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CHAPTER 1
Setting the scene: promoting an inclusive labour market for ageing workers 15

establish a coherent lifelong guidance system that fully accommodates the
information, advisory and guidance needs of all citizens. The main challenges
to developing an all-age guidance system are linked to lack of coordination
between education and employment sectors, numerous providers with diverse
guidance practices, allocation of funding, expertise/professionalism of
guidance practitioners, and to a limited evidence-base for assessing the
impact of guidance services (Cedefop, 2011).
The Council of the EU adopted a Resolution on better integrating lifelong
guidance into lifelong learning strategies in 2008 to reinforce lifelong guidance
in European education, training and employment policies and to foster further
guidance-related developments in Member States. The resolution identified
four politically significant priority areas:
(a) encourage lifelong acquisition of career management skills;
(b) facilitate access for all citizens to guidance services;
(c) develop quality assurance in guidance provision;
(d) encourage coordination and cooperation among various national, regional
and local stakeholders.
Since 2008, Member States have cooperated through the European lifelong
guidance policy network in the four priority areas. Cedefop is supporting and
accompanying this process. With their recent initiatives, countries addressed
the public policy goals set for lifelong guidance provision. For learning goals,
progress has been made especially in improving the overall framework of
lifelong learning to help individuals in their learning processes and professional
orientation. For labour-market goals, actions taken promote inclusive labour
markets and more collaborative involvement of social partners and public
employment services. For social equity goals, countries have been committed
to reducing inequalities by improving guidance provision to at-risk groups
(including older workers) to ensure they have a realistic opportunity to
participate in learning and working, use their potential and individual
capacities, and enable them to participate in civic dialogue (Cedefop, 2011).
A recent development across Europe is emergence of a more individualised
service provision which considers actual life situations of individual service-
users. This approach places new demands on guidance professionals who
are supposed to cope with various factors and dimensions characterising life.
The individually-designed service delivery model calls for new competences
of guidance providers as well as a broadening of the service pallet to meet
the demands of older workers (Cedefop, 2011).
Through cross-sectoral coordination and cooperation guidance services
should be more easily accessible for all individuals at a time, place and form