Europe and North America

The validation of non-formal and informal learning is a part of the national education and training system of Reconhecimento, validação e certificação de competências (Portuguese for recognition, validation and certification of competences (RVCC)) in Portugal. The goal of validation is to increase the levels of school and professional certification among the employed and unemployed adult population in Portugal. The policy aims to prepare human resources for economic development and to support the labour market. Centros Qualifica (Portuguese for local adult education centres) offer validation of non-formal and informal learning in the whole country and Madeira Island and increase access to recognition, validation and competence certification processes for adult learners (Guimarães, 2019).

The maximum prison sentence in Norway is 21 years. In the final three years of a sentence, the inmate is eligible to be transferred to Bastøy prison, located on Bastøy Island in the Oslo Fiord of Horten municipality. Bastøy prison is a multi-building complex and a working farm and timber operation where inmates work and some have privileges to leave the prison to attend school or work on the mainland during the day. Organized as a small island community, the prison infrastructure includes about 80 buildings, roads, beach zones, a cultural landscape, a football field, agricultural land and forest. Most of the prisons in Norway have libraries for inmates. Bastøy prison, however, is noted for its library. The prison director, Tina Hansen, was awarded the 2016 Library Award by the Vestdfold County section of the Norwegian Library Association for her work on the Bastøy Prison Library.

European Universities’ Charter on Lifelong Learning called on universities to make ten clear commitments to lifelong learning and recommended concerted action from governments in providing the appropriate legal and financial frameworks to promote lifelong learning widely.

The Open University (OU) is a public research university based in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland offering off-campus undergraduate and postgraduate courses for credit. The OU is notable for flexible, innovative teaching and for allowing enrolment from anywhere in the world. The OU uses a unique method of distance learning called ‘supported open learning’. The goal of the university is to address the needs of part-time working students and engage those who would otherwise be excluded from the formal education population. The university also offers non-degree qualifications through certificate courses and continuing education units. The Open University is one of three UK higher education institutions accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (US) under the United States Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (The Open University, 2020).

Family Literacy (FLY) is a project designed to support active parenting in the context of language education. The project promotes literacy skills among parents to better support children’s language learning at home. The inclusive approach provides a bridge between family and education that supports the development of the child. The special focus of the project is families of migrant and socially disadvantaged backgrounds (State Institute for Teacher Training and School Development, n.d).