Europe’s twin transition calls for skills systems that can respond fast and last

European Digital Sustainability Skills Conference highlights the need to connect skills intelligence, learning provision and long-term governance

Europe’s digital and green transitions are reshaping jobs, tasks and competence needs across the economy and society. A key message from the European Digital Sustainability Skills Conference, held in Brussels on 30 September 2026, was that these changes can no longer be addressed through separate skills agendas. What is needed is a workforce able to combine digital, sustainability, business and transversal competences, supported by skills systems that can turn emerging needs into accessible, recognised and scalable learning opportunities.

Organised as part of the Digital4Sustainability project, the conference brought together representatives from the European Commission, Cedefop, industry, education and training providers, certification bodies and our project partners to discuss how Europe can better prepare people and organisations for the twin transition.

Skills as a condition for competitiveness and sustainability

In her keynote address, Rehana Schwinninger-Ladak, Deputy Director for Data and Head of Unit for Interactive Technologies, Digital for Culture and Education at DG CNECT, underlined that skills are a precondition for Europe to pursue competitiveness and sustainability at the same time. As companies are expected to digitalise, decarbonise, strengthen resilience and respond to changing regulatory demands simultaneously, their capacity to succeed depends increasingly on people with the right skills.

From the employment policy perspective, Sonia de Melo Xavier, Policy Officer at DG EMPL, linked the discussion to the Union of Skills and the growing importance of lifelong learning. She pointed to a striking figure: the share of European companies reporting a lack of skilled staff as a barrier to investment has risen from 62% to 77% in less than a decade. This shows that skills shortages are becoming a serious constraint on growth, investment and competitiveness.

Bringing the industry perspective to the discussion, Helena Lovegrove, Senior Director of Projects & Operations at DIGITALEUROPE, and Justina Bieliauskaitė, Innovation Director at the European DIGITAL SME Alliance, highlighted the skills challenges facing businesses of all sizes. Helena Lovegrove stressed that digital competences are increasingly needed across all sectors, not only in traditional ICT roles, and underlined the importance of upskilling existing employees and involving industry in the development of relevant training programmes. Justina Bieliauskaitė emphasised the agility and adaptability of SMEs, highlighting how upskilling can help smaller businesses respond to the challenges and opportunities of the twin transition.

A ‘sprint’ and a ‘marathon’ approach

Representing Cedefop, Jasper Van Loo, Department Coordinator for Skills and Labour Market, emphasised the need for both a ‘sprint’ and a ‘marathon’ approach to skills. Europe must be able to react quickly to emerging shortages and changing competence needs, while also investing in the long-term development of experienced professionals and more resilient skills systems.

He also highlighted a major challenge for participation in training: four in five working Europeans cannot find a suitable training programme or the information they need about it. This points to the importance of making programmes more visible, more attractive and easier to access, supported by effective guidance. Van Loo also stressed the need to reduce non-completion in education and training, particularly in areas critical to the twin transition. In STEM-related fields, retention is only around 50%, underlining a significant weakness in Europe’s talent pipeline.

From skills intelligence to scalable learning solutions

Several contributions showed how identified skills needs can be translated into concrete responses. Wanda Saabeel of Eduserpro presented the project’s Digital Sustainability Skills Strategy. Dietmar Janetzko of the National College of Ireland explored how these needs can be turned into educational profiles. Katarina Cicvaric of Profil Klett and Francesco Abbita of Mylia shared lessons from piloting the project’s learning solutions in practice.

The final panel, From Project Results to Lasting Impact: Scaling Digital Sustainability Skills in Europe, brought together Suzanne Galletly of EXIN, Pascal Ravesteijn of HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, Luis Fernández-Sanz of the University of Alcalá and Cedefop’s Jasper Van Loo. The discussion highlighted the role of microcredentials, certification and competence frameworks in supporting recognition, lifelong learning and career mobility.

A strong conclusion from the conference was that successful skills solutions need to be embedded in skills governance systems, build on existing competences and support validation and recognition. Europe’s challenge is to turn skills intelligence into a connected cycle of programme design, delivery, visibility and long-term uptake.

Turning skills needs into action with Digital4Sustainability

Through the Erasmus+-funded Digital4Sustainability project, we are helping bridge the gap between emerging skills needs and practical learning opportunities. Our resources support organisations, educators and professionals in preparing for the twin transition.

Explore the resources and learning programmes available across the Digital4Sustainability website, and follow the project’s latest activities as we continue turning these skills needs into practical solutions.