This book is dedicated as a Festschrift to Anja Heikkinen by her friends and colleagues from the VET & Culture Network hosted at Tampere University (http://peda.net/veraja/uta/vetculture). The chapters describe and reflect various aspects of this big endeavour in the field of European and international research in vocational education and training (VET), and shows the many facets of developing a wide and diverse research community that spans national borders. Renowned researchers discuss important issues of the history and future of VET, dealing with politics and institutions, gender and vocationalism, history and comparisons, and transitions. Very much can be read between the lines about how this community of research in VET has evolved during the decades, and how it struggles to proceed.

Contents: Christina Düsseldorff: Before the Network was born: Expert meets Non-Expert ¿ Liv Mjelde/Manfred Wahle: Never despise humble beginnings ¿ Rudolf Husemann/Maija Vesala-Husemann: Reflections on time and networking ¿ Antoni Lindgren: Greetings from Lapland! ¿ Beatrix Niemeyer: From Arvidsjaur to Torino ¿ Mobilising research(ers) on vocational education and culture in an expanding European knowledge society. A personal network story ¿ Markus Weil: Invisible fortunes of cross-cultural higher education. Three untold stories about an ERASMUS teaching staff exchange ¿ Lorenz Lassnigg: «As tears go by ¿»: Changin¿ views on the relations between research, practice and politics ¿ Philipp Gonon: Transitions as an educational problem ¿ Katrin Kraus: Politics and education: The discourse of «demographic change» ¿ Ole Johnny Olsen: Reforms in Norwegian VET and hegemonic influences from general education ¿ Matthias Vonken: On comparing. Or: The struggle for history and culture. A tribute to Anja Heikkinen ¿ Liv Mjelde/Manfred Wahle: On gender, work, vocationalism and VET.