The European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience sets ambitious objectives for upskilling and reskilling to be achieved within the next 5 years. Within this framework, EPALE is also engaged in empowering the adult education community to foster lifelong learning, and the quality of adult education. The National Support Services in the Nordic countries have gathered content on initiatives and policy to promote life and work skills to empowering adults to learn and participate through upskilling and reskilling for work and life, and the relevance of basic skills. 

The finnish is the happiest people in the world, according to the UN Happiness Report. This article discuss the importance of education and life skills that promote happiness: Finding the source of happiness through Finnish adult education. An inspiring read for all who engage in adult learning provision!

Basic skills are crucial to job opportunities, pay, educational participation, trust, health and democracy. Ever since a 2012 study found that between 531,000 and 1 million adult Danes lacked basic skills in reading, numeracy and problem-solving in technology-rich environments, efforts have been underway to remedy the situation. In Denmark one of the important initiatives to improve adult education and continuing and further education has been to change the preparatory adult education. Learn more about how Denmark is apporoacing the workforces need of upskilling with a tripartite agreement: Lack of basic skills comes at great cost to society

In Sweden the need for desicion-making competence is made even more evident by the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on society and labourmarket. In order to meet the enhanced need for recilience to rapid change, career guidance available for adults is one important measure. Read more about career guidance: The pandemic has created challenges on the labour market and in careers guidance – decision-making competence is key. 

Based on her personal experience of studying during the pandemic, Anya Feltreuter describes her journey through a freestanding university course in Work Science - Leading Humans and Organizations during Change. She addresses important questions about how flexibility in education will shape tomorrow's studies in the blog Higher education during the pandemic

In recent months, The Reykjavík Academy, City of Reykjavík, Reykjavík Art Festival and The Icelandic Human Rights Centre have had a fruitful conversation about the role of community arts in social innovation and the benefits of participation. Together they are planning an online forum on community and participation arts, starting June 2021, ending a year later. Every second month lectures, interviews and discussions will be streamed about the value of participation and best practices shared. The aim is to bring together the large group involved in participatory arts; artists and marginalized social groups, people engaged in human rights and social services as well as administrators and politicians. The on-line events will be available throughout Europe translated into English. Follow the development on EPALE: For the benefit of all beings - Community arts in Iceland

The policy experimentation project in validation of prior learning Visible Skills of Adults (VISKA) completed its project period. VISKA aimed to address the European policy priority of diminishing skills mismatch by making knowledge, skills and competences of adults more visible through consideration of the practice of validation of informal and non-formal learning (VPL) and implementation of field trials. The aim of VISKA in Iceland was to address the challenge linked to the lack of access and awareness of VPL services for
migrants. Read the full report here: Viska National Report Island

The use of multilingualism in and the employment-orientation of Norwegian language training for newly arrived adult migrants has a positive effect on the participants’ motivation and progress. According to a recent study, the quality of the training is largely conditional on factors outside the adult education centres’ control. Read more about how the use of previously acquired languages, used as a tool in second language training, is benefititing motivation and progress for adult migrants - particularly those with little or no education from their home country: What impedes and promotes quality in Norwegian language training for adult migrants in Norway?