UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network - Increasing young adults´ role in guidance policy developments in the Member States Raimo Vuorinen Co-ordinator of the ELGPN Institute for Educational Research University of Jyväskylä, Finland Peer learning event on: EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY MAKING IN GUIDANCE – Increasing the voice of young adults in developing education-to-work transitions Cedefop, Thessaloniki, November 2007

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Themes for discussions  European guidance policy network (ELGPN) –The ”Jyväskylä process” in implementing European lifelong guidance policies  Milestones in the establishment of the ELGPN  Long term strategy  Proposal for the initial work programme  Co-operation with Cedefop

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Report from the Finnish EU presidency conference on lifelong guidance, November 2006:  Since the Communication on Lifelong Learning (2001) and the Resolution on Lifelong Guidance of the EU Council of Education Ministers (2004), much has been achieved in the member-states in improving access to guidance and the quality of guidance systems.  But much remains to be done. Many countries still have significant gaps in provision and deficits in quality.  It is important that the momentum of development within member- states be sustained. The pace and quality of such development can be significantly enhanced by continued collaboration at EU level.  The structures for such collaboration need to be reframed to build upon past experience and to include more active engagement of all member-states.

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Suggested actions within member-states  National guidance fora can play an important role in supporting policy development within member-states  Such fora need to embrace all dimensions and sectors of guidance provision (including schools, VET, tertiary education, public employment services, community- based services)  The nature, tasks and structures of the fora should be related to the needs within each country, and are accordingly likely to vary considerably  Active involvement of policy-makers is essential

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Suggested actions at EU level  The work of national guidance fora could be significantly strengthened by the establishment of a European Guidance Network  The aim of the Network should be to improve guidance provision for all European citizens.

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Establishment of the network – some milestones  Conclusions of the Finnish EU-presidency conference  Preparatory meeting in Brussels, March 9, 2007  Inaugural meeting in Helsinki, May 7-8, 2007 –Undelying principles and draft work programme  Letters of designation and intent, by May 25, 2007 –29 members and one observer  Information to the commission of the establishment of the ELGPN, May 25 th  Submitting the final application to the European Commission, November 2, 2007 –28 members, one observer  First network meeting in Amsterdam, December 3-4, 2007

Euroguidance Network PES Network FEDORA & IAEVG European Stakeholders Peer Learning Activities LLP Projects Research ICCDPP OECD - Expert Group - Joint Actions - Conferences every 2 years New Lifelong Guidance Network of National representative structures (e.g. national guidance fora) Building on outcomes of : Suggested Wider Lifelong Guidance Policy Community during the Finnish EU- presidency lifelong guidance policy conference Jyväskylä, November 6-7, 2006

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Long Term Objectives of the ELGPN  Support for policy development  Policy sharing  Information gathering  Policy analysis and research  Use of reference tools  Exploiting project outcomes  Strengthening representative structures

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Peer-learning clusters in the networks  The Network identifies themes for peer-learning clusters. These clusters are open to all member-states (i.e. not confined to members of the Network). Possible themes include: –The design of a lifelong guidance system –Data collection and use of already available data to strengthen the evidence base and quality assurance for guidance provision –Policies for specific target groups (e.g. young people at risk, persons with disabilities, migrants) –Gender issues in guidance –Use new methods, especially of ICT in guidance –Training provision and qualifications for guidance practitioners

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Co-operation with other structures  The Network and the national fora will be linked, through appropriate membership or co-operation arrangements, to EU agencies and other relevant networks and initiatives at European level. These include: –CEDEFOP and ETF –The Euroguidance network. –The Public Employment Services (PES) network. –Professional networks, e.g. IAEVG, FEDORA. –other international organisations, bodies (e.g. the OECD) –Other relevant stakeholder networks (e.g. social partners, parents).

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Future conferences  A biennial conference will be held to bring together all guidance- related networks and initiatives within the EU, and to review progress in the development of lifelong guidance within the member-states.  This will follow the model of the Finnish EU-presidency conference, but with improved representation of key bodies within country teams, and improved procedures for preparing country reports in advance of the conference.  The reporting procedures should be linked to the formal reporting processes under the Education and Training 2010 work programme.

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Strategic overview of the work packages  The work programme will be defined by the network, taking into account participating countries' priorities, relevant Council Resolutions and other EU policy documents.  The work programme is broken down into seven work packages (WPs) which will follow the logical phases of the implementation of the pilot phase of the network.

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Themes of the work packages  Network management and chairmanship  Support for policy development and implementation at national level  Strengthening representative structures at national level  Synergy between EU funded projects on lifelong guidance  Support for outcome focused evidence-based practice and policy development  Monitoring and evaluation  Dissemination and exploitation (Valorisation)

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Working methods and co-operation arrangements  During the initial phase the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network will be co-ordinated and chaired by a team from Finland; subsequent arrangement will be agreed by the network.  The Finnish Ministry of Education and the Finnish Ministry of Labour have designated the co-ordination task to the Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä.  The co-ordination unit may call upon the support of individual experts.  Members act as the driving force and have agreed underlying principles of the network and arrangements for the co-ordination (including chairmanship) of the network.  Members appoint a steering group with 6 members (AU, DE, FR, IE, PT, SI) to ensure effective management of its work and support for the chair in defining the priorities and budget allocation within the working programme.

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Co-operation arrangements with CEDEFOP  Cedefop participates in the network's activities as an adviser, as part of its task of assisting the Commission’s work in this area, in accordance with its own mandate and the terms agreed in its annual work programme.  Cedefop can provide ELGPN with its scientific expertise and complement the network’s work by providing access to Cedefop’s networks for consultation, knowledge sharing and dissemination.  Cedefop can also disseminate network’s outcomes and activities and to further strengthen the lifelong guidance and counseling dimension.

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Areas and themes for co-operation (1)  Theme: Support for policy development and implementation at national level  The network meetings and work in thematic working groups provide informed opinions and views regarding EU policy developments in education, training, employment and social inclusion.  The peer learning meetings identify areas of guidance where national developments can be enhanced by European cooperation and support – linkages with CEDEFOP thematic studies.  A short term goal is to support the next European guidance policy conference, to be held in The focus of the peer learning activities takes into account the French presidency guidance conference priorities.

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Areas and themes for co-operation (2)  WP 4: Synergy between EU funded projects on lifelong guidance  The goal is to promote synergy among the projects by clustering the various projects and sharing best practices more systematically  Optional area for co-operation: –A brief thematic study how current EU agencies, thematic monitoring groups and networks are contributing the development of project databases. The study would feed the development of the ELGPN work programme

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Areas and themes for co-operation (3)  Support for outcome focused evidence-based practice and policy development  This work package builds on the previous work of Cedefop commissioned studies of indicators and benchmarks in career guidance at European level and further recommendations based on these studies by the European Commission’s Lifelong Guidance Expert Group.  The aim is to start the preparation of this work package during the initial phase of the ELGPN. Within the first year the aim is to map the existing parallel international initiatives and make a strategic plan in co-operation with the network members how these themes can be integrated in work programme

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ RV/20/11/2007 Thank you! For further information, please contact: Raimo Vuorinen, Senior Researcher, Ph.D. Co-ordinator of the ELGPN preparations Institute for educational research P.O. Box 35 FI University of Jyväskylä (Street address: Keskussairaalantie 2, Building Opinkivi) tel , Mobile Fax www: Skype: vuorai