ABSTRACT
Focusing on the structures of vocational education and training in the German craft and trades sector as an example, the chapter shows the extent to which future trends, such as digitisation and climate change, are having an effect being taken up in changing occupational requirements in Germany. The German skills crafts and trades sector with its characteristic features is chosen as an overarching and exemplary element concerning all economic sectors. Due to the sectoral character of the vocational training system with its close involvement of all social partners, future skills are also to be located in these sectors. For this reason, the structures of vocational education and training in the craft and trades sector offer a cross-section of examples and best practices for presenting adaptation to future qualification requirements in the vocational training system. This refers to institutionalised procedures, learning and teaching in the workplace and testing and certification of the acquired qualifications. Through the systematic linking of training and further education and suitable institutional structures, future demands on professional skills of the working population can be observed, checked and transferred or integrated into qualifications and training.
