The EUVECA project aims to enhance the quality and appeal of vocational education and training (VET) for healthcare professionals across Europe, promoting continuous learning and modern skills in line with the European Skills Agenda. In this context, EUVECA collaborates closely with other EU-funded initiatives such as BeWell, which focuses on building green and digital skills for the health and care workforce. This shared commitment to upskilling and reskilling professionals formed the foundation of a dedicated BeWell workshop held during the recent EUVECA meeting in Trento.
EUVECA meeting in Trento hosts BeWell workshop on integrating digital, green, and soft skills
The interactive session provided an opportunity to reflect on the main challenges and opportunities related to integrating these competencies into health and care education and training programmes.
Participants highlighted a lack of time and resources, particularly for translating and adapting training materials into national languages, as a key barrier. Many teachers remain focused on technical and profession-specific content, leaving limited room to incorporate new skill areas—especially those related to sustainability.
When discussing barriers to updating curricula, attendees noted that recruiting new teachers and changing teaching methods can be a long and complex process. Moreover, participants stressed the need for stronger institutional support and adequate resources to make training opportunities more accessible to both educators and professionals.
Looking toward the future, participants agreed that the next five years will require a strong focus on digital skills, including AI literacy, as well as critical thinking, ethical awareness, communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Green skills and adaptability were also identified as essential competencies to meet the rapid transformations shaping the health and care sectors.
To successfully integrate these emerging skills, participants underlined the importance of partnerships between educational institutions and professionals, as well as policy support and investment to enable innovative teaching methods and IT infrastructures. As one participant summarised, teachers “need to understand why these new skills are essential”, and be given the means to implement them effectively.
The BeWell workshop at the EUVECA meeting served as a valuable platform for dialogue between projects, reinforcing the shared European ambition to ensure a future-ready, skilled, and resilient health and care workforce.
Follow our work on the EUVECA project website www.euveca.eu and on our European Learning Platform www.edu4health.eu.
