Skills and Human Capital
Human capital and education are at the centre of a knowledge economy. More than ever, our level of education and skills will determine future social cohesion, prosperity and sustainability. Europe was once a beacon of educational performance, and a model for other countries to follow, but much has happened in recent decades to undermine Europe’s education record. Too few resources are spent, too little self-responsibility is given to our schools and universities, and too little attention is being paid to other regions that are rapidly advancing their own education systems. Against this backdrop, the Lisbon Council deems it of utmost importance to strengthen and broaden the debate surrounding European educational systems.
Among the highlights of the Skills and Human Capital Initiative are:
Navarra Declaration on Talent
February 2009
Participants of the Ágora Talentia – World Forum on Talent – convening in Pamplona, Spain, launched The Navarra Declaration on Talent in the Knowledge Age. Coordinated in partnership with the Lisbon Council, this Declaration calls for a seismic shift in how we create, identify, manage and develop talent throughout people’s lives and throughout the world. It is a comprehensive and inspiring roadmap for – and vision of – a society that places talent and human creativity at the forefront of human development.
Read The Navarra Declaration on Talent
Leer la Declaratíon Navarra sobre el Talento
Sign the Declaration on Ágora Talentia Website
The 2008 Skills and Human Capital Summit
September 2008
The 2008 Skills and Human Capital Summit convened under the theme Raising Our Game, Staying Ahead. The event was kicked off by Ján Figel’, European commissioner for education, training and culture, who delivered The 2008 Jean Jacques Rousseau Lecture, the Lisbon Council’s flagship event on the future of the European social model. The event included sessions led by the OECD and CEDEFOP, the European Centre for the Development of Educational Training. It also featured a presentation on youth and science, led by Dr. Frank-Stefan Becker, an education expert at Siemens.
Download Commissioner Figel’s remarks
Download presentation on youth and science (Siemens)
Download presentation on adult skills (OECD)
Download presentation on skills forecast
Launch of European Human Capital Index for Central and Eastern Europe
October 2007
The second volume of our widely acclaimed European Human Capital Index focuses on Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Turkey. In a one-of-a-kind analysis, the authors explain why the region must urgently upgrade its skills base and fight its brain drain, if it hopes to sustain the rise in prosperity and living standards of recent years. The study strongly recommends investing heavily in human capital, in particular for the “lost generation” of people 45 years and older.
Download the study
The 2007 Skills and Human Capital Summit
October 2007
Only days before the fall European Council, the Lisbon Council convened a Skills and Human Capital Summit. In line with the legacy of the 2005 Hampton Court Summit, which laid the grounds for a fruitful debate on the European social model, speakers explained the intricate link between skills and social welfare. The day was kicked off by Andreas Schleicher, head of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), who delivered The 2007 Jean Jacques Rousseau Lecture, the Lisbon Council’s flagship event on social Europe. The Summit also served as the launch pad for the second volume of our widely acclaimed European Human Capital Index, with a special focus on Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey. Finally, the Summit also introduced a new joint Lisbon Council-Siemens initiative on A Curriculum for the 21st Century, an innovative project designed to help our school systems deliver the skills and competencies adults will need in the 21st century, and to inform the debate surrounding the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).
Download Andreas Schleicher’s presentation on skills
Download presentation on A Curriculum for the 21st Century
Skills for the Future
February 2007
Following the successful Jobs of the Future study, this report, published together with Accenture, examines the imperative of bringing government, business and individuals together to develop the skills and human capital Europe needs to excel in a fast-moving global economy.
Download the study
Presentation at Centre d'analyse stratégique
January 2007
Peer Ederer, director, European capital project, briefed the think tank of the French prime minister on The European Human Capital Index. The workshop will feed into the French government's National Reform Programme.
Download the presentation
Launch of European Human Capital Index
October 2006
In a landmark study, the Lisbon Council weighs into the current debate surrounding innovation by looking at the way Human Capital is developing in 13 European countries. Based on a methodology devised by Peer Ederer, director of the Human Capital Project, the study predicts major challenges for key European countries – such as Germany and Italy – that do too little to invest in and develop their human capital. If current trends are not reversed, the study says citizens of Sweden and Ireland (which invest heavily in their human capital) could enjoy a living standard up to twice as high as citizens of Germany and Italy – a trend which would turn the traditional economic hierarchy of Europe on its head. Specifically, the study measures human capital stock, deployment, utilization and evolution in 13 EU countries, and ranks those countries by their ability to develop their human capital to meet the challenge of globalisation. Peer-reviewed by numerous authorities on generational accounting, this new ranking is expected to make a great contribution to informing policy making and public opinion in years to come.
Download the report in English here
Télécharger ici la version française
Education and Immigration: Europe’s Great Challenge
May 2006
The Lisbon Council hit another landmark in its ongoing Education Initiative by hosting the launch of a widely publicised OECD study on Where Immigrant Students Succeed. Introduced by Andreas Schleicher, head of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the report detailed major shortcomings in Europe’s ability to offer equal educational opportunity to all people, particularly in Germany, Austria, Belgium and Denmark, and called for greater social mobility and targeted action to help immigrant students.
Download Mr. Schleicher’s presentation slides
Lisbon Council policy brief: The Economics of Knowledge
March 2006
At the occasion of The 2006 Knowledge Summit, the Lisbon Council launched its first policy brief, entitled The Economics of Knowledge: Why Education is Key to Europe’s Success. Written by Andreas Schleicher, head of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the study was the culmination of a year-long intensive collaboration between the Lisbon Council and Mr. Schleicher. Designed to raise public awareness of the crucial link between educational performance and economic prosperity, the research received unprecedented media attention, and was warmly received by policy makers and education experts. Featured in more than 50 newspapers worldwide, including lead articles in The Economist, Le Monde, Die Zeit, FT Deutschland, Het Financieele Dagblad, and numerous others, the study made a widely recognised contribution to Europe’s transition towards a knowledge economy.
Download the Economics of Knowledge policy brief
Working group on The Education Imperative
March 2006
In the margins of The 2006 Knowledge Summit, the Lisbon Council convened a working group on The Education Imperative. Led by Andreas Schleicher, project director of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and intellectually underpinned by the Lisbon Council policy brief The Economics of Knowledge, participants analysed the urgent need to invest more in education and skills, as well as provide more opportunities for underprivileged parts of the population. In attendance were several high-level education experts and practitioners, representing organisations such as IMD, the Vlerick Leuven Ghent Management School, the Richard Florida Creativity Group, TakingITGlobal and Internatsschule Schloss Hansenberg.
Lisbon Council policy debate on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
December 2004
The Lisbon Council launched its Education Initiative with a lunch in honour of Andreas Schleicher, author and project director of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Meeting with journalists and education experts inside the Lisbon Council, Mr. Schleicher presented the results of PISA 2003 one day before the official launch of the report in Berlin.
