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Background: The EAPC White Paper addresses the issue of spiritual care education for all palliative care professionals. It is to guide health care professionals involved in teaching or training of palliative care and spiritual care; stakeholders, leaders and decision makers responsible for training and education; as well as national and local curricula development groups. Methods: Early in 2018, preliminary draft paper was written by members of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) spiritual care reference group inviting comment on the four core elements of spiritual care education as outlined by Gamondi et al. (2013) in their paper on palliative care core competencies. The preliminary draft paper was circulated to experts from the EAPC spiritual care reference group for feedback. At the second stage feedback was incorporated into a second draft paper and experts and representatives of national palliative care organizations were invited to provide feedback and suggest revisions. The final version incorporated the subsequent criticism and as a result, the Gamondi framework was explored and critically revised leading to updated suggestions for spiritual care education in palliative care. Results: The EAPC white paper points out the importance of spiritual care as an integral part of palliative care and suggests incorporating it accordingly into educational activities and training models in palliative care. The revised spiritual care education competencies for all palliative care providers are accompanied by the best practice models and research evidence, at the same time being sensitive towards different development stages of the palliative care services across the European region. Conclusions: Better education can help the healthcare practitioner to avoid being distracted by their own fears, prejudices, and restraints and attend to the patient and his/her family. This EAPC white paper encourages and facilitates high quality, multi-disciplinary, academically and financially accessible spiritual care education to all palliative care staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: Neurology residency programmes, which were first established at the beginning of the 20th century, have become mandatory all over Europe in the last 40–50 years. The first European Training Requirements in Neurology (ETRN) were published in 2005 and first updated in 2016. This paper reports the most recent revisions of the ETRN. Methods: Members of the EAN board performed an in depth revision of the ETNR 2016‐version, which was reviewed by members of the European Board and Section of Neurology of the UEMS, the Education and Scientific Panels, the Resident and Research Fellow Section and the Board of the EAN, as well as the presidents of the 47 European National Societies. Results: The new (2022) ETRN suggest a 5‐year training subdivided in three phases: a first phase (2 years) of general neurology training, a second phase (2 years) of training in neurophysiology/neurological subspecialties and a third phase (1 year) to expand clinical training (e.g., in other neurodisciplines) or for research (path for clinical neuroscientist). The necessary theoretical and clinical competences as well as learning objectives in diagnostic tests have been updated, are newly organized in four levels and include 19 neurological subspecialties. Finally, the new ETRN require, in addition to a programme director, a team of clinician‐educators who regularly review the resident's progress. The 2022 update of the ETRN reflects emerging requirements for the practice of neurology and contributes to the international standardization of training necessary for the increasing needs of residents and specialists across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undergraduate clinical orthodontic experience may be expressed in a variety of ways. The most common way (used, inter alia, in the DentEd school visits) is by number of curriculum hours. Other ways include the number of patients seen, or number of procedures carried out. Whilst any of these methods may allow comparison between cohorts of students within a school or between schools, none of them are suitable to determine how much experience is ‘satisfactory’, nor do they indicate what the student should know, understand, or be able to do, to be considered ‘satisfactory’, and hence fit to graduate. This situation may be addressed by the use of competences and/or learning outcomes, and in 2004 the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) adopted a document that contained one major competence and five supporting competences in orthodontics. This paper considers the shortcomings of conventional methods of recording orthodontic experience in relation to the acquisition of these competences, and some ways in which staff and students may assess competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and production of cell gene and tissue (CGT)-based therapies requires a specialized workforce. Entering the CGT arena is complex because it involves different scientific and biomedical aspects (e.g., immunology, stem cell biology and transplantation), as well as knowledge of regulatory affairs and compliance with pharmaceutical quality standards. Currently, both industry and academia are facing a worldwide workforce shortage, whereas only a handful of educational and training initiatives specifically address the peculiarities of CGT product development, the procurement of substances of human origin, the manufacturing process itself and clinical monitoring and biovigilance. The training offered by traditional Master's and PhD programs is not suited for training a skilled workforce ready to enter the increasingly fast-growing CGT field. Indeed, typically these programs are of long duration and only partially cover the required competencies, whereas the demand for a specialized workforce relentlessly increases. In this paper, we (i) present and discuss our understanding of the roots of current growth acceleration of the CGT field; (ii) anticipate future workforce needs due to the expected increase of marketed CGT-based therapies and (iii) evaluate potential solutions that seek to adapt, develop and implement current educational and training initiatives. Importantly for these solutions, we call for