Promoting skill development at work is a challenging task and the experience of the last two decades indicates that the problems surrounding workplace skill development are extremely difficult to solve. One response to these challenges was a series of seminars commissioned by the DTI to investigate these issues further. These research led seminars were attended mainly by policy makers from DTI, DfES, LSC and Sector Skills Councils. Key messages that emerged from the DTI 2003 Skills Seminar Series are given below, with an emphasis on policy implications. The series was organised by a team from the Institute of Employment Research (IER) and the Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE) at the University of Warwick, who also produced the key messages from each seminar, with an emphasis on policy implications.

Priorities for Government investment in skills for adults

The following contribution is based on SEMINAR 1: PRIORITIES FOR GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT IN SKILLS FOR ADULTS by Ewart Keep in the DTI 2003 Skills Seminar Series.

Skills and organisational performance

The following contribution is based on SEMINAR 2: SKILLS AND ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE by Derek Bosworth and Ewart Keep in the DTI 2003 Skills Seminar Series.

The skills for business network - one year on

The following contribution is based on SEMINAR 3: THE SKILLS FOR BUSINESS NETWORK ONE YEAR ON by Mike Campbell in the DTI 2003 Skills Seminar Series.

Formal and non-formal learning in the workplace

The following contribution is based on SEMINAR 4: FORMAL AND NON-FORMAL LEARNING IN THE WORKPLACE by Michael Eraut and Phil Hodkinson in the DTI 2003 Skills Seminar Series, together with a background paper produced for the event by Alan Brown.

Boosting the demand for skills

The following contribution is based on SEMINAR 5: BOOSTING THE DEMAND FOR SKILLS by Geoff Mason, Andy Dickerson and Terence Hogarth in the DTI 2003 Skills Seminar Series.

Regional strategy and the capacity to deliver skills change

The following contribution is based on SEMINAR 6: REGIONAL CAPACITY AND STRATEGY TO DELIVER SKILLS CHANGE by Anne Green, Rob Huggins, Helen Lawton Smith and Rupert Waters, and Mark Hepworth in the DTI 2003 Skills Seminar Series.

Perspectives on future research on skill development

The following contribution is based on a DTI/ DFES Workshop on 'TAKING FORWARD THE FINDINGS OF CROSS GOVERNMENT RESEARCH' on 13th June 2003. This represented both a review of progress made during the 2003 DTI Skills Seminar Series and a 'forward look' by different government departments with an interest in skills development and workplace learning.

Group discussions on future of research on workplace learning

The following contribution is based on discussions held at the Teaching and Learning Research Programme Launch of their Phase III projects in June 2003. It considers possible future directions for research on workplace learning.