The i-hubs initiative

Skills for innovation Hubs (i-hubs) is a global initiative led by UNESCO-UNEVOC and supported by the Beijing Caofeidian International Vocational Education City (BCEC), with contributions from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The initiative is component of a broader project "Developing TVET institutions for entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability". It has the overall goal to ensure that TVET Institutions remain relevant as drivers of employability, economic growth and inclusive social development, while being in step with the fast-paced changes happening in economy and society. These include, in particular, the combined effects of climate change, digitalization and new emerging forms of entrepreneurship.

The central pillar in the i-hubs initiative is co-development and testing of a comprehensive framework for Innovation in TVET with ten selected project partners from Africa, Asia and Europe. The purpose is to assess institutions’ innovation capacity, to identify strengths, challenges and opportunities for partnerships with relevant actors, as well as to share and learn about innovation across the broad community of TVET.

What is the i-hub?

The i-hubs are TVET institutions that are committed to developing i-hubs Innovation Framework within the i-hubs Project. The defining characteristic of an i-hub is its capacity to:

• Lead, embed, act and communicate sustainable institution-wide culture and capacity for innovation;
• Engage strategically and actively with key stakeholders and assets from its skills and innovation ecosystem addressing the needs and opportunities for the institution to contribute to innovation;
• Empower teachers and trainers to develop and deliver innovative training and learning products and processes;
• Apply innovative ideas and products in the institution and in the skills and innovation ecosystem;
• Draw on state of the art approaches to skills needs and innovation from an international network of i-hubs.

Who are the i-hubs?

UNESCO-UNEVOC invited ten TVET institutions from across Asia-Pacific, Africa and Europe, based on their proven experience and commitment to innovation in particular in the fields of entrepreneurship, digitalization and/or greening, to take part in the initiative. In its pilot stage, the i-hubs project will partner with the following institutions: