The focus in this conference is on guidance provision as a systemic entity, which takes into account both the services visible to users and the mechanisms which are behind the planning and managing those services. The goal of the conference is to enhance congruence between strategic planning and the implementation of guidance services. The focus is on both guidance practice and policy. The aim is to illustrate the transparency of services for decision makers, social partners, employers and service providers. In this framework guidance can be seen as a chain of services involving the joint responsibility of multiple providers. The planning, development and realisation of guidance provision can be described in different layers or dimensions, which provide a platform to generate common concepts for different stakeholders, as well as a framework to make the best use of existing resources to meet the needs of different client groups during an individual’s lifelong career paths. To maximize the effectiveness of services, all layers should be examined in parallel, with policy makers, service providers and key stakeholders all engaged in the process. The conference will focus on the different dimensions with key strategic questions as follows:
1) The guidance policy development dimension includes concrete policy and legislation that shapes guidance services in different settings.
2) The contextual dimension is concerned with the regional situation, including educational settings as well as economic and work life structures that surround the educational institution. This dimension also includes the norms, instructions, and regulations that directly guide work in the regional educational settings.
3) The organisational dimension includes the context for guidance service delivery at the organisational level. Within this level it is crucial to ask how the different staff representatives share jointly agreed underlying principles, ethics and values of guidance. Another key challenge for organisations is the knowledge management and sharing from system integration perspectives.
4) The content and methodological dimension is concerned with guidance practises. In general the services should be designed to meet the needs of different client groups and to promote autonomy and career management skills from a life-long learning perspective. Practitioners need also new tools for screening client readiness for career decision making and tools to follow-up an individual’s progress. The content dimension can be explored within an individual’s lifelong career path that includes both training and work, and should cover psycho-social support, personal guidance and career guidance and support for learning.
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