This handbook is a joint publication of the European Commission and of the OECD. Its aim is to inform policy makers in any country to decide on the most appropriate strategies for policies for career guidance in their countries in the education, employment and community sectors. The main part of the handbook is divided into 14 policy themes, organised in 4 sections:
+ Improving career guidance for young people
+ improving career guidance for adults
+ Improving access to career guidance
+ Improving policies and systems for career guidance.

Each policy theme is addressed as follows:
=Key problems/issues that need to be considered
=Questions that policymakers should ask in addressing those issues
=Options that policymakers can adopt to improve policies
=Some examples of effective responses.

The handbook was co-edited in 2004 by Richard Sweet, OECD, and John McCarthy, European Commission, based on material prepared by Prof Ronald Sultana and Prof Tony Watts. It is a staff working paper of the European Commission.

The Arabic translation of the Handbook was kindly facilitated by the Qatar Foundation. The editing of the Arabic version was kindly undertaken by Dr Aboubakr Badawi (Egypt).

This summary was translated by Dr Neruda Barakat, Skills and Career Centre, Tishreen University, Latakia, Syria.

• De nouveaux besoins en matière d’information et d’orientation professionnelles
• La demande d’information et d’orientation professionnelles : la valorisation d’une
  marchandise abstraite
• L’offre d’information et d’orientation professionnelles : les incitations des différents
  prestataires
• Le « marché » de l’information et de l’orientation : équilibrer l’offre et la demande
• Les défaillances du marché dans le domaine de l’information et de l’orientation : les
  expériences de quelques pays:
• Demande latente et demande explicite
• Enregistrer les demandes des employeurs
• De l’information à l’orientation et à d’autres activités
• Accès équitable et financement
• Une information étendue et approfondie
• Créer des « marchés » cohérents de l’information et de l’orientation
• Conclusions : concrétiser le potentiel de l’information et de l’orientation professionnelles

• Les conditions d'une decision rationnelle: approches economiques
• Autres facteurs de complication de la decision professionnelle
• Au-dela de l'information: activites de conseil et d'orientation professionnelle
• Conclusions: vers un approche constructiviste de l'orientation professionnelle

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.

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.

La guida practica è un documento realizzato dalla Commissione Europea e dall'OCSE per rispondere alla continua evoluzione delle politiche dell'instruzione, della formazione e dell'occupazione.

L'obiettivo della guida è di aiutare i decisori dei Paesi dell'OCSE e dell'Unione Europea ad elaborare politiche efficaci di orientamento professionale nel campo dell'instruzione, della formazione e dell'occupazione.