Validation of non-formal and informal learning: moving forward

Ioannis N. Katsikis is the ReferNet Coordinator at Cedefop. An Innovation Engineer by education, he holds an MSc in Environmental Policy & Management and an MBA: Business Process Management, both from the University of the Aegean, Greece. He is also the holder of an MPhil in Architecture and Space Planning from the School of Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. Prior to joining Cedefop, he worked as an Academic Tutor at the University of Athens and as a freelance Strategic Management Consultant (2005-2013) while studying for a PhD at the Athens University of Economics and Business.

(Mr) Koen Nomden is an expert in qualifications and credentials. He has been working for the European Commission for more than 20 years and is currently Team Leader for “Transparency and Portability of Skills and Qualifications”, within the Unit of the European Commission dealing with Vocational Education and Training, Skills Portability and Cedefop. 

Manuel Souto-Otero is Professor of Education Policy at the University of Bristol. In 2024, he was an International Fellow at the College for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences and Humanities at the University Alliance Ruhr, Germany, and he has previously served as Senior Professorial Fellow at the Singapore University of Social Sciences and as a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. He has over 20 years of experience conducting research and consultancy for a wide range of international organisations (including the European Commission, European Parliament, OECD, and UNESCO), national governments, and third sector organisations in the fields of education, training, and work. 

Ernesto Villalba-Garcia has worked at Cedefop since 2011. He is currently responsible for Cedefop’s work on validation of non-formal and informal learning. He has worked, together with the Commission, on the monitoring, implementation and evaluation of the 2012 Council Recommendation on validation, as well as on several updates of the European inventory of validation and the European guidelines. Ernesto has served in different committees and working groups of the European Commission, the OECD, and UNESCO. He holds a PhD in International and comparative education from Stockholm University and is on the editorial board of the European Journal of Education.

Andrina Wafer has worked with Quality and Qualifications Ireland since 2011, and previously at senior level with awards councils for vocational education. She is experienced in policy analysis, development and implementation associated with implementation of qualification frameworks including access, transfer and progression policy and practice, the validation and recognition of prior learning and of qualifications, the development of VET and general education awards and curricula. Responsibility includes policy development for validation and recognition, the oversight of system level recognition as head of NARIC Ireland.