Since 1995 I work at a European level in the context of internationalisation of education, training, working life, lifelong guidance and entrepreneurship. During these years I have established a wide network of professional contacts across Europe. My contacts span over a very broad range of expertise and experience and they pull together the communities of policy, practice and research.
Mostly thanks to the cooperation with and involvement in the European networks (such as European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network, Euroguidance, EURES, Europass, Eurydice, EURAXESS) – which are jointly funded by the European Commission and the EU Member States – I have had the opportunity to become well acquainted with prominent professionals and experienced experts from all over Europe in the areas of lifelong learning, employment as well as educational and vocational guidance.
In addition, I was working for five years (2007-2012) for the European Union agency called the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop, located in Greece). While there I further expanded and strengthened my contacts with the policy- and decision-makers in the European Commission, in the relevant ministries of the EU Member States (mainly ministries of education and ministries of labour and social affairs) and in some of the other EU agencies (e.g. the European Training Foundation, Italy).
My professional network is a tremendously valuable resource and provides a reliable source of information, tacit knowledge and expertise. These contacts can be used, for example, for consultation as well as for validation and dissemination of information. They also play a significant role in terms of close and continuous cooperation at national and European levels. All this is absolutely necessary for my own work and further professional development.