New Scenes for Career Guidance

A European lifelong guidance conference is arranged on 31 May – 1 June 2023 in Stockholm, during the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Much has happened since the last Swedish EU presidency in 2009. We have a rapidly changing labour market due to technological developments and demographic trends. We also find ourselves in an educational world where the individual is expected to continuously learn new skills in a lifelong perspective. The greening of economies brings new career and skills needs to the table and an uncertain world has an impact on individual career decision-making.

Aim of the conference

The conference aims to discuss the “new scenes for career guidance” – how the conditions for lifelong guidance have changed and how career guidance is being re-designed in new ways and for new target groups. The aim is also to investigate what these changes mean for the guidance profession, for policy development and for the content of guidance practices.

Joint vision, joint arrangement

Investing in Career Guidance (Cedefop; European Commission; the ETF; ILO; OECD, UNESCO 2019; revised in 2021) serves as an umbrella advocacy tool for the conference. Here, the Inter-Agency Career Guidance Working Group (CGWG) share their joint vision of the strategic role of career guidance in our changing world. The basic hallmarks of an effective and efficient career guidance system are listed.

The conference is jointly arranged by the Swedish Council for Higher Education, The National Agency for Education, and the National Public Employment Service. Cedefop and the Swedish Association of Guidance Counsellors are partners. It is an initiative of Euroguidance Sweden, and many Euroguidance centres support the conference by hosting or facilitating workshops. The conference is also linked to the European Year of Skills. The dates have been decided to coincide with the annual network meetings of both the Euroguidance Network (29-30 May) and Cedefop’s CareersNet (afternoon of 1 June).

170 participants from 34 countries

We look forward to welcoming approx. 170 participants from 34 countries - national, European and international stakeholders in the field of lifelong guidance - to Stockholm in the Scandinavian early summer for fruitful discussions and the exchange of ideas and experiences, to contribute to the development of the field. We hope that the conference will lead to fruitful collaboration and that it can create awareness and understanding of the importance of lifelong guidance, both on national and European level.

The programme is available here: https://www.uhr.se/om-uhr/Konferenser/scences-for-careers-guidance/