IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

WORK PROGRAMME YEAR 2013

COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE IN GOVERNANCE

Final version for approval 13.02.2013

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Project TitleCommunity of Practice in Governance TED-COP WP13-40-18-GOV

0. Summary (This section will go on the ETF website after editing by COMM)

The Community of Practice in Governance (CoP GOV), under the TED Department, comprises 7 persons, with some occasional extra participants. Its function is to support thematically the work of ETF in partner countries in the fields of Governance, Social Partnership, and Territorial Development in VET, among others. In 2013 the CoP will build upon the work carried out in 2011-2012, for improving and refining tools and methodologies, know-how and expertise that can help ETF to assist partner countries in addressing their main challenges in the fields above mentioned. The CoP will also invest in the development of ETF expertise in the field of financing VET and will provide thematic contributions into ETF’s corporate events and into EU requests. The project will also ensure ETF representation to international conferences and events focusing on these issues.

The topic of governance of VET systems is at the forefront of reform discussions in ETF partner countries. The Torino Process, a review of VET policies carried out by ETF in its partner countries every two years, shows how the challenges related to governance systems (institutional fragmentation, need for more effective coordination mechanisms, demand for participation of different stakeholders, in particular civil society and social partners, decentralisation processes in different stages of implementation, financing and funding of VET systems) are among the main obstacles and opportunities for carrying out successfully reforms in the VET systems across all regions where ETF is active. The Corporate Conference on Multilevel Governance, held by ETF in May-June 2012 offered an opportunity to settle the scene among ETF partner countries, EU Member States, EU representatives and international donors and organisations. The concept of Multilevel Governance has in this way set up the framework for ETF work in this area and has created a space for dialogue with the countries encompassing all the levels (central, regional, local) both vertically (decentralisation, deconcentration and devolution processes) as well as horizontally (coordination mechanisms and participation schemes). Topics connected with governance, such as financing or regional and local development are being discussed in all the countries. ETF needs to make an expert contribution in these areas in order to be able to foster the implementation of other reforms that take place within the systems.

The work of CoP GOV is inspired by several principles: 1) consolidation and dissemination of the conceptual work carried out in the past two years; 2) a greater focus on countries, in order to be able to test methodologies and concepts and feed back into them to convert them in policy tools that can be effectively applied by the countries; 3) exploration of new topics (financing and funding, role of the civil society in VET, participation mechanisms such as sectoral councils and others). These will be done through activities implemented directly by the CoP (such as the finalisation of the methodology for assessing multilevel governance, the preparation of positions papers and policy briefs, initial studies on new topics such as financing, expertise sharing sessions). The CoP will also support through its expertise and active participation in the work of other ETF Departments in country and regional projects. Last but not least, the CoP GOV will be leading the expert contributions of ETF in international conferences in the matters under its competence, as well as in the Corporate ETF events (Torino Process May Conference, Marseilles High Level Forum, Donors’ meetings, among others). The CoP GOV will as well support the European Commission in any thematic request in the field of governance that may come up during the year.

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1. Background

The Torino Process 2012 shows in its reports covering most of the partner countries of the ETF, as well as in the analysis done region by region and in the cross country comparison the growing interest and importance of the topics related to Governance. Most countries have reported important challenges, which range from how to map the governance arrangements, how to make decisions in terms of models to be chosen, how to set up effective participation mechanisms in the decision making processes, the difficulties of effective coordination, and the new situations in terms of territorial governance (growing importance of the sub-national territorial divisions in the design and management of the VET systems). The conclusion of the TRP is that governance lies at the very heart of the decision making processes to design and implement reforms. Governance of VET systems is also deeply interlinked, as illustrated in Torino Process, with other critical issues like financing, where countries still have a long way to go in terms of reform implementation. The governance of the VET systems is intrinsically linked to the vision for VET reform in the countries and can be either a tool for success or a critical factor leading to failure. Partner countries are interested in the topic, in learning from experience and in counting on tools that can facilitate some of the processes. The understanding of the governance systems produces in addition an insight into how to link different reforms among themselves (educational, employment, economic reforms). Governance arrangements also appear as key for enhanced transparency and accountability in the countries.

