Discussions at UNESCO-UNEVOC’s Learning Forum underlined that new and radical shifts are needed to ensure that TVET systems can respond to these changes and that TVET systems can no longer just operate according to a ‘business-as-usual’ model. The speed and scale of change call for a broad process of transformation, with TVET institutions increasingly acting as drivers of innovation in their local ecosystem, and in parallel innovating the learning processes and products offered to youth and adults and increasing citizens’ potential to innovate.

As TVET adapts itself to the impacts of significant social, environmental and economic disruptions, innovative practices emerge with great potential to rejuvenate the future of TVET. Current developments in TVET suggest that many types of innovative practices are already being developed or deployed, significantly changing the way we define and practice TVET. However, despite the international appreciation of the important role innovative practices can play to transform TVET, there is a need to better understand what is meant by innovation in the TVET sector and its implications.

For this reason, this virtual conference aimed to discuss different ways through which innovation contributes to the development of TVET. The virtual conference presented and debated the different roles of TVET in systems of innovation, the different use of innovations to improve the quality of TVET, as well as the main barriers to the development of innovation in TVET.

This summary report captures the main outcomes of a virtual conference on innovation in TVET that took place on UNESCO-UNEVOC’s TVeT Forum. The virtual conference was organized as part of a study that maps the trends in innovation in TVET, which feeds into UNESCO-UNEVOC’s initiative called Skills for Innovation Hubs (i-Hubs) that is being launched in March 2019 in Bonn, Germany.