Speakers
Kirsten AagaardKirsten Aagaard (kiaa@via.dk) is head of the Danish National Knowledge Centre for Validation of Prior Learning (NVR) (2007-). She is responsible for several research and development projects in validation of prior learning and involved in development, implementation and evaluation of validation activities. Years of experience in the field of adult learning and education. Contacts and networks in the field of validation of prior learning nationally and internationally. Member of the Expert Network for Validation in the Nordic Network for Adult Learning. Member of European Continuing Education Network (Eucen). Cooperation with ministries, social partners, educational institutions, universities and stakeholders in the field of validation of prior learning (VPL). |
Márcio BarcelosMárcio Barcelos is a youth activist from Portugal who has been involved in youth organisations from an early age, first as a beneficiary and later on leadership positions at local, national and European levels. Márcio is a Board Member in the European Youth Forum, an independent, youth-led platform representing over 100 National Youth Councils and International Non-Governmental Youth Organisations from across Europe. His roles include the topic of Quality Education for Young People with a specific focus on Non-Formal Education as provided by Youth Organisations and its recognition. |
||
Jens BjornavoldJens Bjornavold has been working with European education and training issues since 1996. Starting as a Norwegian seconded expert to the European Centre for Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) in Thessaloniki, he has been permanently employed by the EU since 1999, holding posts both in Cedefop and the European Commission, DG Education and Culture. He is currently the Brussels representative of Cedefop, located to the European Commission. |
Mara BrugiaMara Brugia is the Deputy Director of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) since September 2014. She has been involved in vocational education and training since she joined Cedefop in 1994. |
||
James CallejaDirector of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) James Calleja has been involved in vocational training since 2001. Before his appointment as Director of Cedefop in October 2013, he served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Employment (2011-2013) in his native country, Malta. In 2005 he was entrusted with the setting up of the Malta Qualifications Council where he served as Chief Executive up to December 2010. In 2009 he also took charge of the National Commission for Higher Education (2009-10). He was in charge of the merger between the two agencies in 2010-2011. |
Agnieszka Chlon-DominczakAgnieszka Chlon-Dominczak, Ph. D. is an Assistant Professor in the Educational Research Institute (IBE) in Warsaw, as well as at Institute for Statistics and Demography in Warsaw School of Economics. Previously she was a Deputy Minister and Head of Department of Economic Analyses and Forecasting in the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. At the IBE she is the leader of the National Qualifications Systems team. She is a member of the European Qualification Framework (EQF) Advisory Group and leader of the Twinning Project supporting National Qualification Framework (NQF) implementation in Macedonia. Her research interest include: demography, pension systems, labour markets, social policy, health, education and qualifications systems. Contact: a.chlon-dominczak@ibe.edu.pl |
||
Hanne ChristensenHanne Christensen is working as an expert in the European Centre for Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) for the period 2013-17, in projects on validation, qualifications and policy analysis. Before joining Cedefop, she was with Vox (Norwegian Agency for Lifelong Learning). Her work there covered a broad range of the issues in which the agency is engaged, such as guidance, validation, basic skills, immigrant integration. |
Ruud DuvekotRuud Duvekot (1960) studied Economic and Social History and holds a PhD at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. In his thesis he analysed the impact of the systematics of Validation of Prior Learning (VPL) on personalising learning. |
||
Gina EbnerGina Ebner is Secretary General of the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA). She worked as a language trainer in adult education and as a pedagogical manager for a vocational training institute in Austria. In Brussels, she was a project manager at EUROCADRES (Council for European professional and managerial staff). She is also secretary general of the European Civil Society Platform on Lifelong Learning. EAEA represents non-formal adult education with 141 member organisations in 45 countries. It also promotes adult learning and access to and participation in non-formal adult education for all, particularly for groups currently under-represented. |
Yolande FermonYolande Fermon works at the Directorate general for higher education and employability (French ministry of higher education and research). In the lifelong learning unit, for the ten past years, she has been responsible for several research and development projects and activities related to validation of prior learning. She is today involved in the development of the LLL (lifelong learning) dimension in the institutions of Higher education and in particular in projects concerning continuing training of the adults and employability of the students. |
||
Paul GuestPaul has worked in the field of education and training for much of the last 25 years. Having started his career in the UK guidance sector, Paul helped to establish the UK Euroguidance Centre, in the early 1990s, before moving to Brussels to facilitate delivery of the European Commission’s Higher Education and Vocational Training funding programmes. Nowadays, Paul works as a consultant, facilitating the delivery of projects and programmes, building capacity among project management professionals and helping to make sense of some of the complexities tied to the delivery of change and improvement in European education and training. Paul was principal researcher in a Government-funded study, in Scotland, centred on “Support Mechanisms for the Recognition of the Skills, Learning and Qualifications of Refugees and Migrants” and is a member of the UK European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) Expert Team with additional responsibility for maintenance of the ECVET Mobility Toolkit. |
