EU and national strategies and policies increasingly emphasise the importance of individual career-development support and flexible financial and non-financial support to learning. Coordination between mechanisms, tools, and interventions, and ensuring synergies between different policy areas that support VET remains a challenge in many EU Member States. Lifelong skill development is much more than just offering education and training. It is also about helping people become more self-aware of their strengths, needs, barriers and contexts. They need to be motivated to invest in learning and informed of labour market demands and available learning opportunities and support. VET systems and services need to engage with people and offer them the right support and incentives. This contributes to shaping quality and labour market relevant upskilling/re-skilling aligned to interests, needs and career aspirations.
It can be challenging for people to make education and training decisions that contribute to career success. Navigating through work and learning is difficult for adults who try to achieve work-life balance, in particular for those with family responsibilities and limited resources and for those who are less inclined to participate. By linking lifelong guidance, financial support, validation of non-formal and informal learning and outreach, we can provide services tailored to what learners need. Individual learning accounts have great potential to empower and motivate individuals to engage in up- and reskilling. It is important not to overlook guidance practitioners and VET trainers and mentors. They should have access to proper professional development opportunities.
Key Cedefop publications
- Cedefop and ETF (2020): discussion paper ‘the importance of being vocational: challenges and opportunities for VET in the next decade’.
- Cedefop, (2020) Empowering people to cope with change Briefing note.
- Cedefop (2020) Empowering adults through upskilling and reskilling pathways, Volume 1: adult population with potential for upskilling and reskilling.
- Cedefop (2020) Empowering adults through upskilling and reskilling pathways, Volume 2: Cedefop analytical framework for developing coordinated and coherent approaches to upskilling pathways for low-skilled adults.
- Cedefop (2020, 2021, 2023) Inventory of lifelong guidance systems and practices.
- Cedefop et al. (2021) Digital transitions in lifelong guidance: rethinking careers practitioner professionalism: a CareersNet expert collection. Cedefop working paper No 2.
- Interagency Working Group on Career Guidance (2021): Investing in Career Guidance.
- Interagency Working Group on Career Guidance (forthcoming): Career guidance for workers.
- Cedefop (2023) European guidelines for validation of non-formal and informal learning.
- Cedefop (2019) Coordinating guidance and validation. Cedefop research paper; No 75.
- Cedefop (2023) Big skills for small companies Briefing note.