By gathering European institutions and civil society representatives and researchers, the policy debate will aim at providing some answers on fostering inclusive validation arrangements by presenting existing practices and sharing policy recommendations, so that the Europe’s most vulnerable learners can be the primary beneficiaries of validation schemes.

Agenda

9:30 Welcome words

• Sirpa PIETIKÄINEN, Member of the European Parliament (EPP, FI)

• David LOPEZ, EUCIS-LLL president

9:45 Panel 1 – Experiences in reaching out to disadvantaged groups

• Sharon WATSON, Area Education Coordinator at Workers’ Education Association, Representative of the SOLIDAR project “Building Learning Societies: Promoting the validation of non-formal & informal learning”

• Natalia FERNANDEZ ALCALA, Coordinator of Romani Association of Women Drom Kotar Mestipen and ROM-ACT project manager

• Ana Claudia VALENTE, Researcher and Board member of CEPCEP, Portuguese Catholic University, Portugal

10:15 Group discussions

11:00 Coffee break

11:15 Panel 2 – Activating the knowledge triangle: From practice to research and policy-making

• Chiara RIONDINO, Policy Officer “Skills and Qualifications”, European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

• Professor Eckard SEVERING, Bertelsmann Foundation

• Jens BJORNAVOLD, Expert on validation, CEDEFOP

11:45 Group discussions

12:30 Conclusions

13:00-14:00 Networking lunch