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Expanding horizons: what Swiss VET can gain from stronger European cooperation

18/09/2026

What can help Swiss vocational education and training engage more fully in European mobility and cooperation? A new study commissioned by Movetia identifies the barriers – and, importantly, the strategic levers that could help overcome them.

International cooperation has become increasingly important for vocational education and training (VET). As skills systems respond to the green and digital transitions, changing labour markets and the growing importance of transversal competences, cooperation across borders can provide valuable opportunities for mutual learning, innovation and professional development.

For Switzerland, this question is particularly timely. On 17 September, Movetia – Switzerland’s national agency for exchange and mobility and an EARLALL member – hosted the webinar “Strategic Levers for Swiss VET in Erasmus+”, presenting the findings of the new VETengage study conducted by the Swiss Observatory for Vocational Education and Training (OBS SFUVET). The study, led by Prof. Dr. Lukas Graf and Dr. Agata A. Lambrechts, examines why Swiss VET currently engages less extensively in European cooperation than several European counterparts and what could be done to strengthen that engagement.

The discussion comes at a significant moment. Switzerland is preparing for potential reassociation with Erasmus+, with the possibility of participation from 2027 onwards. At the same time, Swiss institutions currently have various, but more limited, possibilities to participate in Erasmus+ cooperation as institutions from a non-associated third country, supported where relevant through Swiss funding mechanisms administered by Movetia.

The VETengage study therefore asks a question that goes beyond programme participation: how can international cooperation become a more integrated part of Swiss VET?

Looking beyond a successful system

One of the study’s central messages is particularly relevant for the wider European VET community: the strength of a national VET system should not become a reason to look inward.

Switzerland has a well-established dual VET system, with strong links between education and the labour market. Yet the success and specificity of this model can also make international cooperation more difficult. Differences in the organisation of apprenticeships, institutional responsibilities and labour-market structures can make it harder to identify obvious European counterparts or demonstrate the immediate value of international mobility.

The study groups the challenges facing Swiss VET into three broad categories: contextual, demand-side and programme-related barriers.

Contextual barriers: when success can become isolation

The first set of challenges concerns the institutional and cultural environment in which Swiss VET operates.

The researchers point to a risk of complacency or inward-looking perspectives: when a VET system is widely recognised as successful, there can be fewer perceived reasons to search for solutions elsewhere. Yet international cooperation is not only about importing practices. It is also about comparing approaches, testing assumptions and identifying innovations that can complement existing strengths.

Structural differences create another challenge. Swiss dual apprenticeships do not always have direct equivalents in other European countries, while mobility can raise practical concerns for employers who rely on apprentices as part of their workforce. For SMEs and training companies in particular, releasing an apprentice or staff member for an international experience may entail real organisational and resource costs.

The study also highlights resource constraints and fragmentation, which can make it difficult for individual VET actors to develop and sustain international partnerships.

From “additional work” to strategic development

The second group of barriers relates to demand: the motivation, incentives and priorities of VET institutions, companies, teachers and learners.

A recurring issue is that internationalisation is not always embedded in an institution’s overall strategy. A teacher or VET professional may be interested in developing a mobility project, but without an institutional framework, international cooperation can be perceived as an additional responsibility rather than part of the organisation’s core mission.

The researchers also identify a potential mismatch between the benefits of mobility and the immediate needs of employers. International experiences can strengthen transversal competences, intercultural awareness, adaptability and other skills, but these benefits may be less immediately visible than occupation-specific technical competences.

For learners, meanwhile, hesitation and uncertainty can also influence participation. International mobility can offer significant learning experiences, but it requires students and apprentices to leave familiar environments and, in some cases, navigate practical and financial challenges.

These findings point towards an important shift in perspective: internationalisation needs to be connected more clearly to the concrete needs and priorities of VET institutions, learners and employers.

Erasmus+: opportunity, but also complexity

The third category concerns the programme environment itself.

