https://hdl.handle.net/10419/98782 Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE), Vienna Thu, 08 Oct 2026 20:07:51 GMT 2026-10-08T20:07:51Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/337480 Title: From human development to human capital development? Critical reflections on the EU education and skills policies in Africa with a focus on the Global Gateway Authors: Langthaler, Margarita; Tiefengraber, Esther Abstract: The Global Gateway is considered a key instrument of EU development cooperation. Introduced in 2021, it was announced as a 'win-win' strategy for both, the EU's competitiveness agenda and developing countries' strive for sustainable development. The Global Gateway epitomises the current shifts in EU development policy from a focus on poverty reduction to infrastructure investments to boost economic development. These shifts have also affected the EU's education sector support strategies introducing a focus on employability and aiming at an enabling role of education for economic investments. This Policy Note critically discusses some of these trends at the sub-levels of basic, vocational and higher education, as well as the potential risks attached to them, particularly in Africa. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/337480 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/336801 Title: Competitiveness in the age of geopolitics: What agenda does the EU really need? Authors: Raza, Werner; Maukner, Julian Abstract: Competitiveness has returned to the fore of European economic policymaking with a vengeance. In this paper, we scrutinize the recent debate on the need for promoting European competitiveness, as prominently diagnosed by the Draghi Report. By disaggregating the overall academic and policy-oriented debate on competitiveness into three distinct conceptual strands - market share-focused competitiveness, productivity-focused competitiveness, and beyond-GDP competitiveness - we conduct a descriptive statistical analysis of competitiveness indicators for both the European Union and the United States. Though our analysis concurs with the Draghi Report by identifying an innovation gap in high-tech services and with respect to energy, by and large the state of EU competitiveness does not appear as bleak as insinuated by the recent public discourse. Based on a highly selective reading of the Draghi Report, the focus of current EU competitiveness policies on across-the-board deregulation will not only contribute little to address the identified problem areas, but risk to become self-defeating as they tend to exacerbate reliance upon an increasingly outdated export-oriented growth model of the EU, given pervasive protectionist tendencies in the global economy. We conclude that a more targeted approach to tackle both the innovation gap and energy dependencies is needed, which should be based on an expansionary public investment agenda and mission-oriented industrial polices. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/336801 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/340187 Title: Green skills and just transitions: Analysing international organisations' discourses with a focus on the Global South Authors: Langthaler, Margarita; Catalán Lorca, Marcela Abstract: In recent years, the topic of green transitions has attracted considerable attention. Notably, these transitions are often framed as a skills issue, reflecting perceived gaps in the technical skills required for green technologies. Moreover, skills are frequently presented as central to ensuring that green transitions are socially just. Since the 2010s, international organisations have played a leading role in shaping the green skills debate, with their policy literature exerting significant influence, particularly in the Global South. However, the global debate lacks conceptual clarity. The term 'green skills' encompasses a wide range of meanings. From the perspective of the Global South, additional questions emerge. What do green transitions imply for informal economies and subsistence agriculture? What does it mean, in such contexts, to ensure a just transition? What role can vocational and technical education (VET) systems play and what do they need to meet these expectations? This paper seeks to address part of this gap by analysing green skills publications produced by international organisations, with a particular focus on the Global South. It examines the underlying conceptualisations of green skills and green transitions. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/340187 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/337481 Title: Bürger*innenräte und die Demokratisierung der Demokratie Authors: Küblböck, Karin Abstract: In der aktuellen Demokratiedebatte werden ein Vertrauensverlust in politische Institutionen, sozial ungleiche Beteiligung, Repräsentationsdefizite und zunehmende Polarisierung als zentrale Herausforderungen diskutiert. Als mögliche Antwort auf diese Entwicklungen rücken deliberative, losbasierte Beteiligungsformate - insbesondere Bürger*innenräte - zunehmend in den Fokus. Sie versprechen, gesellschaftliche Vielfalt systematischer einzubeziehen, neue Räume politischer Mitwirkung zu schaffen und politische Entscheidungen stärker zu legitimieren. Dieses Briefing Paper greift diese Debatte auf und ordnet Bürger*innenräte darin ein: Es stellt ihre theoretischen Grundlagen, historische Entwicklung und mögliche Anwendungsfelder dar und diskutiert ihre demokratiepolitischen Potenziale. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/337481 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z