The Unions4VET project was launched in June 2015 to strengthen trade union involvement in vocational education and training - initially at European level - and thus also to improve the quality of vocational education and training in the participating countries. The project is responsible for, coordinated and implemented by the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and bfw - Unternehmen für Bildung. To date, the project has been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The starting point was the Berlin Memorandum of 2012 on vocational training cooperation, which was signed by Italy, Portugal, Latvia, Slovakia and Greece. Since 2017, non-European countries and their unions have also been participating in the network (Costa Rica, South Africa, USA, Mexico). The project objectives include in particular:
Within the framework of unions4VET transfer, the previous successful steps in international vocational education and training cooperation are currently being consolidated and expanded. This is being done jointly with the two other strategic projects SCIVET and KIBB as well as with the BMBF and its specialist unit for international vocational education and training cooperation GOVET. The focus is on supporting the BMBF in the development of country programs for international vocational education and training cooperation, the integration of cross-cutting issues and cooperation with a total of 12 additional partner countries until 2022.
