A silent white coat of snow fell on Oslo as almost 50 adult education professionals from all over Europe met at the AVA expert seminar on validation at the beginning of February. The goal: an action-plan to make validation of non-formal education a reality.

How can you prove that you have a skill? Can you grade democratic competencies? Validation in non-formal adult learning has been a thorny issue for decades. Now, we might be close to a solution. At least, that seemed to be the implicit message when more than 45 experts from all over Europe met in Oslo for a two-day expert seminar on validation.