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Cassandra Sturgeon Delia, 2025
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is accelerating as Europe moves towards Industry 5.0, where human-centric, sustainable and robust systems take precedence. AI offers powerful tools to support educational design tasks, yet its adoption is uneven. Educators face challenges including limited infrastructure, digital confidence gaps, ethical concerns and unclear institutional guidance.
This article examines the current landscape of AI integration in European TVET institutions, beginning with systemic challenges educators face and moving through innovative and promising practices from selected UNEVOC Centres. It explores how ethical and regulatory frameworks, such as the EU AI Act and UNESCO’s AI Competency Frameworks, can support more responsible and inclusive implementation. The article argues that AI literacy must go beyond technical skills to include critical, ethical and human-centric capabilities that prepare learners for a rapidly evolving technological landscape. It concludes with practical recommendations to support educators as key agents in shaping future-ready AI education environments across Europe.
The future of work is increasingly shaped by AI. Given its close connection to the workplace, TVET must adapt to this reality. Across Europe, many TVET institutions are embedding AI into their curricula, though not without raising significant ethical concerns.
The technology-driven industrial revolution, Industry 5.0, was introduced by the European Commission in 2023 as a human-centric evolution of its predecessor. It highlights the use of advanced technologies, especially AI, to support human-machine collaborations that enhance productivity, adaptability and social values across sectors (Adel, 2024). While AI has been a recurrent topic within education, the emergence of Generative AI (GenAI), capable of producing original text, images and other content, has introduced new affordances and challenges (Giannakos et al., 2024). Moreover, the release of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, released in late 2022, marked a critical turning point in how educators and institutions engage with AI technologies (Anders, 2023). This pivotal moment reshaped the evolving role of educators from knowledge transmitters to facilitators of learning, demanding a reimagining of professional practices in the AI era.
With the TVET sector in Europe projected to grow at an annual rate of 8.8% from the year 2025 to 2030 (Grand View Research, 2024), the priority to integrate AI into TVET becomes even more urgent. Many governments refer to the Government AI Readiness Index to assess national progress. However, this metric lacks the specificity and evidence-based information needed to evaluate how AI is genuinely embedded in education systems (Stracke et al., 2025), particularly in the TVET context. As AI becomes increasingly embedded in industrial and service processes, the need for a digitally competent and agile workforce has intensified. According to the World Economic Forum (2025), the demand for technological skills is rising faster than any other category. AI and big data rank among the most sought-after competencies. Between 97 and 170 million new roles requiring AI-related skills are expected to emerge over the next five years (Leopold, 2025). While not all of these will fall under the remit of TVET, a significant share will require the applied, adaptable skillsets that TVET institutions are well-positioned to deliver.
In response, education systems must reevaluate how they prepare learners for this evolving labour market, with a clear focus on developing AI literacy, an interconnected set of competencies that go beyond purely technical skills (Palmquist, Sigurdardottir & Myhre, 2025). A concrete example is the uptake of AI-based technologies in healthcare. Nursing education must adapt to prepare nurses for environments that demand both functional AI skills and the ability to engage critically with ethical, human-centric dimensions of technology use. Notably, in May 2025, the European Federation of Educators in Nursing Science hosted a webinar directed at nursing educators and stakeholders, where they addressed the evolving role of AI in nursing education, highlighting both the potential and challenges of integrating AI in nursing teaching and learning (FINE, 2025).
Embedding AI in TVET offers both a challenge and an opportunity to evolve beyond traditional hands-on approaches and embrace pedagogies that incorporate digital tools with critical thinking, adaptability and socio-technical awareness (ILO, 2024; UNESCO, 2023a). However, a more nuanced understanding of policy, teacher capacity-building and curriculum innovation is urgently required, especially in TVET systems. This must include an expanded conception of AI literacy, one that goes beyond tool use and technical fluency. This requires the inclusion of reflective, responsible and learner-centred skills that equip learners to question, navigate and shape the sociotechnical systems that AI both reflects and reinforces.
This article explores the implications of AI integration for TVET providers, teacher training institutions and policymakers. It examines emerging practices, identifies structural challenges and outlines recommendation frameworks for building more inclusive, future-ready AI education ecosystems.
As highlighted in UNESCO’s International Forum on AI and the Futures of Education (UNESCO, 2020), while AI holds significant potential to support learning, it also introduces considerable risks that require ethical, contextual and pedagogical navigation. These tools have captured the imagination of educators and learners alike, yet they have also raised new ethical, technical and practical challenges (Fullan, Azorín, Harris, 2023). Beyond concerns over the erosion of transversal competencies, educators have voiced issues surrounding academic integrity, trustworthiness and transparency (Stracke et al., 2025). Further challenges include fears of job displacement, disruptions to pedagogical structure, limited digital fluency, lack of training, inadequate infrastructure and the risk of over-reliance on AI technologies (Parker et al., 2024; Zary & Zary, 2025). Educators have noted the absence of clear institutional policies or guidelines, leaving them unsure of which tools to adopt and how to integrate them effectively (Sutedjo, Liu & Chowdhury, 2025). Collectively, these challenges, summarized thematically in Figure 1, underscore the urgent need for coherent policies that define ethical standards and offer practical support. For the TVET sector in particular, AI integration must enhance rather than undermine human-centred teaching.
