Netherlands

To meet changing job requirements, government and private sector in the Netherlands have joined forces to accelerate change and invest in conversion of the workforce through the Centres of Expertise (higher education) and Centres of Innovative Craftsmanship (vocational education). The Centres are powerful action-oriented partnerships between educational institutions, companies, goverments and other public organisations. The network of Centres started in 2011 with a few pilots, and has expanded to over 150 fully operational public-private partnerships (Centres) in 2016. The main objectives of the Centres are:

• Creating an excellent link between edcation and the labour market
• Educating innovative and skilled professionals, craftsman or craftswoman
• Promoting 'life-long learning and timely retraining
• Accelerating and enhancing the innovation capacity of companies

Each Centre focuses on a specific sector (High Tech Systems & Materials, Horticulture, Life Sciences & Health, Agri & Food, Water, Energy, Chemicals, Logistics, Creative industry, ICT, Construction or Culture, Living & Welfare). On average, each centre involves 35 companies from the sector that take part in research and development projects, providing imput in the curriculum, join innovation teams and provide guest lectures. More information about the centres and methodology can be found in the English brochure.  

The healthcare sector is rapidly changing. To ensure the best possible care for everyone, healthcare professionals should adapt to these changes continuously. Zorgpact (Health Pact) is an initiative of the Dutch government that aims to support and strenghten ‘bottom-up’ cooperation in the healthcare field via regional ‘healthcare pacts’. These pacts are action agenda’s for cooperation created by networks of healthcare providers, education institutions and local government.

Building on the successful Techniekpact (Technology Pact) approach, Zorgpact facilitates regional cooperation, monitors regional developments, highlights relevant themes, and boosts best practice sharing between regions. On the national level, Zorgpact supports the regions by mapping legislative barriers, thematic research (e.g. impact of technological developments) and by connecting the initiatives to relevant instruments (e.g. the Dutch regional investment fund for Vocational Education and Training) for the development of new innovative approaches and solutions.

STEM Teacher Academy is a programme of the Dutch national STEM platform aimed at improving the content of STEM courses (and the way it is taught) in secondary education through cooperation with industry. The programme was launched in 2014 for a three year period and contributes to objectives set in the Dutch national Technology Pact and several government programmes aimed at reducing teacher shortages. 

The programme's main ambition is to provide the most up-to-date teaching tools to STEM teachers in secondary education, now and in the future. This ambition is implemented through various activities, including guest-lectures by industry professionals and short-term 'internships' for teachers in technology companies. The programme is structured to build lasting links between technology companies and classroom and builds on existing regionalised networks and programmes, including the VO-HO netwerken (pre-university secondary education) and Toptechniek in Bedrijf (VET).  

The VO-HO Netwerken (Secondary-Higher Education Networks) were set up in 2004 as part of the Deltaplan Bèta Techniek (Dutch national STEM strategy). The main goals of the networks are the professional development of secondary education teachers and principals, the continual innovation of courses and curricula and the improvement of the connection between secondary education (VO) and higher education (HO). The networks offer a wide pallet of activities for students, teachers, technical teacher assistants and heads of schools with a focus on STEM education. Currently there are are ten regional networks that consist of universities,  higher education institutions, (pre-univeristy) secondary schools and business and societal institutions. The specific objectives are set by each regional network independently, in alignment with the regional context and objectives. 

Jet-Net & TechNet (JNTN), or "Youth Technology Network Netherlands" is a flagship programme of the Dutch National STEM platform (PTvT). It's main objective is to increase STEM uptake in secondary education by providing context to the curriculum. This is achieved through one-on-one partnerships between leading tech companies and secondary schools. 

The programme was founded by five Dutch technology companies (Shell, Philips, DSM, AkzoNobel and Unilever) in 2002 and currently involves more than 90 technology companies and 180 pre-university secondary schools (aprox. 40% of total). In close collaboration with secondary schools, 'Jet-Net companies' develop an educational environment with practical content for the science curriculum and provide students with experiences that show that technology is challenging, meaningful and socially relevant.

Each of the school-company partnerships is supported by the national bureau and its regional coordinators in the development of an activity programme. These activities are supplemented by larger-scale regional and national events (e.g. Innovation Challenges, Career Days, debating competitions, etc.) as well as activities focused on specific target groups (e.g. female role models, activities focused on parents, etc.). An overview of the most commonly used JNTN activities can be found in the 'background documents' tab at the top of this page. 

JNTN activities are based on the 'BètaTechMentality-model' (see 'publications' section for English-language version) which provides a comprehensive framework for targeting students based on their intrinsic motivation ('drijfveren') to study STEM subjects. More information about the BètaTechMentality-model (including English version) and underlying research can be found on the publication page (accessible via the 'publications' tab above). 

In 2012 a version of the Jet-Net programme was launched in Denmark by the Danish House of Natural Sciences (Naturvidenskabernes Hus) under the label 'Jet-Net.dk' (rebranded in 2018 as the 'TekTanken'-programme). In 2020 the Basque Innovation Agency (InnoBasque) in Spain launched a pilot Jet-Net programme inspired by the Dutch Jet-Net model for school-company collaboration. More information about this initiative can be found in the taskforce dossier.