Kick-Off Meeting of the “VET Caucasus” Project Successfully Held in Yerevan

Yerevan, Armenia – 7 April 2026

The Erasmus+ Capacity Building project “VET Caucasus – Strengthening VET Systems in Armenia and Georgia for Skills and Workforce Development” officially launched with its Kick-Off Meeting (KOM) held on 7 April 2026 in Yerevan, Armenia.

The meeting brought together project partners from across Europe and the Caucasus region, marking the beginning of a collaborative effort aimed at enhancing the quality, relevance and responsiveness of Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems in Armenia and Georgia. The project is funded under the Erasmus+ programme and focuses on aligning VET provision with EU standards and labour market needs.

The VET Caucasus project addresses key structural challenges in both countries, including limited alignment with European frameworks, weak links between VET and the labour market and the need for more innovative and demand-driven training approaches.

Three-Day Mobility and Capacity Building Activities

The Kick-Off Meeting was accompanied by a three-day mobility programme in Yerevan, during which partners engaged in intensive capacity-building and co-creation activities.

During the mobility, IDP delivered a series of targeted training sessions on EU tools for VET, including frameworks such as EQF, ESCO and other European instruments supporting quality assurance, skills recognition and curriculum development.

These sessions were designed to strengthen the capacity of Armenian and Georgian VET providers to understand, adopt and operationalise EU methodologies, which are central to the project’s objectives of modernising VET systems and improving employability outcomes.

Co-Creation of Key Project Deliverables

A central component of the mobility was the collection of inputs from Armenian and Georgian partners regarding the current state of their national VET systems. Through an interactive workshop, partners shared insights on governance structures, institutional challenges and labour market integration.

These contributions will directly feed into the development of the first key outputs under WP2:

• The VET Cooperation Model, aimed at strengthening collaboration between VET institutions, industry and public stakeholders
• The Governance Framework for inclusive and quality VET systems

These deliverables will provide structured tools to improve coordination, quality assurance and stakeholder engagement within VET ecosystems in the region.

The project consortium includes partners from Latvia, Italy, Belgium, Armenia and Georgia, combining European expertise with local knowledge to ensure sustainable impact at systemic, institutional and learner levels. By promoting the use of EU tools and fostering stronger links between education and the labour market, VET Caucasus aims to contribute to more responsive, inclusive, and internationally aligned VET systems in the region.

The successful launch of the project in Yerevan sets a strong foundation for the upcoming phases, which will include the development of training tools, pilot activities, and further international mobility.