The ETF Corporate Conference on Multilevel Governance, held in Brussels in May-June 2012 with participation of all ETF partner countries, plus EU Member States, the European Commission and other international donors set up the framework for the work of the CoP GOV in the years to come. The main principles for Multilevel Governance, as well as the development of a ten step methodology to map it in the countries, with pilot cases run, provided the conceptual basis for a collective understanding of the issues and terminology, as well as to the identification of challenges and opportunities. The completion of the methodology, to be converted in a tool kit user friendly for interested countries, is one of the topics that links the work of 2012 with that of 2013 for the CoP. The implementation by ETF of new EU programmes, such as FRAME and GEMM, creates a unique opportunity for testing this methodology (with some adaptations) in two different regions of ETF partner countries, and feedback the results into more refined and adequate methodological tools.

In parallel to this, the ETF position papers and policy briefs developed by the CoP in 2012 not only on the issue of MLG, but also in others such as Social Partnership have created a sound basis to be applied in ETF projects and activities across the countries. Consolidating and disseminating those, as well as developing similar conceptual documents in other topics such as Sectoral Skills Councils or in Territorial Governance (which consultation with the countries and with the Geographical Units in ETF have indicated as crucial for some regions) have become in this way activities of the CoP for 2013.

The request for new topics, in particular financing and funding, as well as coordination mechanisms, is arising from the Torino Process and for the needs expressed also within ETF, in particular for the implementation of new EU programmes, such as the GEMM project (Governance for Employability in the Mediterranean).

The fact that ETF has been positioning itself in the field of Governance during the past two years has created also the need to make a substantial thematic input in corporate and high level events, both organised by ETF or by other international organisations. Workshops, presentations and papers will be prepared by the CoP GOV during 2013 to make a meaningful input in these events, often in discussion and exchange with other donors active in the field and in permanent dialogue with the partner countries.

The key partner for the CoP Gov is the CoR with which cooperation has been developed for the development of the concept of MGL in VET and the respective position paper. MOreover, cooperation with the CoR is pursued through its ARLEM and CORLEAP netwroks that include our partner countries. Also, analysis of EU approaches in the field of VET governance expressed in different EC Communications and the work of CEDEFOP has been made for the development of the MLG position paper and a close monitoring of developments in the EU will continue to be made during the coming year. Other organisations working in the field of Governance is mainly the OECD and the World Bank. The work of those organisations has been analysed in the MLG position paper and further opportunities for possible future exchange or cooperation will be explored during the coming year.

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In this respect, donors and other international organisations are key stakeholders advising either or funding VET in ETF PCs and other developing countries. The topic of governance in education and training is increasingly higher in their agendas due to VET leaders in many countries are very concerned on how to make VET policies and systems more relevant and attractive to users. CoP Governance will continue creating synergies with the EC, CEDEFOP, international partners and donors. This can be done through knowledge-sharing (e.g. governance methodology, the ETF experience working with social partners, developments experience on territorial governance in PCs etc.). This also can make the ETF gaining international good practice on new trends and recent developments at international level on VET governance to support further policy learning in PCs.

2. Overall Objective

To support VET reform in ETF partner countries through the development of relevant expertise, tools, approaches and methods to analyse and facilitate policy decision and reforms in the field of governance of VET systems.

2.1. Project Purpose/Specifics Objective/s

2.1.1 To develop analytical tools, concepts and approaches that can be used by partner countries when addressing the reforms of the governance of their VET systems, including issues like territorial governance, social partnership and financing

2.1.2 To position ETF as centre of expertise in the field of governance (and connected topics) vis a vis the international community and the EU

3. Project Approach

3.1. Target CountriesAll ETF partner countries:

3.2. Target BeneficiariesPlease select one or more target countries and beneficiaries from the below lists:

x European CommissionEU Delegation

x Ministry of Educationx Ministry of Labour/Employment/Social affairsx Ministry of Economyx Regional and local authoritiesx Schools and other training institutions

Teachers and Trainersx Social partners

Employment officesBusiness

x Donorx NGOs

Other

3.3. Methodology

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The work of the CoP will develop under the umbrella concept of multilevel governance and it is organised under five main pillars, as follows;

1) Deepening the concept of MLG: the main activities here will be the dissemination of the existing tools and papers developed during 2012 and in particular, the fine-tuning of the Methodology for Mapping MLG, which originally developed in 2012 and which is now to be tested in a range of ETF partner countries (in particular in the SEMED countries, through the implementation of the GEMM project but also in the WBT through the component 2 of the FRAME project). Some CoP members are directly involved in the project teams that are implementing these projects. But, further to that, the approach of the CoP will be to analyse the lessons learnt during the piloting of the methodology through the above mentioned programmes and bring it back into the completion of the final methodology document to be proposed as a specific tool to the countries by ETF.

