Human capital is seen as a key element in the European Union's Lisbon Strategy for growth. European citizens are among the best educated and some European education and training systems rank among the best in the world. However, Europe needs to remain vigilant to ensure that everyone has the skills and competencies they need to live and work in the knowledge society; therefore, strong investment in education and training systems is important. Relevant issues to consider when investing include improving the quality and effectiveness of education and training systems; ensuring equality of access; and opening education and training to the wider world. To understand the challenges countries face and to develop solid policy strategies, policy-makers require well-founded information and high-quality research, which Panteia can provide.

From its inception, a large proportion of the research conducted by Panteia has been in the fields of education and training. Partly based on its strong position in the Dutch market, Panteia has built up an impressive track record of research projects for international clients. Our broad experience and expertise in the field of education and training also led a number of clients to deploy Panteia in a supporting capacity. Over the last few years, Panteia has executed assessments, monitoring, evaluations, and analyses in all areas of education, including primary education, secondary education, higher education, vocational education and training, and adult education. Most of these projects have been related to following themes:

• Labour markets, labour conditions, and benefit packages for teachers and trainers
• Management of educational institutes
• Curriculum development
• Harmonising education and the labour market
• Safety in schools
• Internationalisation

Should you require any further information about Panteia or one of our projects in particular, please do not hesitate to contacts us. We will be glad to be of service.

Below you will find a small selection of relevant projects that have been carried out in the last three years.

Key competences for adult learning professionals
The professional development and the improvement of the quality of adult learning staff have been recognised as a priority at European level. However, on European and national levels there is no clear view on the standard competences or skills needed to fulfil the professional tasks in adult learning, partly due to the diversity of the field. In some European countries competence profiles and standards for adult learning staff have been developed and implemented. Their scope of application differs considerably between institutional and regional levels. Overall, there is a need for more comprehensive research on this issue with a view to identifying skills and competence needs for those working in the adult-learning sector. Moreover, further comparative studies on existing good practice will be needed in order to reach a deeper understanding of the conceptual elements as well as the strategies and methods of implementation appropriate for the specific cultural background. This is necessary to assist other countries in finding adequate ways to adapt existing examples to their own context .This study aimed at developing a common set of key competences as a reference for Europe, which can be used on a voluntary basis. Furthermore, the study proposes ways in which this set of key competences can be used to further develop the quality of staff in the sector.

Interim-evaluation lifelong learning programme 2007-2009
For the European Commission Panteia is carrying out the interim evaluation of the Lifelong Leanring programme 2007-2009 (as subcontractor of our Lithuanian partner PPMI). By 2010, the current Lifelong Learning Programme has run for three years. In order to improve the continuation of the programme, and to provide recommendations for the successor programme (2014 - 2019), the Commission has launched an interim evaluation. As stated in the Terms of reference, the objective of this evaluation is twofold, namely to provide a retrospective and a prospective analysis. The retrospective analysis will take the form of an interim evaluation of various aspects of the implementation of the LLP and the results achieved. The prospective analysis will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the Lifelong Learning Programme as well as providing recommendations on the continued programme implementation of the current programme and the programme design for the successor programme. The interim evaluation will assess the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the implementation of the Lifelong Learning Programme and analyse the results achieved so far. By doing so, the evaluation will assess the strengths and weaknesses of the programme design and generate recommendations for the continuation of the programme and for the successor programme, for which the Commission will submit a draft proposal in the first semester of 2011. The evaluation cover the period from 2007-2009 and will include analysis of the overall programme as well as its sub-programmes.

Methods: Desk research, case studies, (telephone) interviews

Commissioned by: European Commission, DG Education and Culture

Period: January 2010 to December 2010

Assessment of the impact of ongoing reforms in education and training on adult learning sector
Adult learning is a vital dimension of high quality strategies and systems for lifelong learning. At the same time, it is closely interwoven with all the other education and training sectors - general, vocational and higher education. Thus reforms in these sectors can often impact directly or indirectly on adult learning as well. Moreover reforms, developments and trends in areas other than education and training, such as health care, the environment, social and labour market policy also have a material effect on the adult learning sector. In 2007, the Commission followed up its work on adult learning by drawing up an Action Plan It is always a good time to learn, in which the importance of adult learning as a key component of li-felong learning has been again highlighted. The Action Plan which runs until the end of 2010. Research voor Beleid / Panteia is asked to provide a thorough analysis of ongoing developments, reforms and mo-dernisation in the adult learning sector in the countries participating in the Education and Training 2010 process. It should also take into account those issues impacting on adult education and training, whether or not they are initially intended to affect this sector.

Methods: Desk research, literature study, expert interviews, focus groups

Commissioned by: European Commission, DG Education and Culture

Period: January 2010 to December 2010

Lifelong learning in higher education
In 2000 the European Council set out to transform Europe into of the world's most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economies by 2010. Education is a key factor in reaching the objectives of the Lisbon agenda. This is emphasised in the 'Education & Training 2010' programme. The European Commission emphasises the importance of investing in both initial and post-initial education. Adult education plays in a big part in the lifelong learning strategy and in reaching the above-mentioned objectives. The Commission has drawn up an action plan to support the Member States in improving adult education and to contribute to the implementation of lifelong learning. Despite the high percentage of highly education persons, this implementation process is lagging behind in most Member States. Moreover, attention is paid increasingly to pre-school education and to signalling educational gaps at an early stage. In most member states, post-initial and adult education do not receive a great deal of attention. This is also the case in the Netherlands. The Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Science (OCW) would like to be informed on how the Netherlands performs in comparison to other countries as for as lifelong learning in higher education is concerned. Which strategies and instruments are used to further higher education participation are some of the areas of particular interest.