While several European institutions are exploring innovative applications of AI, from personalized instruction and automated feedback, implementation remains complex. The process reveals a delicate interplay between emerging opportunities, institutional constraints and pedagogical uncertainties. Although GenAI and LLMs are rapidly gaining ground in education, their use in TVET remains largely experimental. In response, global AI policy initiatives have begun to take shape, yet at a practitioner level, many educators remain unsure of how to navigate AI-generated work. Some have discouraged its use altogether, a decision that risks leaving learners underprepared for the demands of AI-driven workplaces (Boumalek et al., 2024). These tensions highlight the urgent need for clearer guidance, targeted capacity-building and more coordinated strategies. The following section explores how several European institutions are addressing these challenges, offering practical insights into embedding AI meaningfully within TVET systems.
Across Europe, UNEVOC Centres are engaging with AI in diverse and strategic ways. While the examples discussed are not exhaustive, summarized in Table 1, they reflect a range of approaches currently shaping the TVET landscape in Europe. These include research-led models, national policy alignment and classroom-level implementation. All of which vary in degrees of innovation and readiness. A commonality that unites them is a shared commitment to ensuring AI adoption in TVET. This means ensuring it is technically robust but also ethically grounded, pedagogically relevant, and accessible to both educators and learners.
In the Republic of Ireland, Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) hosts the Centre of eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI). This pioneering research hub focuses on ensuring that AI systems, particularly those used in education and the public services, are transparent, interpretable and trustworthy (TU Dublin, n.d.). Its mission is centred on the development of models that generate human-understandable explanations for automated decisions, thereby fostering confidence in digital tools. While highly research-driven, XAI maintains a strong vocational emphasis, contributing directly to curriculum development and educator engagement. The model of TU Dublin prioritizes ethical alignment and pedagogical clarity, illustrating how cutting-edge research can inform responsible implementation in vocational contexts.
The Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Centre (PSNC) in Poland is advancing AI readiness through the nationally adapted ‘AI for Youth’ programme. Building on Intel’s global AI training model, this initiative has reached over 2,000 students and 200 educators in TVET schools (UNESCO-UNEVOC, 2024a). The programme embeds AI literacy into TVET curricula, equipping learners with foundational competencies for real-world applications. It exemplifies scalable, practice-based integration, bringing AI to classrooms in ways that are both accessible and future-focused.
The Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) represents a holistic, institutional-wide approach to AI integration. MCAST has not limited its efforts to a single programme or research niche. Instead, it has launched nine distinct initiatives aimed at enhancing educator confidence, competence and conceptual clarity (MCAST, 2019). These include staff training, co-design processes, transparent governance models and applied classroom usage cases. Alongside this, MCAST offers a layered academic provision that supports progressive learning. This ranges from introductory AI modules to a Master’s in Artificial Intelligence for Industry 4.0, building capability across educational levels and professional roles. This integrated approach positions MCAST as both a training provider and a strategic enabler within Malta’s TVET ecosystem.
In contrast, Omnia in Finland aligns its TVET strategy with digital transformational efforts, specifically the Digiviso 2030 roadmap (Digiviso, 2024), a national strategy. While this strategy itself primarily targets higher education, Omnia has actively operationalized its principles within the TVET sector. Through Omnia Educational Partnerships, the institution provides structured support for educators, including digital skill training and innovative-led initiatives (Omnia Education Partnerships, n.d). Both MCAST and Omnia offer structured approaches to AI integration in TVET. MCAST’s internally developed AI roadmap 2025 reflects a bottom-up strategy, tailored to address institutional challenges and staff readiness. In contrast, Omnia’s efforts are aligned with Finland’s Digivisio 2030 strategy. This illustrates how national-level initiatives can be effectively translated into TVET contexts. Together, they demonstrate how different governance models can each support systemic digital transformation.
Germany presents a dual-layered model of AI engagement in TVET, combining policy-led foresight with practical experimentation. At a national level, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training in Germany (BIBB) focuses on labour market foresight, digital skills mapping and applied research on AI in TVET contexts (BIBB, 2024). While it does not directly implement AI in the classroom, BIBB lays the evidence-based groundwork necessary for informed, scalable adoption. Complementing this, Chamber of Crafts Koblenz (HWK Koblenz) showcases innovation in practice. Through participation in the BILT Learning Labs, jointly coordinated by UNESCO-UNEVOC and BIBB, HwK Koblenz integrated VR and AI-enhanced technologies into welding instruction. This demonstrates how emerging technologies can enhance learner engagement and improve hands-on skill acquisition (UNESCO-UNEVOC, 2024b). Together, BIBB and HwK Koblenz illustrate how national research and institutional experimentation can work together to support meaningful AI-integration across different levels of the TVET system.
