How can career guidance contribute to the emancipation of the low-skilled, the “underclass”, the marginalised, people with disabilities, the “invisible”, the NEETs …?

• To what extent are career guidance and career development affecting individual’s position on the labour market and the mobility of individuals in their working life?
• Can career guidance and career development help to prevent social marginalisation and exclusion? Is the role of the career guidance and career development changing?
• How can career services be delivered to marginalised individuals and communities? How are we addressing the diversity of marginalised clients?
• How can guidance empower individuals and communities and support collective actions e.g. for changes in the world of work etc.?
• Career guidance should not be seen as a marginalised policy area – how can be career guidance better perceived as an all-inclusive measure for all who wish it? Preventive, interventive and compensative approaches in guidance.

… and other possible topics for discussion.

New approaches to interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity for more holistic and inclusive practice: cross-cutting; cross-institutional; cross-sectoral; and making use of integrated case management approaches…

Contributions in this area should address the philosophical foundations of career guidance, the relationship between career guidance and other relevant disciplines, such as social work, educational sciences, psychology, psychotherapy, anthropology, (HR) management and business administration, etc. Papers should look at synergies of various disciplines and how they could support an inclusive society.

Possible questions to be discussed:

• How is the future of work and career perceived in economics, ecology, sociology, the technical sciences, gender or media studies and other relevant disciplines?
• How are the initial education and training programmes for careers professionals addressing interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity?
• How are multidisciplinary research projects contributing to social inclusion and justice and addressing the themes of career guidance and career development? How are researchers integrating different disciplinary perspectives and approaches?
• Are career guidance and counselling services for citizens harnessing more holistic approaches, supporting interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity, partnership approaches and interinstitutional cooperation?
• How can career guidance contribute to sustainability and sustainable development? Social systems and environment are interconnected – could guidance affect them both?

… and other possible topics for discussion.

Guidance and challenges of societies in transition:  Is career guidance perceived as a luxury, a tool for “selection of the fittest” or as an instrument for inclusion?

In this area theoretical, practical and policy issues should be discussed. Contributions should address:

• the meaning of work across different socio-economic groups, genders, cultures and generations;
• perceived roles and objectives of career guidance: career adaptability, employability, career management skills, career maturity, individual emancipation, extending career capabilities…?
• the indigenisation of career theory and the theory-practice divide that currently exists;
• what policy framework needs to exist for effective career guidance and career development? How can this be brought about, quality assured and evaluated? What policy gaps exist and how can a coordinated policy framework be achieved?
• an audit of services across different sectors in order to determine the type of services needed, access issues, impact of these services as well as  gaps that might exist.

Possible questions to be discussed:

• What roles can career guidance play in meeting the needs of citizens in transition economies?
• To what extent is the skill mismatch, over-education and substantial skills shortages in transition economies affecting young people, adults and older workers? Is this challenge sufficiently met by career guidance and counselling?

… and other possible topics for discussion.

Expectations and roles of different stakeholders, different approaches to these changes and challenges.

Contributions in this area should discuss how the economic and technological changes referred to as Industry 4.0 could contribute to a more inclusive society (Inclusive Society 4.0?). What is the role of career guidance in the era of Industry 4.0 and in the context of social changes driven by it. Other possible topics include discussion about questions such as:

• What are the expectations connected with Industry 4.0 amongst the various stakeholders of career guidance? Where are the tensions and alignments in these different viewpoints?
• Can agreement be found regarding the life skills that support social inclusion? What is the role of different stakeholders in supporting these skills among citizens/clients/employees?
• Is Industry 4.0 supporting lifelong learning and will it bring more meaningful work in the future? What is our role in designing a better future within it?
• In the light of these social changes is it more important that ever to ensure that career guidance and career development is committed to social justice?
• What is the role of teachers, career guidance practitioners, and career guidance education in preparing young generation for 4.0 labour market?
• What are the possible career and HR development strategies and practices in companies which can help to respond to these changes and challenges?
• How much do career guidance practitioners’ skills and career management skills need to be changed for 4.0 labour market?
• To what extent will nascent technologies will affect the way we obtain, store and disseminate career guidance information?
• How are socio-economic trends (such as platform economies, general unconditional income, alternative economies) contributing to an inclusive society 4.0? What challenges do they bring for career guidance practice?

… and other possible topics for discussion

Guidance as a social contract. Preventive role of career guidance and career education as a measure to promote active citizenship and inclusion.  Active (world/global) citizenship as part of career development? The role of career guidance and counselling on todays’ critical issues on democracy, participation and environment.

Contributions in this area should think beyond contemporary practice in career guidance and consider how the field can connect more deeply with the values of democratic societies and democratic participation.

Possible questions to be addressed:

• What is the role of career guidance and career education in supporting democratic values such as respect, solidarity, freedom, openness and social justice?
• In which ways can we understand the emancipatory aspect of career guidance?
• What are democratic approaches in guidance practices and policies?
• How can guidance promote active citizenship?
• What can we do as guidance community in times of risk to sustainable life on the planet?
• How are the voices of clients, communities, practitioners heard?
• What is the role of guidance in preventing and countering fascism and extremism?
• How could career guidance support democratic engagement, such as volunteering (volunteering as an exercise of democracy)?
• Career counsellors as agents of change?
• Is guidance meaningful only in a democratic dialogue?

… and other possible topics for discussion