Updating the European guidelines for validation: Making validation a reality in Europe

Validation, is a central building blocks in realising the ambitious goals set by the European Skills Agenda, the European Area of Education, the Osnabrueck VET Declaration and the European Social Pillar Action Plan . In all these initiatives, validation is referred to as a facilitator for up- and reskilling in a lifelong learning perspective that cuts across sectors and institutions. 
However, despite EU and national policy efforts, opportunities for validation of non-formal and informal learning remain relatively unknown or are not available to potential users. To address these issues and  ensure that validation forms an integrated part of European up-skilling and reskilling strategies, the European Commission and Cedefop invited key stakeholders at national and European level to take active part in a discussion on how to update the existing European Guidelines for validation. The purpose of this event was to update and elaborate the European Guidelines for validation of non-formal and informal learning. 
The 2012 Council Recommendation on validation established the Guidelines as a tool supporting mutual learning and the practical development of validation arrangements. The Guidelines are a key instrument informing the development of robust validation arrangements as well as supporting  European cooperation in this area. The event aims at bringing together a wide variety of stakeholders in order to take into account the diversity of validation contexts, uses and approaches in the EU. While providing an opportunity to discuss in depth the revision of the European Guidelines, the validation event will also provide an opportunity to discuss the future of European cooperation in this area, also taking into account the lessons from the COVID-19 crisis and new developments in the area of certification. The event built on the preparatory work carried out by the EQF Advisory Group in 2020-21 and a flash-survey on validation carried out by the Commission and Cedefop in Spring 2021.

Documents:
•    Concept note 
•    Programme
•    Short summary of the discussions
Background notes for workshops:
•    Workshop A: Validation in national skills strategies (integrated approach)
o    Short concept note and questions
o    Long concept note
•    Workshop B: Making validation a reality for individuals
o    Short concept note and questions
o    Long concept note 
•    Workshop C: Developing high quality validation methodologies
o    Short concept note and questions
o    Long concept note
•    Workshop D: Exploring complementary routes to certification
o    Short concept note and questions
o    Long concept note