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This is one of a series of four thematic reports prepared within the framework of the 2016 update to the European inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning. The inventory, together with the European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning, is a major tool supporting the implementation of the 2012 recommendation on validation that calls on Member States to establish, by 2018, validation arrangements allowing individuals to identify, document, assess and certify their competences to obtain a qualification (or parts of it).

This thematic report presents an overview of funding sources for validation of non-formal and informal learning and discusses associated issues such as sustainability and accessibility. It is based on data collected for the European inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning since 2007, and telephone interviews carried out to prepare four detailed case-study examples. The report identifies five different funding sources used by countries across Europe: dedicated public funding from national sources; public funding but not specifically allocated to validation; [European Union] EU and project funding; mix of public and private sector funding; and fees charged to individual learners. For each of these, it sets out a list of strengths/enablers and barriers/weaknesses. The report concludes with a list of key learning points and suggests that there is scope to look into the issue of validation funding in more detail.

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This is one of five thematic reports developed as part of the 2018 update to the European Inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning ('the European Inventory'). This report set out to identify where validation in Europe has helped to create bridges between education and training, the labour market and the third sector. By bridges we mean enabling individuals to gain recognition for skills they have acquired in these different spheres of learning and thereby move more freely between them. The report uses data from the 2018 update to the European Inventory on Validation to gain an idea of the extent to which validation fulfils this potential.

The report has been put together using data from the following sources: (1) Data from the European Inventory country fiche database, in which the experts are required to respond to a number of questions with fixed responses across the three broad areas of education and training, the labour market and the third sector. The questions analysed for this report relate to arrangements described in the latter two sectors1; (2) European Inventory country reports for a selection of countries; (3) Specific information provided for case study countries on the topic of validation as a bridge between different sectors of learning; (4) Interviews with three national stakeholders working on validation initiatives; and (5) A small selection of other relevant literature.

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Many early school leavers have acquired a range of skills and competences outside of formal education which are transferable and potentially valuable on the labour market. At the same time, addressing the qualification deficits of young people is particularly important as early school leaving is a fundamental contributing factor to social exclusion later in life. The aim of this paper is therefore to summarise the types of approaches and methods used across the world to assess and recognise learning early school leavers have acquired in non-formal and informal settings. The paper also discusses the rationale for providing opportunities for early school leavers to have their prior learning recognised and elaborates on the potential benefits for them. The paper ends with an analysis of the availability of such mechanisms for young early school leavers, highlights issues that need to be taken into consideration when engaging this target group in mainstream practices and elaborates on the future prospects.

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Increasing the participation of young people in the labour market has become an urgent policy goal and in recent times the focus has been directed at the 'NEET' group - young people 'not in employment, education and training'. This report summarises the findings from 28 national reports by experts from the 'European Restructuring Monitor' (ERM) network on the topic of public and social partner based measures aimed at re-engaging young NEETs (aged 15-29 years). The aim of the report is to explore the most recent NEET-specific policy interventions in the EU Member States and Norway, as well as other policy measures aimed at promoting the general employment participation of young people, which potentially impact on NEETs. The findings show that given the diversity of the NEET population, Member States have adopted policy measures addressing various NEET sub-groups in order to provide more tailored and personalised support.

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Youth unemployment rates in Europe are dramatically high; in 2011 around 5.5 million young people were unemployed throughout the European Union. This equalled an unemployment rate of 21.4 per cent, a rate that continues to rise, having hit the 22 per cent mark in the first half of 2012. While the situation is extremely diverse across Member States, many European countries have seen their unemployment rates double or triple since the onset of the recession. Today, Europe employs 3.4 million fewer young people than in 2007, which makes youth unemployment one of the greatest challenges faced by the continent today. Consequently, many European Member States have taken action to promote higher employment participation for this age group. They have implemented youth employment policies that facilitate and support young people's pathways through education to employment and tackle such diverse issues as early school leaving, school-to-work transitions and employability. But how effective are such policies? What are their strengths and their weaknesses and what characteristics make an effective policy in the field of youth unemployment? This report reviews existing evidence on the effectiveness of 25 policies tackling youth unemployment for a selected number of countries ([Austria] AT, [Finland] FI, [France] FR, [Hungary] HU, [Ireland] IE, [Italy] IT, [Spain] ES, [Sweden] SE, [United Kingdom] UK) and complements this information with expert interviews. It seeks to assess the extent to which the chosen measures have been successful, looking at their outputs, outcomes and wider impact.

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This report shows how education and training for prisoners helps reduce the social costs of crime and supports the rehabilitation of prisoners and their reintegration into society. It further provides an overview of key European policies and funding programs related to prison education and training, highlighting their added value and contribution to the development of innovative and new approaches to education provision in prisons. It then looks into the current ‘state-of-play’ with regard to provision in prisons across Europe, providing some concrete examples from individual Member States. The conclusions identify key elements for efficient and effective education and training provision in prisons as well as specific needs for further research on the complex interplay between education and criminal behaviour.