2) Coordination mechanisms: this will be done in particular following the work of ETF in the countries of the Eastern Partnership and Central Asia in the field of Sectoral Skills Councils (also relevant developments in SEMED and Pre-accession countries) and extracting the practical lessons and needs of the countries to be reflected in a Position Paper and a Policy Brief on Sectoral Councils. At the same time, exploratory work will be done in the field of participation of civil society into governance arrangements in the countries. This work will also be enriched by the experiences of the CoPQual and the ILP Match on the topic

3) Territorial Governance: the work under this pillar will be inspired by activities already going on or starting in different countries (notably Tunisia, Morocco and Ukraine). The CoP will have in parallel a function of Helpdesk for country managers within ETF that would start activities in regional or local development but also an expertise development function with the production of a Policy Brief on Territorial Development and a mapping and analysis of the activities already taking place in ETF around the topic.

4) Financing and funding mechanisms: the CoP will carry out starting up work on the issue of financing, which is very much on request in ETF partner countries and where ETF has taken some initiatives in the past that have not been followed up in a continuous way. It is therefore development work for a new thematic policy area for ETF, which will also be under request in the implementation of the GEMM project. Expert input will be made by the CoP in the corresponding component of GEMM and separately, a study and trainings will be implemented The output at the end of the year will materialise in a position paper on Financing and funding for ETF.

5) Contribution to Corporate ETF events and international conferences: the CoP GOV will lead a thematic workshop in the corporate Conference for Torino Process to be held by ETF in 8-9 May 2013; it will also make a content input into the High Level Policy Forum to be organised by ETF in Marseilles in October 2013 with Ministers from the SEMED region. In addition, the CoP GOV will run specialised workshops for the Young Mediterranean Leaders meeting in ETF (February 2013) and to the SEMED Donor Workshop in the same dates. Papers will be presented in high level international conferences such as the one organised by ARADO (Arab League) in December 2013. Knowledge sharing events (on topics such a Regional Development and Financing) will be held during the year regularly. In addition, the CoP GOV will contribute to the revision of the Analytical Framework for TRP 2014 under the leadership of EBP

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4. Outputs

Outputs table

PLANNING

ETF FUNCTION A. ETF Function indicators B. ETF Theme C. Description output

D. Target Q E. ETF Corporate output

F. Planned Publication

1. Input to Commission sector programming and project cycle

1.1 Country reviews and needs analysis Select one of the following:-Publication (EB)-Working doc.-Web only

1.2 Support for EC instruments programming

1.3 SWAP support and preparation ( identification, feasibility, financing)

1.4 Project design (identification, feasibility, financing

1.5 SPSP/Project implementation support and follow-up

A,B

1.6 Support to regional policy dialogue

2. Support to partner countries capacity building

2.1 Capacity for policy evidence creation2.2 Capacity for policy formulation2.3 Capacity for policy implementation2.4 Capacity for policy review

3. Policy analysis

3.1 Comparative analysis3.2 Country studies3.3 Thematic studies3.4 Analytical tools

A,B,C 3.3 Finalisation of policy brief on MLG

3.3 Policy brief on Territorial Development3.3 Position Paper on Sectoral Skills

Q2

Q2

Publicaton (EB)

Publication (EB)

Councils

3.3 Draft Study on financing and Position Paper

3.4 Revised Methodology for mapping MLG (based on experience in countries through GEMM and FRAME)

3.4 Contribution to the revised analytical framework for TRP 2014

Q4

Q4

Q4

Q4

Working doc

B,C

A

A,B,C3.A.141 (1)

Working doc

Working doc

Working doc (tbc)

