Survey on Update of the European Guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning

The European Commission and Cedefop are currently updating the European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning. The purpose of the European guidelines is to support policy makers and practitioners in developing and implementing solutions to serve individuals in their validation process. The ambition of the guidelines is to clarify the conditions for implementation, highlighting the critical choices to be made by stakeholders at different stages of the process.

The European guidelines were first developed in 2009 and, following the adoption of the Council Recommendation, updated in 2015. The evaluation of the 2012 Recommendation has signalled the importance of the guidelines in promoting a shared understanding to validation in Europe and to support peer learning.

The 2021 update of the guidelines aims at keeping the guidelines relevant in the context of current and future developments such the digital and green transitions and the Covid-19 pandemic, which require Member States to increasingly tap into the full potential of their citizens. Validation of non-formal and informal learning is as an effective mechanism to deal with this need.

To support the update of the Guidelines, a survey was set up which will be open until end of June. The European Commission invites all stakeholders to reply to the survey and share their opinions and experiences. Please feel free to share the information about this consultation widely among stakeholders and validation practitioners.

Link to the survey