This article, written by Dr Jim Sampson of Florida State University and delivered as a presentation at the IAEVG conference in Jyvaskyla in June 2009, examines two elements of policies for career guidance: the effectiveness of career guidance interventions in relation to cost and access to such interventions by citizens. It commences by identifying the different elements of career guidance and proceeds to examine the translation of career theory to practice, the effectiveness of career guidance interventions, and the access people have to career guidance. Collaborative counselling is proposed as an intervention to improve access. The paper ends with a discussion on how to balance effectiveness and access in career guidance delivery.

In his preparation of this paper, Prof Sampson noted the lack of a comprehensive and consistent evidence base for career guidance interventions and the little or no attention paid to integrating career theory, public policy, and the cost-effectiveness of career guidance interventions.

This publication is a summary of the proceedings of a French Presidency of the EU conference supported by the European Commission's Directorates for Education and for Employment. The conference aimed to identify the challenges, to set out common findings, and to outline measures taken to make lifelong learning more effective. Lifelong learning was seen as at the heart of the flexicurity principle.

As you will see from the proceedings, most of the time was devoted to issues concerning initial and continuing vocational training: access by SMEs, by older, disabled, migrant, unskilled; employer or employee led;  partnerships, motivation; costs and benefits.

The importance of career guidance and counselling was underlined by Heléne Clark, director of the EC's DG for Education, and was also underlined in the French Secretary of State for Employment's discourse on training system reform.

This 2008 report describes some of the definitional, conceptual and historical foundations of the concept of social inclusion. It summarises the strengths and limitations of Australian and international approaches to the topic so far, and sketches some of the scope of exclusion in terms of locational disadvantage, intergenerational disadvantage, children at risk, child poverty and jobless families, employment, mental health, disability and homelessness. It also discusses the relational dimension of exclusion. The report provides elements of policy approaches to move from exclusion to inclusion.

Career guidance is often used as part of multidimensional strategies to address exclusion issues; indeed in its origins it was part of a social reform movement. In order to see where it may or can play a role, this report is essential background reading.

The ministers for VET of the European Union , the European Social Partners and the European Commission met in Bordeaux, France under the French Presidency of the EU in 2008 to review priorities and strategies in European cooperation in VET. The outcome of their discussions is known as the Bordeaux Communique.

The Communique outlines the process of cooperation since 2002, describes the key EU instruments created and their impact on national policies. It sets out a new strategic vision for 2008-2010, especially the challenges of globalisation. The Communique proposes four priority areas for future action:

• national implementation of cooperation instruments and agreements
• improving the quality and attractiveness of VET
• improving links between VET and the labour market
• strengthening European cooperation arrangements.

The Communique makes very explicit the centrality of the provision of career guidance to VET and CVET policies for young people and adults.

It calls for:

• facilitating access to information and lifelong guidance and counselling services through the successful implementation of the 2008 Council Resolution on Lifelong Guidance (which may be found elsewhere on this web site)
• action to be taken to promote guidance systems which help young people and adults to cope better with transitions within education and training and all along their career paths
• improve guidance and counselling services to ease transition from training to employment.

This policy statement was adopted by the National Lifelong Guidance Council in July 2008.

1. It outlines reform measures required to develop an interlinked lifelong guidance system
2. It provides an overview of guidance service developments in the last 30 years in Hungary set against the background of international developments
3. The statement presents a set of proposals for building a nationally coordinated system - key tasks and specific steps for the policy areas of education, training and employment.

Ce rapport, redigé par Prof Ronald Sultana pour le CEDEFOP en 2007/8, fait le bilan des progrés accomplis par les pays européens dans la mise en oeuvre des priorités définies par la résolution du Conseil Education de mai 2004 concernant l'orientation tout au long de la vie. Ces priorités sont:

• mettre en oeuvre des systèmes d'orientation tout au long de la vie
• élargir l'accès à l'orientation
• renforcer les mécanismes d'assurance qualité
• renforcer les aptitudes des citoyens à gérer leur apprentissage et leur carrière
• renforcer les structures intervenant dans le développement des politiques et des systèmes au niveau national et régional.

Prof Sultana a conclu que malgré les progrès importants accomplis, il reste beaucoup à faire pour développer et consolider les systèmes et politiques d'orientation tout au long de la vie. Les structures des Etats membres et de l'Union ont toutes leur role à jouer dans le réalisation de ce dernier objectif.

This is a joint strategy and implementation plan for career guidance services in Northern Ireland of two government ministries/ the Department of Education and the Department for Employment and Learning. Based on extensive consultation exercises on its proposals of 2007, the document outlines a new comprehensive strategy for the delivery of career guidance services and the challenges involved. It articulates a vision for the future and maps the actions required to deliver it.

The vision is subdivided into five themes:

1. Careers education
2. Access to careers information
3. Improving careers advice and guidance
4. Improving quality
5. Improving professional development.

This is the Danish translation of the European Council of Education Ministers' Resolution (2008) on better integrating lifelong guidance in strategies for lifelong learning. The Resolution defined four key areas/axes to guide national reforms of policies and systems:

This is the German translation of the Council of Education Ministers' Resolution (2008) on better integrating lifelong guidance into lifelong learning strategies.

It defines 4 key axes of action for the reform of guidance services in Member States: