Validation and Recognition of Competences in Focus

At an event hosted by the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labour, current developments in the recognition and validation of competences acquired outside the formal context were at the centre of discussion.

The infor­ma­ti­on event, held on 3 November 2025 at the AK Upper Austria Congress Hall in Linz, brought together numerous experts from research and practice to exchange views on approa­ches, chal­lenges, and per­spec­ti­ves in this important field.

In her pre­sen­ta­ti­on “Austria in the European Context – Looking Beyond the Horizon”, Karin Luomi-Messerer (3s), high­ligh­ted inter­na­tio­nal deve­lo­p­ments and posi­tio­ned Austrian approa­ches in this context. Her con­tri­bu­ti­on included selected examples from the European Inventory on Validation of Non-formal and Informal Learning, alongside an analysis of the methods applied and the dis­tri­bu­ti­on of acti­vi­ties across the education, labour market, and third sectors.

Further inputs were provided by Birgit Mock (AK Upper Austria), pre­sen­ting recent findings from “Du kannst was”, Karin Gugitscher (öibf) on the current state of vali­da­ti­on in Austria, Philipp Assinger (University of Graz) on mul­ti­pro­fes­sio­nal approa­ches, as well as a panel dis­cus­sion with prac­ti­tio­ners from coun­sel­ling, con­ti­nuing education, and research.

The event was opened by AK President Andreas Stangl, who under­lined the importance of reco­g­nis­ing pro­fes­sio­nal com­pe­ten­ces as a key factor for fair oppor­tu­ni­ties in the labour market.

Following the event, AK Upper Austria hosted a cele­bra­to­ry ceremony honouring the graduates of the Upper Austrian social partner project “Du kannst was” for suc­cessful­ly com­ple­ting their app­ren­ti­ce­ship examinations.

The full event docu­men­ta­ti­on is available here.