Glossary

Countrywide coordination
There is countrywide coordination of a process when, for all existing actions related to the process, regulation and implementation of the process are arranged through/underpinned by one of:

  • top-down guidelines followed by all stakeholders/players;
  • any form of cooperation and dialogue involving all stakeholders/players and leading to convergent practices and approaches.
    Countrywide coordination may be partial/incomplete when it applies only to part of the actions or players related to the process.

Evaluation of an activity or policy action
Comparison between a target reference and a given situation to point out the differences between them and to identify and implement possible steps for improvement. Evaluation typically heads towards further improvement, as opposed to monitoring that may not involve the intention to translate the conclusions from analysis into further readjustment/reform of the activity or policy.

Improvement measure
Any step to bring an actual situation closer to a reference situation. In the context of this report, the reference situation is defined by the provisions of the 2011 Council recommendation Youth on the move.

Information and guidance
The service provided to help people make well-informed choices in relation to working life. Information and guidance consists in helping people clarify their interests and values, identify their skills, reflect on their experience, understand the options available to them, formulate plans, and make career-oriented decisions (1). Information and guidance on international learning mobility in IVET is the part of information and guidance specifically targeted at providing IVET learners with insights into existing mobility opportunities and advice on mobility decisions.

International learning mobility
Physical mobility, whereby a national boundary is crossed for the purpose of study or training in another country. In the IVET context this refers to both school-based and work-based learning. International mobility includes both mobility between EU Member States and mobility between an EU Member State and a non-EU country. This scoreboard does not address international mobility in which there is not at least one EU country (or Iceland or Norway) involved.  

Mechanism
A process through which a defined type of output is delivered, for example in providing information and guidance, funding stakeholders, or supporting partnerships. A mechanism is generally limited in scope and coverage. In its most complete form, a mechanism can turn into a system, which then covers all/most possible cases and situations related to the type of output at play.

Policy initiatives and/or actions
An initiative or action is a step taken at a given time to achieve an identified objective. Policy initiatives or actions do not require per se any continuity or follow-up. Also, they require neither long preparation upstream nor a comprehensive overview of the context. In that sense, policy initiatives or actions are less sophisticated than fully-fledged strategies, which presuppose prior in-depth and comprehensive analysis of context and thoughtful preparation in terms of coordinating a consistent series of actions, securing appropriate means, and sequentially taking into account interactions between players.

Portability
Possibility to take abroad and use at destination a domestic financial support that was not granted with a mobility purpose.

Third countries
Countries other than the 28 EU Member States.