Bonnie KennedyBonnie Kennedy has been the Executive Director of the Canadian Association for Prior Learning Assessment (CAPLA) since 2002. She began teaching adults at night school in the 1970’s and later worked as a college faculty member and coordinator in continuing education, women’s programmes and labour adjustment. Bonnie was hired as the College’s Prior Learning Assessment Recognition (PLAR). Coordinator in 1991 and in 1998 she left the college to assume the lead for PLAR at the Canadian Labour Force Development Board in Ottawa. Later she became the Interim National Coordinator for the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials (CICIC) with the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. Bonnie is on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO’s Sectoral Commission on Education and the Board of Directors of Ross Memorial Hospital. She was elected as a public school board trustee for five consecutive four-year terms and has received the YWCA Woman of the Year award and the Governor General of Canada Commemorative Medal. In addition to her non-formal and informal learning, Bonnie holds degrees in political science, sociology and education. |
||
Dr. Grant KlinkumDr. Grant Klinkum is Deputy Chief Executive Quality Assurance of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). NZQA sets the rules for quality assurance in the tertiary sector in New Zealand. The Quality Assurance Division is responsible for managing approximately 500 non-university providers in relation to entry, maintaining quality through moderation and consistency, carrying out evaluations of provider quality and managing risk. NZQA administers the New Zealand Qualifications framework and the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016. |
Alain KockDirector in the Consortium de la validation des compétences (CVDC). Teacher in the secondary vocational education. Coach of innovative projects in secondary vocational education, until 1993. Secretary at the Council of Education and Training of the French Community of Belgium in charge of dual training, validation of non-formal and informal learning, qualification structure. From 2004, Director at the Consortium de validation des compétences and, at once, from 2010 till 2014, Director at the Service Francophone des Métiers et des Qualifications (SFMQ). |
||
Elin LandellDirector at the Ministry of Employment, for the period 2015-2019 heading the secretariat of the National Delegation for Validation. The Delegation is a committee appointed by the government to follow and support a coordinated work to develop validation on both a national and regional level. The Delegation consists of 15 members representing trade unions, employers’ associations and national authorities.
|
Ramona LópezAs a Jobcoach for migrant people at AWO Interkulturell Schleswig-Holstein (project COMMA plus), Ms López helps refugees and other migrants to find a job, where they can use the skills they already acquired in their home countries. Ramona supports her clients with acknowledging of certificates, orientation on the labour market in Germany, creating application papers, dealing with authorities, preparation for interviews and competence analysis. |
||
Martin NoackAs Senior Expert at the Bertelsmann Stiftung in Gütersloh, Germany, Dr. Martin Noack is responsible for the project “Further education for all”. The project aims at improving the chances of people with low levels of formal qualification to participate in further education and qualified work. To this end, the project develops, tests and promotes concepts and tools of competence assessment, development and recognition. More info at: www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/en/our-projects/weiterbildung-fuer-alle/. Martins focus lies particularly on the topic of validation of informal and non-formal learning. Martin studied Psychology in Marburg, Turin, Detroit and Bremen with a focus on the aging workforce and lifelong learning and he received his PhD in Psychology from Jacobs University Bremen in 2009. He joined Bertelsmann Stiftung in 2012, after working for some years as an age management consultant and lecturer for statistics at Jacobs University and University of Bremen. |
Ana Carla PereiraAna Carla Pereira is Head of Unit for "Skills and qualifications" in Directorate General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission. She is responsible for developing and implementing the New Skills Agenda for Europe, including the implementation of EU tools for recognition and transparency of qualifications such as the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), Europass, the EU Skills Panorama or the Skills Profile Tool for Third-country Nationals. Prior to this, she has worked more than ten years in the implementation of European Employment Strategy and several years in the private sector as a business consultant specialised in human performance. She graduated in Economics at University of Coimbra (PT) and holds a MA in European Human Resources Studies from the College of Europe (BE). She is Portuguese mother tongue and fluent in English, French and Italian. |
||
Antonio RanieriAntonio Ranieri, Head of Department for Learning and Employability at the European Center for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), manages a team of European experts working in vocational education and training (VET) policy analysis and research. The mission of the Department is to support the development and the implementation of VET policies aimed at increasing attractiveness, effectiveness and inclusiveness of vocational education and training in EU Member States. |
