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Norway). Ever since then Euroguidance Slovenia Centre Ljubljana. As part of European vocational
is regularly hosting and sending participants for skills week, the European Commission awarded
Academia professional exchanges. the VET innovators award to the Biotechnical
Educational Centre Ljubljana in November 2020.
The annual Academia Network national coor- Awards recognise excellence in vocational educa-
dinators meeting (1 – 2 December 2020) was tion and training.
organised online and hosted by Euroguidance
Slovenia and Euroguidance France. Academia Exchange of experiences from Slovenian guidance
national coordinators are engaged in sending their practitioners from employment and education that
own guidance counsellors abroad and receiving were participating in Academia in the past, focused
practitioners from other countries on thematic on the development of professional competences
study visits. The participating Academia national as well as personal outcomes of Academia as mul-
coordinators were from Slovenia, France, Estonia, ticultural training mobility experiences. There are
Latvia, Germany, Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Den- several points and benefits of Academia profes-
mark, Sweden, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Belgium, sional exchanges that participating guidance practi-
Austria, Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. tioners were talking about including the importance
of participation for career guidance practitioners in
Working session included discussions about international exchanges in person, the importance
Academia; providing an overview of the 2020 of preparational activities (language, professional
placements, including cancellations of placements and cultural preparation), widening horizons and
due to COVID-19, Estonia e-Academia and online views, improved language skills, networking with
course Academia+. Interesting topics for future colleagues from Europe as well as gained mutual
Academia exchanges were also discussed. cultural awareness. Sharing the information after
the participants. It was an evaluated risk and a The first C-STEP on the topic of ‘Counselling Mi- The Academia meeting also included a learning the return is crucial. The participating guidance
challenge for the hosts that succeeded. grants and Refugees'' was held in May and June experience that was provided by Slovenian par- practitioners gain in-depth knowledge of life-long
2020 in an online format. Divided into four topics,
This was a true learning experience for all parties. ticipating experts from the Representation of the career guidance, the education system of one
The hosts, Euroguidance Estonia, The Association the Academia+ team and the speakers conducted European Commission in Slovenia, Employment country (vs. another) and general information on
of Estonian Career Counsellors, Tallinn University of online sessions in English, each with 30-60 partici- Service of Slovenia and Biotechnical Educational other participating countries.
Technology, University of Tartu and The Estonian pants from different European countries - and from
Unemployment Insurance Fund really had to work Azerbaijan, India and Armenia. Over the days, 14
together as a team to bring this experience to life. lecturers from different European countries spoke
The participants were able to observe and expe- on the topics of
rience how such a virtual exchange was created, • Intercultural awareness;
and it gave them confidence to try online tools in • Recognition of qualifications and competencies
their own workspaces. and access to the labour market;
• The analysis of client potential and empow-
The experience was gathered into a Compendium erment;
of practices and a short video, providing others • Specific supportive measures.
with the ability to learn from the experience.
Despite the unusual online setting, the training
Training for Career Guidance days had a high level of activity among the
Practitioners on the topic of: participants, many productive and constructive
‘Counselling Migrants and Refugees’ discussions took place and future contact will be
maintained. The next online training with the topic
The Erasmus+ partnership project ‘Counsellors ‘future jobs’ is due to take place from 9 to 18
th
th
Study and Training Exchange Programme for March 2021. More information about the project
Key Challenges of European Labour Markets and is available HERE.
Societies’ - Academia+ - aims to develop and pilot
three research-based study and training exchange Annual Academia Network National
programmes (C-STEP) for career counsellors from Coordinators Meeting
across Europe. It is led by the University of Applied
Sciences of the Federal Employment Agency An important part of the international activities
(HdBA) in Mannheim, Germany. The topics for of Euroguidance Slovenia is the organisation of
the three C-STEPs were chosen according to their Academia professional exchanges among guid-
importance for the current labour market: ance counsellors. Euroguidance Slovenia joined
• Counselling migrants and refugees; Academia as an active coordinator in 2008 when
• Future jobs; it hosted the first 6 guidance counsellors from
• Demographic change. 4 countries (France, United Kingdom, Spain and

24 1. EUROGUIDANCE NETWORK LEVEL ACTIVITIES 1. EUROGUIDANCE NETWORK LEVEL ACTIVITIES 25