The growing role of civil society in lifelong skills development

Skills needs are changing rapidly in today’s world. The advances of artificial intelligence and Europe’s green and digital transitions are placing pressure on countries to produce more and new skills, differently and urgently. Civil society organisations, as key stakeholders in the national skills development as well as training providers and innovators, are crucial to building skills across countries and societies.

There is a growing focus on engaging civil society organisations (CSOs) in skills policies and implementation, not because they have not been involved until now, “but because of the urgency of the situation and the need to link civil society to broader agendas”, said Margareta Nikolovska, Senior Human Capital Development Expert at the European Training Foundation (ETF).

She was speaking at a 7 June livestream on “The role of civil society in lifelong skills development”, held by the ETF and broadcast on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter.

A fellow guest was Brikena Xhomaqi, Director of the Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP), a civil society umbrella organisation representing 42 European organisations. The host was Denise Loughran, an ETF Communication Specialist.

“We see CSOs as a space for an alternative way of developing skills that is more tailored to the needs of people in particular socio-economic situations, who have gone through compulsory education and want to continue education throughout life for different purposes.”

Civil society, Xhomaqi said, provides many of the non-formal learning opportunities available across Europe. CSOs are key players at different levels in skills development, and can help to ensure that learners’ many needs are taken into consideration by policymakers.

The session followed a key conference held in Brussels on 23 May at the European Commission entitled “Civil Society for Lifelong Skills Development in Europe and Partner Countries”. It was jointly organised by the ETF, the LLLP and the European Association for the Education of Adults to promote policy dialogue and partnerships between governments and CSOs.

Growing focus on CSOs in skills development

In recent years the ETF has undertaken a mapping exercise on “Civil Society Organisations and Human Capital Development” in a sample of partner countries. A clear message came through that there is “huge potential” among CSOs to contribute to skills development and implementation, and that they should join at all stages of the policy process, said Margareta Nikolovska.

The European Year of Skills target is to have 60% of adults training each year by 2030, up from 37% today. Xhomaqi said more stakeholders and CSOs were needed on board with skills development, which could not be achieved by education systems alone.

One reason why CSOs have not been considered key stakeholders, she explained, is because of a narrow definition of what skills development means. The focus has traditionally been on technical and professional skills for the labour market. However, skills development must also encompass cognitive and metacognitive skills, and social and emotional, skills – skills delivered by a wider range of providers including CSOs.

“A culture change is needed, because this is a new trend and many governments are not used to having CSOs around the table and including them fully on the issue of skills development.”

Enhancing the engagement of CSOs

Xhomaqi said many CSOs need to be empowered to sit at the table effectively. “Most do not have sufficient staff or resources to dedicate to advocacy work or co-creation processes with politicians and governments. Also, not all of them know well how public policy processes work.

“So we need to build the capacities of CSOs. We need to create space and time and funding for them to engage in these processes because they are so different to the actual work of CSOs.”

Slovenia is a good example of how this can successfully be done. When the government was planning digital and skills strategies, CSOs facilitated dialogue with citizens and stakeholders. The first step was to provide digital training, to increase their understanding of the field and prepare them properly to engage and influence new strategies.

“There are plenty of examples, but they are constrained and depend very much on the political mandate,” Xhomaqi told the livestream. They are far from being mainstreamed.

The ETF study uncovered a need to raise awareness among CSOs, including about their role as service providers for skills development. This is important because it is about directly supporting skills policy implementation at the local, regional or national level.

Also, said Margareta Nikolovska, CSOs have useful skills, such as in advocacy and monitoring and evaluation, that public authorities lack. Authorities could benefit from CSO input into policy design and research into the type of skills needed in different localities to boost the economy.

“There are many opportunities, Nikolovska said: “There is also capacity development needed on the side of public authorities. So these two worlds can understand each other better.”

Cross country networks can boost CSO capacity

There are many European network organisations specialised in different aspects of skills development that are cooperating cross-country to build the capacity of CSOs.

“Research that we run under the Erasmus Plus programme asks about who helps CSOs most in building their capacity to engage. Often the conclusions are that networks are helping build capacity,” said Xhomaqi.

An example is LLLP’s lifelong learning labs, held in different countries to build skills and capacity, collaboration and synergies between education stakeholders, endorsed by the European Union. Such initiatives are excellent opportunities to mainstream good practices.

Cross country European and international schemes that allow for exchange of good practices and capacity building, peer learning and expertise sharing, are good examples that would support mainstreaming of this type of involvement of civil society.

Nikolovska said the ETF has learned that cross-country engagement in policy learning dialogues can help to save the time lost and the expense of repeating mistakes. This is critical when it involves intervention policy measures.

The need to value skills developed through CSOs

There has been growing discussion on how to value learning and skills developed within CSOs but outside of qualifications. A Making Skills Council event in Brussels this week spoke about a skills first approach, which the World Economic Forum is promoting.

“We haven't made up our minds yet, but the approach is that we would recognise skills acquired outside of qualifications more. Employers are more and more keen to look at experience that is not purely from an education curriculum. Research is showing a lot of need for transversal skills and they are often acquired in context of civil society,” said Xhomaqi.

Nikolovska added: “For me, it is very important not to insist that every single training should be certified,” she said. Skills development is changing very quickly. “We need space for creativity, for innovation. I count on CSOs to think about the important types of services they offer that public authorities, because of constraints, cannot offer.”

Cultural and societal norms, and capacity

Achieving a baseline of civil society engagement in skills development could be an objective, said Nikolovska. This is closely linked to cultural, economic and governance contexts.

“There are different types of actors shaping the area. There are different types of setting from an institutional point of view. All have significant impact on the engagement of CSOs, profoundly in human capital development policies.” An important aspect is the role international donors play in supporting the development of CSOs.

The quality of CSO engagement differs between countries, Xhomaqi pointed out. “That is why we need a more systemic and structured involvement of CSOs throughout all the processes. This is very often a culture, because the way a skills ecosystem is built in a country varies a lot and depends on social habits and how the education system has been built and has evolved.”

She gave the example of the cultural barrier surrounding adult education in many countries, where most people think that once they have graduated from university, they are done with studying.

“Imagine the consequences this has for skills development strategies.

Xhomaqi said that there can be issues around the capacity of CSOs to contribute to policy consultation. “Very often it is really a question of capacity, time and resources to dedicate to that. But problems can also lie with public authorities.”

She used the LLLP as an example. “When European institutions launch consultation on policy, there is often very little time to contribute to the process.” Also, there can be many consultations happening at the same time. “We have to contribute to all of them. But it’s impossible.”

It is important to understand that the ‘core business’ of CSOs is assisting vulnerable people, and if the CSO has the resources, it can engage in policy, “but not automatically”.

Monitoring, reach and research

Monitoring and evaluating the implementation of policies, and their effectiveness and impacts, is one of the biggest challenges faced by public authorities. The potential role of CSOs in this work is increasingly recognised.

CSOs are very involved in monitoring and evaluating their own actions, so there is some capacity, said Nikolovska. “The fact is that often CSOs have available data and studies on what they have implemented that discover important elements that could be useful in processes for education and training policy decisions.”

The data CSOs have is one of their most valuable assets, said Xhomaqi. “It is more qualitative and context relevant data, that is just as relevant to policymaking and implementation because we are close to citizens who are affected by policies. We collect directly their perceptions of policies and their impacts.”

“It is important to remember that nothing about us should be decided without us. It is very important that every citizen, through CSOs has a say on policies and initiatives that will affect their lives," concluded Xhomaqi.

“We cannot afford to leave out anyone.”