Euroguidance conference Meeting the future today  -recordings are now available

To celebrate the 30 years of Euroguidance work supporting lifelong guidance in Europe, practitioners, policy makers and trainers throughout Europe were invited to a hybrid conference to discuss competence development in guidance.

“Meeting the future today: Capacity building for the European guidance community” was organised as a hybrid event both in Prague (CZ) and online on 30 November 2022. More than 500 participants from more than 50 countries took part in the event. In a series of workshops and panel sessions, existing tools, frameworks and approaches in the field of guidance were discussed.

The ambitious conference programme covered many different of angles related to competence development. There was a total of 21 workshops and presentations held by 70 experts. Both external presenters, as well as several Euroguidance centres offered sessions on themes such as

  • Ways forward for professionalising career guidance
  • Inclusive mobility and the role of guidance
  • Good practices linked to the competence development of career guidance counsellors.

The workshops were described by participants to be hands-on and having given knowledge for reflection, among other things.

Link to Conference programme

Conference Opening: Capacity-building of Guidance Professionals in European and Czech Contexts - Policy and Implementation

Video recording of opening session

  • Welcome by Margit Rammo, Euroguidance Estonia

  • Keynotes by Cynthia Harrison Villalba, CEDEFOP, Monika Měšťanová, Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Eva Baloch-Kaloianov, Euroguidance Austria

Panel discussion highlighted competence frameworks

A panel discussion “Partnerships in European Lifelong Guidance – how can we support guidance professionals in competence development” pondered the question, whether digital guidance services brought forth during the pandemic, will be kept and sustained.

The panel consisted of Daniel Hailemariam (Hailemariam Consulting, Sweden), Tristram Hooley (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences), Ilze Jansone (Euroguidance Latvia and IAEVG Board), Florian Kadletz (European Training Foundation) and Łukasz Sienkiewicz (Gdańsk University of Technology and Institute for Labour Market Analyses-Poland). They came into the conclusion that more training of practitioners would be needed to handle these developments. Face-to-face services would still be needed for more in-depth guidance.

The panel also discussed whether upskilling and competence development should be made compulsory for practitioners. It was thought that a better option would be to develop strong frameworks of competences on national level. The panelists also brought up existing competence frameworks, developed by international organisations such as the IAEVG. The audience saw adaptability, flexibility and reflection skills as the biggest priority areas in competence development.

Video of Panel Discussion

The workshops were described by participants to be hands-on and having given knowledge for reflection, among other things.

Recordings of hybrid and online sessions:

Conference Opening

  • Capacity-building of Guidance Professionals in European and Czech Contexts - Policy and Implementation

National Career Guidance Awards 2022

  • The 2022 national guidance award ceremony for Czechia will take place during this session, as well as the presentation of national award winners from other involved countries.

Is Guidance in Europe ready?

  • Daniel Hailemariam (Hailemariam Consulting, Sweden)

Ways Forward for Professionalization in Career Guidance

  • Dimitris Gaitanis (Euroguidance Greece), Kristina Orion (Estonian Public Employment Service) and Margit Rammo (Euroguidance Estonia)

Effective Approaches to Career Guidance with Refugees

  • Anne Chant (Canterbury Christ Church University, UK) and Asa Sundelin (Stockholm University, Sweden)

Career Learning Strategies in the Classroom

  • Christina Petersson (Partille Municipality, Sweden)

Good Practices Linked to Competence Development of Career Guidance Counsellors

Erasmus+ opportunities for Developing Guidance

  • Guidance-related Erasmus+ projects

  • Zuzana Freibergová (National Training Fund Czechia), Andrea Csirke (Czech Association for Career Guidance and Career Development), Stefany Tan (GTB, Belgium Flanders)

Inclusive Mobility and the Role of Guidance

  • Nina Ahlroos (Euroguidance Sweden), Sven Derksen (CINOP, Netherlands), Miriam Petra Ómarsdóttir Awad (Rannis, Iceland)

Academia+

  • Jane Porath (University of Applied Labour Studies-HdBA, Germany)

Strengthening the Social-Emotional Intelligent Career Guidance Practitioner

  • Fotini Vlachaki & Mary Tountopoulou (Career & Social Inclusion Experts, Greece)

Panel Discussion: Partnerships in European Lifelong Guidance

  • How Can We Support Guidance Professionals in Competence Development

  • Daniel Hailermariam (Hailermariam Consulting, Sweden)

  • Tristram Hooley (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences)

  • Ilze Jansone (Euroguidance Latvia / IAEVG Board)

  • Florian Kadletz (European Training Foundation)

  • Łukasz Sienkiewicz (Gdańsk University of Technology and Institute for Labour Market Analyses-Poland)

Establishing the role of Careers Leader in Schools

  • Tristram Hooley (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences) and David Andrews

Competences for the future in the EU Neighbourhood

  • Florian Kadletz (European Training Foundation)

Academia Programme: Mobility of Guidance Practitioners in Europe

  • Yvan Couallier (Euroguidance France) and Anu Puulmann (Euroguidance Estonia), Tina Öberg (Municipal Guidance Centre in Gothenburg, Sweden)

Career Self-Management for the Unemployed

  • Pedro Diogo Gaspar, Célia Sampaio, Catarina Luzia de Carvalho, Maria do Céu Taveira & Ana Daniela Silva (University of Minho, Portugal)

Poster Session and Networking

  • Elvira Pfann (Euroguidance Switzerland)

  • Viamia - A National Career Guidance Service for the Over-40s - David Furrer (BIZ Amt für Berufsberatung/Office for Vocational Guidance, Switzerland)

Networking opportunities were valued

One of the aims of the conference was to offer a chance for informal encounters among participants. The breaks as well as the poster exhibition at the end of the day, and a joint dinner, were full of lively conversations.

Virtual poster session presentations

Mentimeter results from the audience showed that the main takeaway from the event was 'inspiration'!

The conference was organized as part of Global Careers Month (Nov-Dec 2022), on the initiative of Cedefop, the European Commission, ETF, ILO, OECD, UNESCO and the World Bank. The event also supported collaboration between Euroguidance and IAEVG (International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance).

Global Careers Month