On the 13th of November, the European Education and Skills Summit 2025 took place in Brussels. The Summit, organised by the European Commission, is the EU’s leading annual event on education, training and skills; it brings together Commissioners, ministers, policymakers, education and training providers, industry representatives, researchers and civil society to address Europe’s most pressing skills challenges.
The 2025 edition focused on tackling the skills gap, supporting lifelong learning, strengthening basic and digital skills, and building stronger connections between education systems and industry in response to demographic shifts, technological transformation and increasing competition for talent. The event also served as a key moment to reflect on the implementation of the new Union of Skills and to explore how cross-sector cooperation can drive Europe’s competitiveness and resilience.
Milva Carbonaro, CEO of GISIG, took part in the panel “Harnessing the pace of change: how can we build stronger education–company partnerships for upskilling and reskilling?”, presenting SPACE4GEO and its flagship project SpaceSUITE. She illustrated how the Large-Scale Skills Partnership is translating Europe’s political commitments into concrete implementation: strengthening skills intelligence, defining occupational profiles, developing targeted training programmes, and supporting learners throughout their upskilling and reskilling journeys. She highlighted how Earth Observation and space-based data have become integral components of Europe’s digital infrastructure, requiring interdisciplinary collaboration and sustained investment in skills. In a context marked by demographic change and global competition for talent, she emphasised the importance of long-term cooperation, lifelong learning and cross-sector initiatives. Even when immediate economic returns are not visible, such partnerships deliver substantial value by fostering strong networks for SMEs, improving access to high-quality training, enabling joint initiatives and reinforcing ties between academia, VET providers and research communities.
The Summit also provided Milva with the opportunity to engage directly with representatives of the European Commission -as the EC Vice-President and Commissioner for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness Roxana Minzatu- as well as colleagues from other education and training initiatives. Exchanges with members of other Large-scale Skills Partnerships helped identify shared priorities and opportunities for future cooperation. One concrete outcome of these interactions is the forthcoming COMPLEMENTS project, which will strengthen collaboration between the aerospace, automotive and digital ecosystems under the Pact for Skills, creating new opportunities for innovation and workforce development across Europe.
Through her participation in the Summit, Milva reaffirmed the commitment of SPACE4GEO and SpaceSUITE to contributing to Europe’s evolving skills landscape, fostering collaboration and supporting talent development.
