professor i bærekraft vitenskap ved Islands Universitet. Hun var dekan for det naturvitenskaplige fakultet ved universitetet 2008-2012.

is the Manager of Public Science Communication Programmes at the University of Iceland (UI). She has a MSc degree in Science Communication from UWE in Bristol, UK.

is a Project Manager at the Icelandic Ministry for Education, Science and Culture. She has a MSc degree in Cultural Management & Policy from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh

Margrethe Hernes -
Scepticism is a general challenge to validation, stated Margrethe Hernes, senior adviser at the Norwegian Agency for Lifelong Learning. Recent surveys show that the institutions of higher education in Norway haven’t yet fully embraced the concept.

Åge Hanssen -
The Adult Education Act of 1976 gave all adults a right to have their knowledge and skills documented, explained Åge Hanssen, senior adviser at the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, in his presentation on the Norwegian primary and secondary education system.

Dr. Christine Wihak -
She once threw her own university diplomas into the flames of her fireplace. It was an action born out of a desperate need to break free of the constraints imposed by the formal education system. Today Dr. Christine Wihak has come to peace with a combination of formal and non-formal education. As she claims, the learning revolution is here.

Martina Ni Cheallaigh: Since the Swedes opened up the perspective from not only being lifelong but also lifewide learning in the year 2000, a lot of work has been done in the EU Commission in this field, Martina Ni Cheallaigh explains. And in 2010, she tells us, validation was revisited. Martina Ni Cheallaigh: The biggest challenge for validation today is that no budget is foreseen for it, Martina Ni Cheallaigh concludes. - The costs are hidden and we have only anecdotal evidence of the real cost, and this has to be addressed properly.

Ute Haller-Block -
The European tools for lifelong learning are setting the scene for validation, claims Ute Haller-Block of EACEA. At the conference she presented the different tools in this field developed by the EU.

Madhu Singh -
Different rolesIn addition to all these EU-made tools, UNESCO has developed Guidelines for the Recognition, Validation and the Accreditation of the Outcomes of Non-formal and Informal Learning.

- Most decisions in the field of validation are currently based on faith, economist and researcher Patrick Werquin said in his conference presentation. - Swedish researcher Per Andersson presented some insights into the work being done in the Nordic countries. Although some data is available, he, too, emphasized the need for more research in the field of validation.

Jens Bjornavold -
The qualifications frameworks can facilitate validation. “The frameworks use learning outcome as a reference instead of educational input. That creates a common language between sectors, and it is a condition for validation.”

Michael Feutrie -
To create continuity in discontinuity, that is the role of validation in lifelong learning according to Michel Feutrie. But in spite of support from EU-policy there is no shared definition or vision of validation, rather resistance from some important stakeholders, he said.

Michael Teutsch -
“Qualifications frameworks are more than stratification,” said Michael Teutsch of the European Commission. “For many countries in Europe it is also an opportunity to develop validation of non-formal learning,” he added.