World Youth Skills Day 2026: Developing skills to build a shared future

On World Youth Skills Day 2026, La Fondation Dassault Systèmes spotlights educational initiatives in Cambodia, the United States, and India that are giving young people the skills needed to drive innovation and transformation in a fast-changing world, empowering them to shape a more inclusive and sustainable future, together.

What will it take to equip every young person with the competencies they need to thrive in a shared future? It's a question at the heart of this year's World Youth Skills Day. The way we learn, work and participate in society, is evolving faster than ever: according to UNESCO-UNEVOC, 40% of today's skillsets no longer match job market needs, and 22% of jobs will be transformed by technological disruption in the years ahead. To thrive in this rapidly changing landscape, young people urgently need future-ready skills; a balanced set of competencies, combining technical and digital skills with the human qualities that technology cannot replace.

Among the many initiatives it supports, this year, La Fondation Dassault Systèmes is highlighting three projects that bring this vision to life. These initiatives in Cambodia, the US, and India share a common thread: preparing the next generation to think critically, innovate responsibly, build resilience and contribute to a better, more inclusive future, together.

Building the Skills of Tomorrow, One Cambodian Girl at a Time

At the Happy Chandara campus in Cambodia, the NGO Toutes à l'école, which offers free, high-quality education to girls from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, has launched Toutes Innovantes ! with the support of La Fondation Dassault Systèmes. The project gives more than 1,300 students hands-on access to science and technology through 3D. At its heart is the creation of the country's first FabLab installed in a school, equipped with 3D printers, a laser cutter, and design software, where girls can imagine, design and build real objects, from wind turbines to robotic arms, while building the skills and confidence to imagine careers in science and technology.

Beyond the FabLab itself, the project's ambitions run deeper: modernizing the school's infrastructures, adapting the curriculum to include digital technology, training teachers, and offering girls mentoring, hands-on learning, and access to international competitions, all aimed at guiding them toward the scientific and technical careers of tomorrow. An upcoming certifying program, "Girls 3D Makers," will soon guide 40 high school girls through co-designing 3D kits for various themes including renewable energy, health and assistive technologies, and advanced robotics, alongside engineering students from the IMT Mines Alès school and volunteer mentors from La Fondation Dassault Systèmes. It's a powerful reminder of what World Youth Skills Day is all about: giving girls from the most underprivileged backgrounds, still too often left out of STEM fields, the tools, training and confidence to shape not only their own futures but their country's as well.

Training future engineers through digital twins and virtual reality

At Old Dominion University, La Fondation Dassault Systèmes in the US is supporting a project that is transforming how students learn about advanced materials and manufacturing. Digital Twin and Virtual Reality technology are being integrated into engineering education, helping students visualize how these materials behave under real-world conditions, from the micro scale up to full structural systems. By bridging theory and hands-on practice, students are immersed in digital engineering workflows used across the aerospace, automotive and consumer goods industries, building the technical fluency and system-level thinking they'll need for careers in a fast-growing field.

This directly reflects what "Skills for a Shared Future" calls for: equipping young people not just with technical know-how, but with the critical reasoning and sustainability mindset to innovate responsibly. By democratizing access to high-end scientific simulation and building a scalable model that other universities can adopt, this work empowers the next generation of engineers to innovate at the intersection of material science, design and simulation, in a digitally connected world.

Industrial ASPIRA: supporting Indian young women towards industrial careers

In India, the Industrial ASPIRA program, carried out with La Fondation Dassault Systèmes' local partner Engineering Cluster Pune, has a clear objective: to encourage young women’s access to industrial careers. Following the success of the first edition, this new phase enabled thirteen participants to complete a six-month vocational training program combining practical learning and workplace immersion.

Participants develop technical skills required in the manufacturing sector, including CNC programming, machine operations, quality control and 3D modelling. The program also helps them strengthen their interpersonal skills through workshops focused on communication, teamwork and self-confidence. Through this support, participants gain a better understanding of the industrial sector and are able to begin their professional journeys with greater confidence. The project demonstrates the importance of creating pathways between training and employment to foster a more inclusive industry.