A Look Back at the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER)

From August 18 to 21, 2026, the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) 2026 took place in Tampere, Finland, under the topic “Knowing and Acting: The Changing Conditions and Potentials of Education Research.” The Chair of Adult Education was represented at the international conference with two academic presentations, thereby contributing current research on issues related to vocational education and training and European vocational education and training policy to the international academic discourse.

Symposium on Sustainable Learning in Vocational Education and Training

© Sandra Bohlinger

As part of the symposium “Transforming Secondary VET: A Trans-European Approach to Powerful Learning for Sustainability,” Thomas Köhler, Sandra Bohlinger, Steffen Kersten, and Nona Elana Kristiana from TU Dresden presented the paper “Patterns of Diversity in Providing Vocational Education and Training in Germany.”

The paper provided insight into the research work of the German partners in the European ProVEST CoVE project consortium, which focuses on transformative learning in the context of sustainability in vocational education and training.

Further information on the European project consortium can be found on the ProVEST CoVE website: https://provest-cove.eu/

European Vocational Education and Training Policy and Its Implementation in Practice

A second paper was produced as part of the EU project “EUVET-P – Vocational Education and Training Policy in the European Union.” Titled “Translating European VET Policy into Practice: Governance Instruments in Vocational Education and Training,” the article by Sandra Bohlinger, Alina Praun, and Christian Müller provides insights into research on the implementation of European vocational education and training policy in practice. The focus was on governance instruments and their significance for the design and management of vocational education and training at the organizational and individual levels.

Further information on the project can be found here: https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/ew/ibbd/eb/euvet-p