Norway and Learning Regions

1
Norway and Learning Regions

• Jan Sørlie, senior adviser
• Vox, Norwegian Institute for Adult Learning
• Barcelona, 29 May 2008

2
Region?

• The Nordic countries sometimes function as a
  region socio-economic similarities and common
  traditions in adult learning.
• Norway is perhaps no more than a region in
  itself.
• Within the country we are very conscious of our
  regions, e.g. through the transfer of enormous
  sums to sustain district development.

3
Learning region?

• A term hardly used in Norway
• The "learning regions" or R3L initiative
  (Regional networks for Life-Long Learning) the
  promotion of the regional dimension in life-long
  learning throughout Europe
• The R3L initiative with its 17 projects related
  to 120 regions in Europe.

4
The non-membership in the EU

• In Norway we cannot have funding from the social
  funds cf. their support of regional economic
  development.
• Limited Norwegian participation in the R3L
  Learning regions project.
• But the themes seem familiar.

5
The R3L scope the 17 projects

• The thematic aspects included
• Lifelong learning and active citizenship
• Lifelong learning and the promotion of economic
  growth in the region
• Lifelong learning for the socially inclusive
  region
• Promoting the multicultural region through
  lifelong learning
• Information and communication technology / Modern
  media in the learning region

6
Horizontal / transversal policies

• Finally
• social inclusion
• the multicultural dimension
• the integration of the disabled and
• equal opportunities for women and men
• are important transversal Community policies
• that the project activities will support.

7
The case for Norway

• Seen against this background, Norway has done a
  number of things that relate to learning
  regions.
• One important background element the
  three-partite cooperation between industry,
  unions and the authorities.

8
What have we done?

• A. Cooperation between the social partners in
  the Competence Reform, particularly the
  Competence Development Programme, which provided
  funding for local learning at work
• B. Followed up through the present programme for
  Basic Competence in Working Life, a programme
  that focuses on basic skills training to fight
  loss of jobs and social exclusion

9
What have we done? (2)

• C. The resource centre movement, i.e. upper
  secondary schools that provided courses for local
  industry.
• D. Various national programmes directed towards
  local development of lifelong learning. Vox has
  been involved in Motivation, Guidance and
  Information (promoting the use of ones statutory
  rights) and the so-called Models Projects (focus
  on reading and writing experience transferred in
  regional conferences).

10
Using the libraries

• In two counties we have projects going that
  involve numerous libraries, and the idea is to
  give extra education to librarians in guidance
  and counselling and the use of ICT.
• They direct their attention to the unemployed and
  the public in general and assist them in starting
  basic skills training.
• The aim is to make the service nation-wide in a
  couple of years.

11
Recent development

• Numerous local initiatives
• In Arendal, a municipality in the south of
  Norway, a knowledge harbour is being developed.
  It will include numerous learning providers and
  knowledge-based enterprises that gather around
  the harbour.
• Mosjøen and Mo i Rana in the middle/north of the
  country have developed learning centres for a
  changing industry.

12
Career guidance centres

• These are being developed at present. They will
• be
• Job centres
• Course providers
• Competence brokers
• Links with the Norwegian Labour and Welfare
  Administration

13
Norwegian priorities

• Individual or regional development?
• It can be claimed that lifelong learning
  initiatives in Norway have paid more attention to
  the individual than to regional development.
• Of course there is no conflict between the two.
• Promoting lifelong learning and fighting social
  exclusion are integral parts of both ways of
  looking at it.

14
The present labour market

• There is practically no unemployment.
• We need all available hands and quite a few
  more, particularly from Poland and our
  neighbouring countries.
• Other alternatives
• - giving people incentives not to retire
• - training/retraining the unemployed

15
A population on welfare?

• In early 2008 the percentage of employed is 71,7
  and unemployed 2,5.
• The rest of the potentially employable population
  is on pensions or welfare of some kind.
• Goal of lifelong learning initiatives One Step
  Up

16
Learning for life or working life?

• Is there a split between the two? The formal and
  the non-formal learning the job-directed and
  the humanistic/artistic provided by schools and
  study associations respectively.
• Example of the opposite The Workers Educational
  Association (AOF) is doing an essential job in
  connection with the BCW programme.

17
Effects of the Competence Development Programme

• Those who already had considerable education were
  the winners.
• In Norway we talk about the Mathew effect To
  those who have shall be given, and to those who
  have not shall be taken away even that which they
  have.

18
400.000 weak readers and writers

• The shock effect of the IALS/ALL surveys has had
  an obvious impact on our priorities. (Norway has
  4,7 mill inhabitants.)
• The majority of those 400.000 have jobs.
• The intention behind our BCW initiative is to
  secure their employability and to include the
  unemployed or under-employed in working life.

19
Training the unemployed

• The BCW programme has financed projects directed
  specifically towards the unemployed in certain
  counties.
• Particular initiatives in our northernmost
  county, Finnmark, in relation to the Sámi
  population will be started.
• These are initiatives that result from a
  cooperation between Vox and the Norwegian Labour
  and Welfare Administration.

20
Family learning

• A Norwegian network on family learning has been
  established. (And Vox is a member of the European
  Family Learning Network a Grundtvig network.)
• In a workforce perspective the access to training
  for immigrant women is a potential effect of
  family learning.

21
The future labour market

• We dont expect the present situation to last.
• The countrys competitiveness will depend on an
  improved knowledge basis in the population.
• The individual will need to master more
  situations that involve reading and ICT sills.
• It all starts with basic skills the first step
  up.

22
Basic skills training

• Vox has produced a framework for basic skills
  that
• defines competence goals in
• Reading and writing
• Numeracy everyday maths
• Basic digital competence
• Oral communication

23
The frameworks and BCW

• Those who apply for funding from the programme
  for Basic Competence in Working life, in their
  applications have to show that they relate to the
  competence goals of the framework for basic
  skills.

24
Norway invests in individuals and individuals
live in regions!

• Thank you!