Sabine Manning was already involved in comparative educational research before the 1990s. After 1990 she established herself and the WiFo Research Forum with comparative studies on vocational education and training (VET). During the early years of the Leonardo da Vinci programme she worked with projects that studied integration of general and vocational (Intequal) and dually oriented qualifications (Duoqual).These projects and the parallel projects (Post-16 strategies and Spes-Net, led by Johanna Lasonen) were regularly present at the ECER conferences with their joint symposia. The cooperation of the two coordinators was continued by joint follow-up studies and by cooperation in preparing the VETNET programme (and the VETNET proceedings) for ECER 1999. After this period Sabine Manning proceeded with initiatives to shape European information services in VET research – currently known as the “WiFo gateway to research on education in Europe”. In this context she developed the tradition of electronic VETNET proceedings starting from 2000 and continuing up to present date. For most European VET researchers she is known as the editor of the Newsletter for European Research in Learning and Work [L&W].
The VETNET network honours Sabine Manning for her contribution to the VETNET Board during the early years, for her engagement in European cooperation projects and their joint activities and for her long-term commitment to the development of research-oriented information services for the European VET research community.
