The MICROIDEA project took an active role in the EfVET Annual Conference 2025, held in Fátima, Portugal, where this year’s theme, “Wellbeing in a Digitalised World – Crafting the Future of VET 2035,” brought together VET providers, policymakers, researchers, and labour market stakeholders from across Europe.
As part of the conference programme, MICROIDEA hosted a dedicated roundtable session on 23 October, presenting its innovative framework for implementing and certifying microcredentials using the ISO/IEC 17024 standard. The session highlighted how high-quality, impartial, and measurable certification systems can reinforce trust in skills recognition, support well-being in the workforce, and connect education more closely to real labour market needs.
Drawing from the project’s work in Cyprus, Greece, and Spain, the roundtable introduced the Occupational Profile of Waiter/Waitress, developed using labour market analysis and aligned with European standards such as ESCO. Participants were guided through the project’s structure of:
- a core curriculum organised around key professional functions
- 30 targeted courses covering specific tasks
- 24 modular microcredentials across four domains:
green skills, soft skills, technical skills, and digital skills
- standalone microcredentials, including country-specific units such as Detecting Drug Abuse
The MICROIDEA team explained how this modular and stackable system enables flexible upskilling, supports emerging occupational needs, and offers clear pathways from individual microcredentials to full qualifications at EQF/NQF levels 2–5.
A key focus of the session was the project’s use of ISO/IEC 17024 to certify both core modules and microcredentials. This approach ensures impartiality, transparency, and comparability across countries and sectors, promoting confidence among learners, employers, and VET institutions. The methodology strengthens the link between education and employment and contributes to a more inclusive, adaptable, and resilient European workforce.
Participants expressed strong interest in the project’s focus on highlighting how trusted, high-quality microcredentials can empower workers, support career mobility, and enable continuous reskilling in a fast-changing labour market.
Through its participation in the EfVET Conference, MICROIDEA demonstrated how structured microcredential systems can open new pathways to professional growth and reinforce the future direction of VET in Europe.
