University Network for Innovation in Guidance II

Network for Innovation in Career Guidance & Counselling in Europe

Aim of the project

To set up a joint basis for empowering (future) practitioners and experts of career counseling/guidance (CG practitioners) to help their clients deal with the challenges of on-going social change.

Actors involved

Heidelberg University, Germany, Danube University Krems, Austria , University of Economics Varna, Bulgaria, University of Nicosia, Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic, National Training Fund, Czech Republic, Aarhus University, Denmark, Foundation for Lifelong Learning Development Innove, Estonia, European Society for Vocational Designing and Career Counselling, Finnish Institute on Educational Research, Finland, JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Finland, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, Université Bordeaux, Segalen, France, CNAM-INETOP, France, CREDIJ, France, HdBA (University of Applied Labour Studies), German, University of Athens, Greece, University of Island, Iceland, University of Padua, Italy, Eötvös Loránd, University ELTE, Hungary, Latvia University of Agriculture, Latvia, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania ,AVOPP (Applied Vocational Psychology and Policy research unit), University of Malta, Malta, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Fontys University of Applied Science, Netherlands, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands, Lillehammer University College, Norway, Jan Dlugosz University, Poland, Jagiellonian University, Poland, University of Wrocław, Poland, University of Lisbon, Portugal, Slovak University of Technology, Slovakia, University of Presov, Slovakia, Career Consulting Sasa Niklanovic, Slovenia, University of Santiago de Compostella, Spain, Malmö University, Sweden, University of Lausanne, Switzerland , Marmara University Istanbul, Turkey, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK, University of East London, UK, University of the West of Scotland, Scotland.

Short description of the project

The “Network for Innovation in Career Guidance & Counseling in Europe” (NICE) aims at contributing strongly to the implementation of the European Lifelong Learning Program. Through their cooperation, the engaged Higher Education Institutions (HEI) want to set up a joint basis for empowering (future) practitioners and experts of career counseling/guidance (CG practitioners) to help their clients deal with the challenges of on-going social change. The primary goal of establishing the NICE network is to bridge the existing gaps and create an enduring platform for cooperation, exchange and innovation regarding the joint vision of providing Europe with the professional CG practitioners it needs to make Lifelong Learning possible. NICE 2 is the follow-up of more than 2 years of successful cooperation in NICE.

The most central outcomes of the first period of the NICE Network are a detailed understanding of Higher Education in the field in Europe; an exchange of innovative tools, methods, theories and findings in the field (trends); a collection of innovative approaches for the education of CG practitioners; the integration of many perspectives into a joint understanding of career counseling/guidance and the roles/functions of CG practitioners (NICE Core Competences); and the pooling of these developments into a Tuning Handbook for the development of degree programs in the field. NICE2 is built on all of the named project outcomes and is aimed to increase their value for all stakeholders to a high degree.

The main outcomes of the NICE2 will include:

• A joint memorandum in which the partners agree on how Higher Education in the field shall be developed in the future.
• Mobility Guidelines and Framework for Exchange of Staff & Students aimed to build lasting structures which will establish more cooperation and mutual learning in the future.
• Online database which will bring together all academic actors in the field through providing diverse benefits to network members and connections/ associations. Such a database can enhance the transparency of the field enormously and support the spreading of good practices at a very high level.
• Enhanced Tuning Handbook providing competence levels and ideal curricula for the 3 Bologna-cycles of Higher Education, as well as tools for the assessment of competence development and quality management of degree programs. The enhanced Tuning Handbook will become the no.1 guide for launching and developing degree programs in the field. It will support the development of staff, degree programs and HEI offering such and promote a growing together of the field which respects diversity.

NICE2 involves 45 partners in 29 European countries. The project consortium fully represents the multidisciplinarity of the field: it involves faculties grounded in education, psychology, social work, human resources/ economics among others. The consortium involves both very academic institutions who primarily offer PhD programs, as well as institutions with a stronger focus on vocational training. The diversity and openness for exchange of the partners of NICE 2 is extremely important for the acceptability of the network’s results in the academic community of the field.