Methods: Desk research, literature study, interviews

Commissioned by: Dutch Ministry of Education and Culture

Period: January 2010 to May 2010

Developing an European reference framework of competences for adult learning staff
The professional development and improvement of the quality of adult learning staff have been recognised as a priority at the European level. However, at the European and national levels there is no clear view of the standard competences or skills needed to fulfil the professional tasks involved in adult learning, partly due to the diversity of the field. In some European countries competence profiles and standards for adult learning staff have been developed and implemented. Their scope of application differs considerably between the different institutional and regional levels. Overall, there is a need for more comprehensive research on this issue with a view to identifying skills and competence needs for those working in the adult learning sector. Moreover, further comparative studies on existing good practice will be needed in order to reach a deeper understanding of the conceptual elements as well as the strategies and methods of implementation appropriate for the specific cultural background. This is necessary to assist other countries in finding adequate ways to adapt existing examples to their own context. Therefore, the European Commission decided to put out a tender for a study on key competences for adult learning staff. The aim of this study is to analyse the possibility and feasibility of developing a common set of key competences as a reference for Europe, which can be used on a voluntary basis. Taking the scope of the study into account, and striving to provide a well qualified team, the core team of RvB is pooling its resources with a number of established experts in the field of adult learning who will assist the research team in drawing up a reference framework.

Instruments and incentives for promoting lifelong learning in the EU
Several instruments have been developed to actively promote training for employed people, often within the framework of the European Employment Strategy. These programmes provide incentives for firms and/or employees to participate in training. The scope of the project includes the identification and collection of information from all Member States on investment in training for employed people, an analysis of instruments and incentives for employers and employees to promote training of the employed, and an assessment of the short and long-term impact of these instruments.

A critical part of this project was the identification of good practices and deriving policy recommendations from these cases.

Study on the adult learning professions in Europe
Panteia has been commissioned to carry out a study of the adult learning professions in Europe. The study concerns general adult education and learning, the wide variety of offerings, ranging from subject-oriented, through development, career, social problem, and leisure-based training, to (handi)craft oriented courses or learning arrangements, facts about formal and informal adult learning, where possible enriched with views on what is happening in intentional learning settings of an informal nature, the professionals and the domains of adult education active in either initiating, leading, developing, administrating, monitoring, supporting, providing, or in promoting adult learning and the paths to be followed by those in these positions.

Evaluation of the Leonardo and Socrates programs
For the Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Science, Panteia conducted the national evaluation of the Socrates and Leonardo-programs. These are European Education Programs intended to reinforce European cooperation in the field of education and vocational training, partly by providing grants to students who wish to study at foreign universities. Since January 2007, the various parts of the program have been integrated into the EC's Lifelong Learning Program. The results of the national evaluations will also be used to (further) develop the new program. Main conclusion is that the programs satisfied European, national and institutional needs with respect to development of innovative products, establishing relationships and increased educational mobility.

Local learning centres and learning partnerships in EU Member States
The Lisbon Agenda of the European Commission has an important spearhead in education and training for life and work in the knowledge economy, in which the development of educational centres and partnerships in the field of vocational training at a local level forms an important component. These centres should address diverse target groups (young people, unemployed, employed, inactive persons) and should manage the contacts between schools, companies, and research centres at a local level. In preparation of the EC’s second interim report on achieving the objectives in the field of education and training, Panteia, in cooperation with PLATO (an education research institute linked to Leiden University) carried out a research into Local Learning Centres in the 25 EU member states, the 3 accession countries Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, and the three European Economic Area countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein). The research examined to what extent local learning centres and partnerships could be made more accessible to citizens with respect to education and training. The research also focussed on the qualities and effects of partnerships and on ways of collectively contributing infrastructure, personnel, and teaching materials for the various target groups.  From the study it appears that there is a wide range of initiatives in Europe aimed at regional facilities for vocational training. These facilities are however far better developed and more accessible in the northern and western EU countries than in the new Member States in particular. The main conclusions from the research on preconditions for organizing local learning centres have been laid down in a Practical Guide.

Sectoral training funds in Europe
The main goal of this project is to gain a deeper and more detailed understanding of the functioning of sectoral training funds managed by the social partners in a selected group of countries, and to see how these funds can contribute in achieving the general objectives of lifelong learning at the EU level. The countries selected for this project are: Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Commissioned by:
Organisation: EIM Business & Policy Research
In cooperation with:

Scientific cooperation between the Netherlands and Russia
The Netherlands-Russia research cooperation programme started in 1992. In the Netherlands, the program is handled by NWO,under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Science (OC&W). In Russia, the program is managed by theRussian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR). The directorate of Research and Science Policy (part of OC&W) asked Researchvoor Beleid to evaluate the program. They measured the process, aim and impact of the bilateral cooperation. This was done bymeans of a document analysis, a survey among scientists participating in the program, and interviews with the people concerned inRussia and the Netherlands.