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Section 5: Vision for the future 15

The wider paradigm of lifelong guidance is both an across educational, labour market, social and health
integrated entity and part of a broader social context. provision, under different ministries and other juris-
Lifelong guidance can be examined as a policy, as an dictions (schools, tertiary education, public employ-
activity of individual organisations or networked ser- ment services, social partners, the voluntary sector,
vices (sometimes in collaborative contracts between the private sector). In addition, one of the key roles
the public administration and the private and volun- of such services is to help individuals to move effec-
tary sectors), as well as an individual process. Lifelong tively across sectors in the course of their personal
guidance provision is directed by official documents and career development. Effective policies for life-
such as laws, decrees and plans, as well as unofficial long guidance therefore need to involve a number
traditions. As citizens progress in their life or career, of different authorities and stakeholders. A national
they may look for services from several professional lifelong guidance forum or other similar represen-
groups or service providers. There is accordingly a tative structure is a mechanism for bringing these
need to develop consistent networked lifelong guid- bodies together, in order to produce more effec- Future
ance services to guarantee access and social equity in tive policy development and more harmonised and
accordance with local cultural, economic and social consistent service provision. It can also address the
contexts. integrative potential of ICT for developing a coherent
Lifelong guidance is inherently ‘transversal’, in the lifelong guidance system.
sense that it crosses different sectors, in two main As a member-state-driven network, the ELGPN rep-
respects. Lifelong guidance provision is distributed resents a major development in support of national
lifelong guidance policy development in Europe
and an innovative form of the Open Method of
15 This section has been prepared by Dr Raimo Vuorinen, Co-ordinator of
ELGPN, and by Dr Tibor Borbély-Pecze, Co-ordinator-elect of ELGPN. Co-ordination within the European Union (EU),

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