Finally, Switzerland’s Federal University for Vocational Education and Training (SFUVET) offers a research-led but deeply human-centred approach. Rather than pursuing rapid technological uptake, SFUVET addresses one of the most persistent barriers to digital transformation, resistance to change. It follows an inclusive, deliberate strategy that fosters trust and ownership, laying a strong cultural foundation for future implementation (SFUVET, 2025). Compared to more implementation-driven models such as PSCN or HWK Koblenz, SFUVET’s cautious method reinforces the idea that sustainable AI adoption is as much about mindset and trust as it is about infrastructure and tools.
Together, these cases offer valuable insight into the depth and breadth of Europe’s AI landscape in TVET. From explainable AI and scaled training programmes to system-level alignment and trust-building initiatives, they illustrate that effective integration is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, it depends on how well institutions can balance innovation with ethics, readiness with reflection, and experimentation with evidence. In the end, it is not the technology that defines the success of AI in TVET, but the extent to which educators are equipped, valued and involved throughout the process.
A number of EU-wide regulations and frameworks are now available to help TVET institutions create ethical, responsible and forward-looking AI strategies that support both educators and learners. A cornerstone of this effort is the EU AI Act (European Commission, 2021), part of the EU’s broader digital strategy. Approved in March 2024, this Act classifies AI systems by risk level and provides institutions with a legal framework that aligns with European values of trust, safety and fundamental rights. It empowers educators by helping them identify which tools are low-risk, making educators aware of how to determine which tools are deemed of high quality, hence low-risk and compliant, and which may pose greater challenges. Crucially, it places responsibility on institutions and educators to select AI tools from trusted providers, understand their capabilities and limitations, and inform students when AI is being used. The Act also highlights the importance of educator training, not only in terms of technical skill, but also of understanding the ethical and legal implications of AI use. For example, LLM’s may inadvertently disadvantage certain learners, and uncritical use could violate principles of fairness and non-discrimination. By reinforcing principles of transparency and accountability, the AI Act supports educators to adopt AI tools in ways that enhance rather than compromise academic rigor.
Beyond European legislation, UNESCO has played a pivotal role in shaping ethical norms for AI in education. While the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (UNESCO, 2022) and Guidance on Generative AI in Education and Research (UNESCO, 2023b) focus primarily on ethical principles and policy level guidance, the AI Competency Framework for Teachers (UNESCO, 2024) provides a more practical, tiered approach aimed at educator capacity building to engage with AI in classroom settings. The framework follows a tiered model: Acquire (basic understanding and awareness of AI), Deepen (practical and ethical use of AI tools in teaching) and Create (innovation in pedagogy and policy using AI). This flexible framework allows institutions to tailor professional development while aligning with international standards.
Similarly, the Council of Europe (2024) has taken a decisive step in global governance through the adoption of the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, signed in September 2024. As the first legally binding international treaty on AI, the Convention obliges signatory states to ensure that AI development and deployment respect human rights and democratic values. For TVET specifically, this includes protecting vulnerable learners, such as minors, individuals with disabilities and marginalized groups. The Convention further mandates that educational institutions inform learners when AI is being used and provide reparation mechanisms where harm or bias is suspected. This regulatory clarity empowers educators not only to safeguard learners’ rights but also to instill in them a critical understanding of how AI operates in everyday life and work. In doing so, the Convention reinforces TVET’s mission to provide both practical training and ethical guidance to complex, technology-rich environments.
Finally, the European Commission AI Continent Action Plan (2025) sets out a strategic roadmap to position Europe as a global leader in ethical and inclusive AI. Published in April 2025, the plan outlines five priority areas: infrastructure, data, skills, algorithm development and adoption, and regulatory simplification. For TVET institutions, the action plan offers both a high-level vision and practical tools to align curricula with the evolving labour market and legal standards. Educators can draw on this plan to frame AI integration as not just a technical upgrade, but a pedagogical and ethical transformation.
Drawing on the practices across Europe, and in light of the previously identified challenges and existing ethical and regulatory frameworks, Figure 2 presents a set of recommendations for educators and TVET institutions. These go beyond technical fluency, aiming to equip learners with critical thinking, ethical awareness, and human-centred competencies essential for the European workforce.
AI offers significant potential to support and enhance TVET, but its impact depends on thoughtful, ethical implementation. In the context of TVET, educators are central not only to adopting AI tools, but to modelling their responsible and human-centred use in ways that reflect real-world practice.
To prepare learners for a changing technological landscape, AI literacy must extend beyond technical proficiency to include a more holistic range of skills. European case examples from TU Dublin to SFUVET, show diverse yet value-aligned approaches can drive meaningful change when guided by transparency, inclusion and educator empowerment. Persistent gaps in policy, educator confidence and resources still limit effective integration. Addressing these requires coordinated action across all levels. Moving forward, the aim is not simply to adopt AI, but to do so in ways that uphold human dignity, foster inclusion and strengthen the educational mission of TVET across Europe.
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