and infrastructure, with the ultimate objective of bringing more students and skilled workers to these industries.  

A Pact for Skills for the TCLF Industries 

In autumn 2020, the European Commission launched the Pact for Skills initiative within the new EU Skills Agenda, which aimed to equip individuals and businesses with the digital skills needed for life and work. The Pact for Skills initiative aims to mobilise all relevant public and private stakeholders to take action to upskill and reskill people in Europe for the green and digital transition.  

The CEC enthusiastically welcomed both initiatives. Together with the other EU TCLF confederations and stakeholders, CEC is supporting the development of a Large Skills Partnership for the TCLF sectors – The TCLF Skills Alliance, which was officially launched in March 2021 at a High-level Roundtable with European Commissioners Nicolas Schmit and Thierry Breton and other TCLF stakeholders.  

The CEC began working on supporting pacts for skills in Europe in the now finalised Erasmus+ Blueprint project Skills4SmartTCLF 2030. The work is now continuing in the Erasmus+ Blueprint projects METASKILLS4TCLF, AEQUALIS4TCLF, and the Single Market project TCLF SkillBridge. Several TCLF pacts for skills have now been launched on the official European Commission website.