Because Switzerland has not been associated with Erasmus+ since 2014, Swiss VET actors face additional complexity when participating in European cooperation. Swiss institutions can participate in selected Erasmus+ cooperation actions as partners from a non-associated third country, while Swiss funding mechanisms can support certain forms of participation. However, this can involve additional administrative processes and different funding arrangements compared with institutions from Erasmus+ programme countries.

Geography and partnership structures can also create friction. Finding European partners with sufficiently similar VET structures can be challenging, particularly for actors looking specifically for dual VET models.

For the researchers, however, these challenges should not be interpreted simply as reasons to wait for a future programme arrangement. Instead, they provide a case for building capacity now.

Ten strategic fields of action

The VETengage study moves beyond identifying barriers. Its central contribution is a set of ten strategic fields of action, bringing together 35 proposed levers based on empirical findings, document analysis, European VET research and interviews with relevant stakeholders.

Among the proposed approaches are:

1. Adapting mobility formats to reduce productivity losses – for example through reciprocal job-shadowing or job-swap models and blended mobility.
2. Building institutional capacity, including through explicit internationalisation strategies and stronger bridges between VET institutions and universities of applied sciences.
3. Strengthening strategic networking to overcome isolation and build stronger relationships with European partners.
4. Implementing federal mandates and curricular reforms that can provide a stronger foundation for international engagement.
5. Creating tangible incentives and recognition, including possible quality labels for employers and supplementary qualifications linked to international experiences.
6. Using strategic storytelling and needs-based framing, connecting international projects to concrete operational challenges faced by VET institutions and companies.
7. Cultivating internal champions and peer advocacy, enabling experienced practitioners to encourage colleagues and organisations to engage.
8. Strengthening support structures and administrative expertise, including mobility advisory services.
9. Standardising guidance and reducing bureaucracy, making international cooperation easier to navigate.
10. Building engagement progressively, allowing organisations to start with lower-risk forms of cooperation before moving towards more complex partnerships.

Taken together, these proposals suggest that internationalisation should not be treated as a single mobility project or as a question of funding alone. It is a capacity-building process involving institutions, companies, learners, policymakers and intermediary organisations.

Why this matters beyond Switzerland

From a European perspective, the Swiss experience raises a broader question: how can VET systems with strong national traditions remain open to international learning and cooperation?

European cooperation does not require national systems to become identical. On the contrary, some of the value of cooperation comes precisely from comparing different approaches and learning from different institutional contexts.

The study highlights the potential of larger transnational networks, including the European Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs), to connect VET providers with international industry partners and address shared challenges such as the green and digital transitions.

This is highly relevant to the wider European VET community. Skills challenges increasingly cross borders, while companies and labour markets operate across increasingly interconnected economies. Cooperation can therefore provide a space for VET systems to learn from one another while retaining their distinctive strengths.

For Switzerland, stronger European engagement could also create opportunities to connect international cooperation more directly with the country’s economic and skills priorities. The VETengage study argues that international engagement can contribute to transversal and future-oriented skills, support the green and digital transitions, and strengthen the long-term competitiveness of an export-oriented economy.

A strategic window for Swiss VET

The timing of the VETengage study is therefore significant. The potential future association of Switzerland with Erasmus+ creates an opportunity, but programme access alone will not automatically translate into stronger participation.

The findings suggest that preparation needs to happen at several levels: institutions need strategies and capacity; employers need meaningful incentives and practical solutions; learners need accessible and relevant mobility opportunities; and support structures need to make European cooperation easier to navigate.

In this sense, the study provides a roadmap not only for potential Erasmus+ participation, but for strengthening the international dimension of Swiss VET more broadly.

For EARLALL and its network of regional and local authorities and VET stakeholders across Europe, this is a particularly relevant discussion. European cooperation works best when different education and training systems can bring their own experiences, strengths and perspectives to the table.

The question is therefore not simply how Swiss VET can participate more in Europe, but how Europe can benefit from deeper engagement with Swiss VET – and how both can learn from one another.

The VETengage study offers an important contribution to that conversation at a moment when the European VET landscape is continuing to evolve.

Read the full VETengage study: VETengage – Strategic Levers for Swiss VET Engagement in Erasmus+ Cooperation Initiatives