Roman SenderekRoman Senderek studied Economics with a special focus in International Management at the Maastricht University (Netherlands) and the Universidad de Los Andes Bogotá (Colombia). After graduating in 2006 he worked for different German and Latin-American companies before he became in 2010 research associate and project manager at the FIR - Institute for Industrial Management at RWTH Aachen University. Since 2013 he coordinates the BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) funded project ELIAS (Early language and intercultural acquisition studies). |
||
Madhu SinghMadhu Singh joined UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) Hamburg in 1998. As part of UIL’s Lifelong Learning Policies and Strategies (LLPS) programme, she is currently coordinating UIL’s contribution to the Global Inventory of Regional and National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) and also responsible for UIL’s Global Observatory of Recognition, Validation and Accreditation of Non-formal and Informal learning. Her other areas of work are Integrating the lifelong learning perspective into TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) and workplace learning for sustainable development. |
Manuel Souto-OteroDr. Manuel Souto-Otero is a Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences (Education Policy) at Cardiff University. He works and publishes in the area of validation, the link between education and work, internationalisation in education, international mobility, lifelong learning and educational inequalities. He has undertaken research projects, amongst others, for the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Education and Training (Cedefop), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), national governments, think tanks and NGOs. He has directed various editions of the European Inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning, and worked on various other projects on the labour market returns to non-formal education and on transparency of qualifications. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Education and Work. |
||
Jan StepanLeads learning and development in Deals for PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) UK. He leads the implementation of a full technical and business skills curricula across Deals in the UK, integration of on-the-job learning and talent management agenda. As a certified executive coach he supports the growth of key talents and leaders. He also works for PwC clients as a consultant on Development Strategies, HC Organization Design and design and delivery of bespoke learning interventions. |
Pavel TrantinaPavel Trantina was born in 1975 in České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia. Studied history and political science at the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University in Prague. Worked as political analyst in the Office of the President of the Czech Republic (1996-2002), International Commissioner of Junak – Association of Scouts and Guides of the Czech Republic (mostly as a volunteer), Chairman of the Czech Council of Children and Youth (2004-2007) and Director of the Department of EU Affairs at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, responsible for the preparation of the Czech Presidency of the EU Council (2007-2009). Coordinator of recognition of non-formal education in the ESF funded project ‘Keys for life’ (2010-2011). |
||
Lieve Van den Brande |
Ernesto VillalbaErnesto Villalba is an expert at the European Center for the Development of Vocational Education and Training (Cedefop) since 2011 working on European transparency tools and principles. His main responsibility is in the area of validation of non-formal and informal learning, where he works together with the Commission in the follow up of the Recommendation of 2012 as well as updating the European Inventory and European Guidelines. During 2012 he worked in the development of the European Skills passport and on a prototype of a tool for recording non-formal and informal learning experiences within the Europass framework. Before joining Cedefop he worked as a scientific officer at the Center for Research on Lifelong Learning (CRELL) at the Joint Research Center of the European Commission, Ispra, Italy. He has several publications relating to European policies, especially concerning the measurement of cross-curricula competences. He holds a Ph.D. in International and Comparative Education from Stockholm University. He is in the editorial board of the Journal of business creativity and the creative economy and an editorial correspondent at the European Journal of Education. He has served in different committees and working groups of the OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), UNESCO and the Commission. |
||
Andrina WaferAndrina Wafer is currently Head of Access and Lifelong Learning at Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI). Responsibilities include policy development for access, transfer and progression relating to the National Framework of Qualifications, including supporting progress with regard to the validation of non-formal and informal learning (VNFIL)/RPL nationally. Part of Andrina’s role involves working closely with the publicly funded VET (Vocational and education training) system which is engaged in an ambitious transformative change programme. Andrina is the VNFIL representative at the EQF (European Qualification Framework) Advisory Group and is also responsible for IQAVET, the Irish National Reference Point for European Quality Assurance network for VET. |
Gonçalo XufreGonçalo Xufre is the Director of the National Agency for Qualification and Vocational Education and Training (ANQEP), a public body whose mission is to coordinate the implementation of policies regarding vocational education and training for young people and adults, as well as to ensure the development and management of the National System for the Recognition, Validation and Certification of Competences (RVCC). |