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The European Inventory is an ongoing project to periodically collect information on current practices in validation of informal and non-formal learning [VINFL], with an emphasis on good practice, across Europe and to make this information available to a wide range of audiences. The European Inventory 2007 Update is the third Inventory report. For this version of the Inventory each country chapter has been revised to reflect developments in policies and practice for validation of informal and non-formal learning since 2005. Two additional countries, not previously included in the Inventory, have also been included: Croatia and Turkey. As well as the updated country chapters, the 2007 Inventory includes three 'sectoral' booklets to provide an overview of developments in the public, private and third sectors. Six in-depth case studies have also been produced and over 100 abstracts of relevant literature have been prepared. The report brings together conclusions on the current state-of-play with regards to VINFL in Europe and suggests recommendations for the future implementation of the Inventory project. Show less

This report was produced by the European Centre of Expertise (ECE) in the field of Labour Law, Employment and Labour Market Policies, based on country articles prepared by experts from the ECE pool of labour market experts. This thematic review performs an analysis of the impact of recent reforms on inequality in Europe. The review consists of 27 country-specific articles dedicated to all [European Union] EU countries covered by the European Semester process (all EU Member States except from Greece) and a synthesis report. The experts were asked to select a limited number of reforms to report on, prioritising them in terms of their impact on inequalities and not to present an exhaustive discussion of reforms in 2015 and 2016. This review and the country reports therefore do not seek to provide a comprehensive picture of all relevant reforms implemented in recent years. A particular attention is given to reforms triggered by country-specific recommendations. If certain systems/policies had already been reformed prior to 2015, such reforms are not included in the scope of this review.

Abstract from publisher's website with additional information.

The country articles are as follows: Belgium / Ive Marx; Bulgaria / Pobeda Loukanova and Vasili Tzanov; Czech Republic / Alena Bicakova; Denmark / Per Kongshoj Madsen; Germany / Nicola Dull and Tim Vetter; Estonia / Kirsti Nurmela; Ireland / Seamus McGuiness; Spain / Elvira Gonzalez Gago; France / Nicolas Farvaque and Djamel Messaoudi; Italy / Giuseppe Ciccarone; Cyprus / Louis N. Christofides; Latvia / Mihails Hazans and Anna Pluta; Lithuania / Boguslavas Gruzevskis and Inga Blaziene; Luxembourg / Patrick Thill; Croatia / Zdenko Babic; Hungary / Agota Scharle; Malta / Suzanne Gatt; Netherlands / Nico van De Vrie; Austria / Ferdinand Lechner; Poland / Agnieszka Chlon-Dominczak; Portugal / Reinhard Naumann; Romania / Catalin Ghinararu; Slovenia / Klemen Sirok; Slovakia / Lubos Vagac; Finland / Esa Jokinen; Sweden / Dominique Anxo and Thomas Ericson; United Kingdom / Kenneth Walsh. Show less

According to international conventions and recommendations, prisoners have the same right to education as other citizens. The provision of education and training opportunities in prison presents an opportunity to enable prisoners to address the gaps in their learning and thereby to support their transition to the outside world. It is also anticipated that 'filling the gap' can help in the prevention of a further criminal trajectory by improving their chances of employment on release and providing skills and competences to support their transition to the 'outside world'. Learning opportunities can give a sense of purpose and direction to individuals during their sentence and enhance the 'normalisation' of life in prison.

This study was commissioned by DG Education and Culture (DG EAC) of the European Commission, with the aim of providing an overview of the current 'state-of-play' of prison education provision in Europe. It sets out the findings of an electronic survey of national coordinators of prison education (or equivalents), as well as a small number of interviews with both national and international stakeholders and a small-scale review of relevant documents. In addition four case studies were carried out in Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Romania and Sweden. Collectively, the findings demonstrate key factors of success, lessons learned and serve to highlight the different level and nature of challenges different countries face in relation to prison education.

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The 2014 inventory update, compiled in cooperation with the European Commission, closely reflects the European guidelines on validation. It includes 36 reports for 33 countries, eight in-depth thematic reports, two case studies and a synthesis report of main findings. The reports present information up to January 2014. The synthesis report is 'European inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning 2014: final synthesis report'. The 36 country reports are: Austria / Karin Luomi-Messerer; Belgium (French) / Cecile Mathou; Belgium (Dutch) / Eliza Kritikos; Bulgaria / Maria Dzgengozova; Croatia / Marija Pavkov; Cyprus / Stelina Chatzichristou; Czech Republic / Daniela Ulicna; Denmark / Kristen Aagaard; Estonia / Marin Johnson; Finland / Anni Karttunen; France / Claire Duchemin; Germany / Silvia Annen and Markus Bretschneider; Greece / Stelina Chatzichristou; Hungary / Eva Tot; Iceland / Fjola Maria Larusdottir and Ingiborg E. Gudmundsdottir; Ireland / Ilona Murphy; Italy / Elisabetta Perulli; Latvia / Agnese Rusakova; Liechtenstein / Silvia Annen and Markus Bretschneider; Lithuania / Rasa Rotomskiene; Luxembourg / Claire Duchemin; Malta / Jane Sanderson; Netherlands / Ruud Duvekot; Norway / Jo Hawley, with support from Odd Bjorn Ure; Poland / Aleksandra Duda and Maciej Gruza; Portugal / Anna Luisa de Oliveira Pires; Romania / Magda Balica; Slovakia / Daniela Ulicna; Slovenia / Katerina Kosmrlj; Spain / Natalia Alvarez Bermudez; Sweden / Eila Heikkila; Switzerland / Deli Salini; UK (England and Northern Ireland) / Jo Hawley; UK (Scotland) / Jo Hawley; UK (Wales) / Jo Hawley; Turkey / Yasemin Yagci.

The eight thematic reports are: Awareness raising / Jane Sanderson; Competence assessment in the private sector / Natalia Alvarez Bermudez; Current approaches to skills audits in the public sector / Natalia Alvarez Bermudez; Multi-level governance / Ilona Murphy, Natalia Alvarez Bermudez and Claire Duchemin; Guidance and counselling / Jane Sanderson; Research themes on validation / Manuel Souto-Otero; Validation and early school leavers / Jo Hawley; Validation methods / Manuel Souto-Otero.The two case studies are: Kompetenz mit System (KmS) Austria / Mariya Dzhengozova; Validation of self-acquired learning and credits transfer in web design and computer animation (CREATE) / Mariya Dzhengozova. Show less