CEMETS Summer Institute 2023: Back in Zurich

CEMETS hosted its first ever hybrid Summer Institute this summer, having learned from years of both virtual and in-​person institutes. The result was a week-​long event in Zurich full of in-​depth discussions and international exchange.

By Marit van Dekken Katie Caves

Teams from all over the world joined this year’s CEMETS Summer Institute to learn about education systems reform from a scientific point of view. After weeks of online lectures, reform leaders from Nepal, Serbia, Indiana, Ukraine, Colorado, South Africa, Costa Rica and Benin made their way to Zurich for a week of site visits, keynotes, lectures, and to work on their own reform cases.

One of the inspiring components of the in-person institute was the case workshops. Each team presented their ideas about changing the education system in their respective country and received feedback from other participants as well as the CEMETS team. The result? An international community of reform leaders who provide each other with feedback and are united in a common goal: to change education systems for the better.

CEMETS Summer Institute 2023

All participants of the CEMETS Summer Institute 2023

With a special focus on vocational education and training as a key feature of a permeable education system, participants learned about the Swiss education system not only during lectures but also on site visits to external page Swisscom, external page libs and external page CYP. Keynote speakers Christoph Buser, Arthur Glaettli and Valentin Vogt added in-depth knowledge from the perspective of the external page Baselland Economic Chamber as well as from the view of employers’ associations. Topping things off, Anskar Roth provided insight into career guidance and counseling, while Noel Ginsburg offered first-hand experience in implementing an apprenticeship model from scratch.

Re-engineering an education system is an intergenerational project, and can seem daunting. The CEMETS Summer Institute 2023 helped reform leaders get started on their own national projects through scientific knowledge transfer, international exchange, and support in both initiating and implementing education reform. The next step is to go home and start implementation. We can’t wait to see the results.

Interested in joining the CEMETS Summer Institute in 2024? Visit our Institutes page!