Gothenburg sets the stage for EuroSkills™ 2016, a major competition held every two years to champion young expertise in the industrial trades and service sector.

Aligned with WorldSkills™ International, the event provides a platform for Europe's finest talents as well as representatives from government, trade industries, educational institutions and partners to meet together for the competition and conference.

The 2016 competition is expected to be attended by some 1,000 leaders, trainers and teachers from more than 24 European member countries and regions, as well as around 100,000 visitors. The skills on show will range from carpentry, welding, automotive repair and aircraft maintenance to graphic design technology, hairdressing and electronics for competitors aged 25 and under.

3M is one of three official partners of EuroSkills this year, together with automotive manufacturer Volvo and Festo, the German industrial control and automation company.

As an official partner, 3M sites across Europe will be involved in training the young competitors from their respective regions.

Said 3M European business manager for Sustainability, Rich Miles: “We will be giving young people just starting out on their vocational careers the chance to develop their skills and experience using 3M’s market leading products and technologies leading up to and during the competition.”

This year, the organising committee of EuroSkills is aiming to make it the most sustainable European skills event so far by taking proactive steps to minimise waste in the use of raw materials, water and energy consumption.

Added Rich: “This has strong links to 3M’s five global sustainability challenges that focus not only on resource efficiency and waste reduction, but social sustainability in areas such as health and safety and education and development.

“There is a skills shortage across Europe and we want to encourage young people into these vocational careers and give them a chance to shine.”

Although this is the first year that 3M has partnered EuroSkills, the company has been a supporter of the wider WorldSkills organisation for many years and a Global Industry Partner for the past four years.

The WorldSkills global competition, like EuroSkills, is held every two years with the next event being held in 2017 in Abu Dhabi.

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