Join the Working groups supporting the development of talent in Europe

Between 18 July and 22 September, a call was open for stakeholders at EU, national, and regional levels to be part of 4 Working Groups on the topics of: Digital, Health, Research & Innovation, and Territorial Development. The Working Groups were created as part of the Harnessing Talent Platform launched by European Commission’s DG REGIO.

Read more about the call below.

Introduction

The Commission has published a Communication on Harnessing Talent in European Regions and launched the Talent Booster Mechanism, which aims to bring a fresh impetus for re- and upskilling as the first key initiative in 2023 to contribute to the European Year of Skills.

This Mechanism supports EU regions affected by the accelerated decline of their working age population to train, retain, and attract the people, the skills, and the competences needed to address the impact of the demographic transition.

The Harnessing Talent Platform (HTP) is knowledge-building and experience-exchange platform, which seeks to support regions in addressing the consequences of the demographic change and in mitigating the challenges associated with the decline of tertiary educated populations across the EU.

The HTP foresaw the creation of dedicated working groups that would bring together stakeholders from different territorial levels to discuss the topic of harnessing talent in Europe and the territorial consequences of demographic dynamics linked to it. These working groups serve as a forum for strategic exchange on how sectors such as Digital, Health, Research & Innovation, as well as Territorial Development – in particular rural-urban linkages and quality of life – can influence a region’s ability to be competitive and attractive for a young and highly skilled workforce.

The work of the groups allows for a deeper insight into how regions dealing with demographic challenges can attract, develop, and retain talent by exploring potential solutions and devising instruments linked to the topic of the working group. As such, working groups are developing and sharing knowledge and expertise, articulate challenges, promote good practices, and translate findings into policy recommendations and technical guidance.

Detailed information about the call

For more details on the thematic focus and activities of the working groups, please consult the background document accompanying the call for expression of interest.

Who could express interest?

Stakeholders involved in understanding or addressing labour market challenges in the digital, health, and/or R&I sector or interested in contributing to a better understanding of how rural-urban linkages and quality of life can impact the possibility of EU regions to harness talent, could apply to be a member of one or several of the working groups.

The list of eligible stakeholders included, but was not limited to:

• Relevant public authorities at EU, national, and regional levels - especially in the regions particularly affected by the declining share of tertiary educated labour force in the aforementioned sectors.
• Research and academic institutions and think tanks.
• Public or para-public agencies and associations.
• Business associations;
• Umbrella organisations, collaborative networks, clusters, and intermediary organisations.
• Pan European organisations for regions.
• Civil society organisations, including, for instance, representatives from workers and employers, NGOs.

For stakeholders applying to multiple working groups, it was noted that the meetings would be held in parallel, therefore a higher engagement in terms of human resources would be needed.

Selection of members

Each working group has 20 members. The final selection of working group members was operated according to key criteria, including:

• Expertise and experience: Alignment of the applicants’ professional experience and expertise with the WG’s focus and objectives. The working groups had a balanced composition between the types of stakeholders, taking into consideration the multi-level governance principle as well as diversity of expertise.
• Geographical coverage: Diversity across the 3 key categories of regions (less developed, transition, and developed regions) while ensuring a broad geographical balance.
• Scope of the platform: National and regional stakeholders were, as much as possible, representing the territories identified as being in or at risk of being in a development trap, through the Communication on Harnessing Talent in EUs regions.
• Commitment and availability to take part in the WG’s activities over its whole duration.

You can find more information about the selected participants here: Working Groups

How to apply?

Applications are closed.

What activities are being organised?

Between November 2023 and May 2026, working groups are meeting at least three times per year, of which at least two meetings are online and one meeting is organised as a physical meeting in Brussels, within the premises of the European Commission. The first physical meeting took place on 24 November 2023. During these working group meetings, participants are contributing to:

• Deciding on the list of sub-topics to work on
• Preparing issue papers on defined topics of interest
• Sharing updates and good practices, knowledge, and experience on the topic
• Contributing to the creation of territorial expertise
• Preparing presentations for the working group meetings
• Reflecting on solutions and preparing possible recommendations
• Preparing guidance documents and toolkits for different levels of regional policy management

What support is offered to participants?

Each group is chaired by the HTP Secretariat, managed by an external contractor under the supervision of the European Commission’s DG REGIO. The HTP Secretariat is responsible for the overall management of the working groups as well as the facilitation of digital and physical working group meetings to support the achievement of tangible outcomes.

In addition, working group members are compensated for travel and accommodation for one in-person meeting per year, taking place in Brussels, Belgium.