4. Dissemination and Networking

4.1 Specialised publications4.2 Promoting collaborations and facilitation of dissemination activities/events4.3 ICT-based dissemination

A Thematic workshop on Governance in May Conference

Contribution to High Level Forum Marseilles

Workshops for donors and YMLs

Paper for ARADO Conference

Q2

Q4

Q1

Q4

4.A.143 (1)

A

A

A

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5. Results

1. ETF expertise in the fields of MLG, territorial development and sector skills councils is systematised and ready to provide guidance to ETF work in the countries and regions

2. Enhanced visibility of ETF’s work in the international arena

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Annex 1 Logical Framework Matrix

Project number: Team Leader: Date:

INTERVENTION LOGICOBJECTIVELY VERIFIABLE

INDICATORSSOURCES OF VERIFICATION ASSUMPTIONS

OVERALL OBJECTIVE

To support VET reform in ETF partner countries through the development of relevant expertise, tools, approaches and methods to analyse and facilitate policy decision and reforms in the field of governance of VET systems.

PROJECT PURPOSE/SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE(S)To develop analytical tools, concepts and approaches that can be used by partner countries when addressing the reforms of the governance of their VET systems, including issues like territorial governance, social partnership and financing

To position ETF as centre of expertise in the field of governance (and connected topics) vis a vis the international community and the EU

Methodology for mapping MLG tested in the countries and completed

ETF presents its knowledge and position in the field of governance in corporate events and international conferences

Research papers

Analytical tools

Invitations to conferences

Citations in papers

Territorial governance, social partnership and financing of VET remain topics of interest for the partner countries.

RESULTS

1. ETF expertise in the fields of MLG, territorial development and sector skills councils is systematised and ready to provide guidance to ETF work in the countries and regions

2. Enhanced visibility of ETF’s work in the international arena

ETF corporate debates and strategies on good multilevel governance, social partnerships and regional development acknowledged and branded.

Concept on Sectoral Skills Councils and participation mechanisms explored in the countries and analysed in a Position Paper.

Concept of Territorial Governance for VET explored in the countries and analysed in a Policy Brief.

Start-up thematic work in the field of

Gather and disseminate relevant information

Organising learning platforms and discussion sessions (cappuccino) for ETF staff.

Position papers

Presentations and papers at conferences

Policy analyses and priorities of the partner countries identify the need for additional expertise and policy development in governance.

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Financing and Funding carried out and reflected in a Position Paper.

Better understanding of financing VET issues within ETF

Liaising with relevant PC’s, European and International institutions and organisations

Governance, Social Partners and Regional Development Networks strengthened.

Implement ETF Framework on Regional Development Strategy

ACTIVITIESDrafting of policy brief on territorial development

Drafting of position paper on Sector Councils

Finalisation of methodology on MLG mapping

Organisation of thematic workshop on Governance

Implementation of study on Financing VET

Regular content related meetings of the CoP members

for developing the different products

MEANS

- ETF experts FTE

- International experts

- National experts

ALLOCATED PROJECT BUDGET

50.000 EURO

Annex 2 Division of roles and responsibilities List of tasks and responsibilities by project members

Project member Role FTE Specific responsibility and task of each project team memberECP Thematic Facilitator 0.30 Coordination and leadership function inside the CoP. Planning, reporting, work

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distribution among members of the CoP. Ensure timely implementation of the CoP activities and quality of the products. Leads for preparation of input for Corporate events and processes

JMG Specialist 0.15 Contributes to Pillar 2 (participation mechanisms), Pillar 1 (finalisation of methodology) and Pillar 4 (Financing). Leads for ARADO Conference

PTL Specialist 0.10 Leads for Pillar 2 (Participation mechanisms) in particular Sectoral Skills CouncilsPVU Specialist 0.35 Contributes to Pillar 3 (Territorial Governance) and leads for links with Entrepreneurial

CommunitiesMDO Specialist 0.25 Leads for Pillar 3 (Territorial Governance) and for Pillar 4 (Financing and funding

mechanisms)MPR Specialist 0.20 Leads for Pillar 1 (Methodology completion)MAR Project Assistant 0.10 Administrative, procurement and financial support for the project; meetings organisation

and minutes; knowledge management of documents; follow up of publications; events organisation

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