User:Career EU/Career EU

European Association of Career Guidance (EACG)
The EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF CAREER GUIDANCE (EACG) was established in 25th May 2010, during the European Career Guidance Counselling Conference 2010 CAREER-EU 2010, which took place in Limassol, Cyprus in 23-27 May 2010, with the support of the European Commission. The EACG, as well as the CAREER-EU 2010 Conference, are one of the outcomes of the EU funded project CAREER-EUshop - One-stop-service Career Guidance Counselling for Europeans (Lifelong Learning Programme sub-programme GRUNDTVIG), launched in October 2008 and coordinated by the University of Cyprus. The overall purpose of the Association is to support and improve the efforts of career guidance stakeholders and labour market experts to provide services that help European citizens to overcome the impact of the current crisis, but also to improve cooperation and exchange of information between career guidance and labour market practitioners. The Association’s main purposes are to:
 * 1) Enable information and experience exchange by the Career Guidance Counsellors,
 * 2) Circulate provisions of the Lisbon Strategy and its updates in academic and professional circles,
 * 3) Support the process of raising education and professional standards and quality in the territory of the European Union,
 * 4) Support and contribute to the European policy of Career Guidance and Employment,
 * 5) Organise training courses for the promotion of Lifelong Learning (LLL) of the Career Guidance Counsellors,
 * 6) Organise seminars and conferences, which will enable direct communication among the Association members and beyond and for the definition of new areas of the Association activities,
 * 7) Prepare proposals within the framework of the European Commission’s funds,
 * 8) Cooperate as a coordinator or partner in European projects,
 * 9) Produce publication of interest to the members

A special emphasis is given to sustainable network activities in order to share and spread good practices and concrete cases on a permanent basis.

EACG Target Groups – Membership
The Association is open to any individual or organisation interested or dealing with Career or Employment issues, as well as any organisation willing to become a One-Stop-Service-Shop for Career Guidance. The application procedure to become a member of the Association is very easy. The following link provides direct access to the subscription webpage and all the necessary information that the applicant needs to know (link).

History
In European Union today many public and private centres and local authorities are giving career services as a life long process in different ways in their attempt to deal with unemployment. There is no method of collecting and sharing of good practices, experiences and innovative practices at European Level. Because of this lack of information and communication, EU doesn’t have the opportunity to share the knowledge, coordinate processes and results of the services, disseminate and take advantage of good practices and train the counsellors. In October 2008, the EU funded project CAREER-EUshop - One-stop-service Career Guidance Counselling for Europeans was launched, with the purpose to provide EU counsellors with a common framework of best career counselling services, methods and practices in public and private institutions and authorities and develop a training programme for career counsellors. The project, funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme sub-programme GRUNDTVIG, is coordinated by the University of Cyprus - member of the European Office of Cyprus - and gathers partners from Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Norway and Spain and with an external evaluator from Austria. The project studies and analyses data collected in order to develop appropriate material for a course for career guidance counsellors and adult trainers including counselling for special needs people, marginalised and disadvantaged citizens, migrants and senior citizens, as well as to develop a guide with the course material and other useful dissemination materials. Among the activities of the project, were the organisation of an annual European Career Guidance Counselling Conference 2010 “CAREER-EU 2010” (23-27 May 2010, Limassol, Cyprus) and the establishment of the EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF CAREER GUIDANCE (EACG). The Conference “CAREER-EU 2010” dealt with current developments in the field of career guidance and employment in order to exchange experiences and to find solutions to soften the impacts of the current crisis on the labour markets and to improve the quality of life of European citizens. The European Association of Career Guidance was established during the course of the above mentioned conference.

CAREER-EUshop consortium
The CAREER-EUshop consortium consists of 8 institutions:


 * University of Cyprus (UCY) – Cyprus
 * European Association of Erasmus Coordinators (EAEC) – Cyprus
 * European Office of Cyprus (EOC) – Cyprus
 * Escola Superior de Educacao de Portalegre – Portugal
 * GRETA Tertiaire Nord 77 – France
 * Municipality of Volos (VM) – Greece
 * Norwegian Coast Sami Study Association (NCSSA) – Norway
 * Foundation – European Training Centre for Social Affairs and Public Health Care (CEFASS) – Italy