In this about-to-be-festive season, TrainingZONE is looking back and forward, at what happened this year and might happen next in the training sector.

Our monthly feature in December is Training Trends. We will be asking you to complete our Training Trends survey, but we also want to hear your individual assessments of what has affected your working life, and what is past, or passing, or to come.

What kinds of training have you been buying or providing this year, what has gone out of favour, and what you think is going to be the talk of the town in 2003? Is change the only constant, or is there a worrying lack of progress? Which horse came in, whose ship foundered, and what are your fears and hopes for the profession in the near future?

Send your comments and opinions, peaks and pitfalls, recollections and predictions to the editor, or post your comments below.