Centres of Expertise

We say it everywhere: Katapult is on the move. When research figures confirm this, we can't believe our luck. You see, it really is true, the Katapult network works! Partnerships in VET and higher vocational education experiment, develop and grow in abundance. As many as 12,000 companies, 124,000 students and 8,000 teachers are reaping the benefits of public-private cooperation. 

Since 2016, we have been measuring the impact and added value of the activities of the Katapult Network. In 2021 we carried out new measurements and compiled the most important results in a new publication. Impact and added value of cooperation between vocational education and business, 2019 - 2021 provides an overview and summary of the most important points.

12,000 companies, 124,000 students and 8,000 teachers working together

A growing number of companies and schools are finding each other in an intensive co-creation of vocational education and professional practice. And things are also going well outside the national borders. More and more Dutch universities of applied sciences and intermediate vocational education institutions are joining international networks. Finally, we see that ambitions and coalitions are persisting: public-private partnerships are becoming more sustainable and several of them are expanding or have ambitions to do so. The Katapult formula is a success in vocational education and offers more than enough room for growth.

Stronger propositions for SMEs 

A large proportion of the companies participating in a PPP are (small) SMEs. They leave their mark on the further development of the PPP; more offers are now being developed in the field of innovation of professional practice and lifelong development for their employees. Initiatives such as MKB! dee and Digitale Werkplaatsen, for example, focus on the innovative capacity of entrepreneurs and the professionalisation of employees. Many PPPs use these forms of development and training to increase the vitality and resilience of SMEs.

Greater contribution to social challenges 

Previous impact measurements have already shown that PPPs are active in the major social themes, such as transitions in energy and care, digitisation and inclusiveness in the workplace. The impact measurement 2021 also shows that the ICT/digitisation theme is a focal point within the Katapult network and is often combined with other disciplines. The most common application areas are the high-tech sector (Smart Industry), education, care & welfare (Smart Health) and construction (Smart Building). In addition, the prominent role of PPPs for the social challenge 'security' is apparent: many PPPs are working on digital security themes such as 'cyber security'. Finally, the growing focus on care & welfare in secondary vocational education (MBO) and higher vocational education (HBO) and the growing importance of Life Sciences & Health in HBO is striking.

Further development means that more underlying connections are made between disciplines, sectors and educational levels. These connections are desperately needed to find answers and solutions for the social challenges and transitions. Fortunately, more and more PPPs are recognising the importance of these connections. They are expanding their repertoire to work in a more multidisciplinary, multisectoral and multilevel manner at more educational levels in order to achieve results. The steps are being taken, and the potential for further joining forces in the network is great.

Full impact study available via the link above.

This handbook was created and translated by the Katapult network, one of the flagship initiatives of the Dutch national STEM platform focused on public-private partnerships in Vocational Education and Training. The network currently supports over 200 public-private partnerships involving over 10.000 companies.

In this era of digitalization, it is not surprising that we need more students and skilled workers in ICT. Collaboration between companies and schools is an important instrument to address those shortages, because we cannot solve this issue by ourselves. The big question is: how do you organise this? Some companies do not have much time or resources to spare, while others are looking for long term relations with the schools in their region. Luckily, there are many inspiring examples of collaboration between schools and ICT companies, ranging from internships and guest lectures, to retraining staff or contributions from compagnies to innovate the curriculum together with the schools.

NL Digital, the Dutch ICT branche organisation, Human Capital Agenda ICT (Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate) and Katapult collected these examples in a practical handbook for companies. With a handy decision tree you can determine in three steps how much time and resources you would like to commit, which issues you want to address and which concrete actions you can undertake. Based on the outcome of the decision tree, you get an overview of tips on how to collaborate with schools and inspiring examples of how other ICT companies and schools are already succesfully working together.

The 'Katapult'-programme is one of the flagship initiatives of the Dutch national STEM platform. The programme is focused on developing and supporting sector-based public-private partnerships in VET and Higher Education. Currently, upwards of 7500 companies are directly involved in hundreds of public-private partnerships co-funded by government and industry with a total budget of nearly 200 million euro.

This translation of the impact report, ‘Impact and Added Value’, comes from Katapult, in collaboration with the Talent for Technology Platform (PTvT) in the Netherlands. The figures in this publication are based on a survey conducted in the spring of 2019 among 191 partnerships and the network chart, with more than 300 partnerships and their partners.