scientific societies, such as the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy, to play a more active role and act as catalysers for new initiatives, building bridges between academia and Industry to establish effective educational and training programs that will engage and prepare a new generation of qualified professionals for entry into the CGT field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews research on education and childbearing in Europe over the last decade. Early demographic research attributed declining fertility in advanced economies in the second half of the twentieth century to increasing female educational levels. The twenty-first century has witnessed further increases in educational attainment coupled with trend reversals in fertility. The relationship between education and fertility has become more complex, sparking renewed interest in the interplay between the two life domains. We examine how educational enrolment and attainment influence individuals' fertility behaviour - both fertility timing and level - and how the relationship between education and fertility is shaped by contextual factors such as family policies, macroeconomic shocks, and normative changes in gender attitudes. We also summarise the recent literature on educational gradients in male fertility and review methodological developments to address issues of self-selection and unmeasured heterogeneity in the study of education and fertility. Finally, this paper identifies and discusses challenges and important areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper brings attention to the notion of 'religious affects', namely, the affects, emotions and feelings related to religion and religious experience. It is argued that educators and students have a lot to gain from paying attention to and exploring the meaning and role of religious feelings in the context of controversies and debates surrounding Islam in the West. In particular, the paper suggests that by exploring the affective dimensions of religious injury (e.g. irritation, dishonour, insult, injury, offense, outrage), educators and students can enhance their understanding of how religious emotions are involved in religious controversies such as the recent cartoon controversies in several European countries. It is argued that a richer comprehension of affective dimensions of religious controversies will help promote inter-religious understanding and respect, an important educational aim in contemporary times, especially in school subjects such as religious education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Association of Young Neurologists and Trainees (EAYNT) is a non-profit organization which acts on behalf of young neurologists in Europe and concertedly exerts influence on the formation of a new generation of neurologists [Struhal et al.: Eur J Neurol 2009;16:e146-e148]. This concerns particularly the Generation Y (Gen Y), also known as Millennial Generation, Digital Natives or Generation Next, a demographic cohort defined by birth between 1981 and 1999 [Elkind: Neurology 2009;72:657-663]. A unifying feature is the increased use and familiarity with online media and digital technologies. Online social networks and interactive communication have not only shaped this cohort but necessitate a different approach towards educational matters. This position paper aims to address the changing needs for Gen Yers in the context of education. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This consensus paper reports on the process of developing a renewed vision for Oral Health Professional (OHP) education across Europe, and forms part of a larger EU‐funded collaborative Erasmus+ project, "O‐Health‐Edu." The vision aligns with the World Health Organisation milestones (2016) and resolutions (2021), and EU4Health programme (2020) objectives ‐ and projects 20 years into the future, to 2040. This longitudinal vision takes a multi‐stakeholder perspective to deliver OHP education that acts in the best interests of both students and patients, and sits within the context of a wider strategy for general health. Included, it is an infographic to help communicate the vision to various stakeholders of OHP education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible Summary: What is known on the subject: ●Expert by Experience participation in mental health services is embedded in mental health policy in many countries. The negative attitudes of nurses and other health professionals to consumer participation poses a significant obstacle to this policy goal.●Involving mental health Experts by Experience in the education of nursing students demonstrates positive attitudinal change. What the paper adds to existing knowledge: ●The paper presents perspectives from Experts by Experience about the unique knowledge and expertise they derive from their lived experience of mental distress and mental health service use. As a result, they can make a unique and essential contribution to mental health nursing education. They utilize this knowledge to create an interactive learning environment and encourage critical thinking.●The international focus of this research enriches understandings about how Experts by Experience might be perceived in a broader range of countries. What are the implications for practice: ●Mental health policy articulates the importance of service user involvement in all aspects of mental health service delivery. This goal will not be fully achieved without nurses having positive attitudes towards experts by experience as colleagues.●Positive attitudes are more likely to develop when nurses understand and value the contribution experts by experience bring by virtue of their unique knowledge and expertise. This paper provides some important insights to achieving this end. Introduction: Embedding lived experience in mental health nursing education is increasing, with research findings suggesting the impact is positive. To date, research has primarily targeted the perspectives of nursing students and academics from the health professions. Aim: To enhance understanding of the unique knowledge and expertise experts by experience contribute to mental health nursing education. Methods: Qualitative exploratory research methods were employed. In‐depth individual interviews were conducted with experts by experience who delivered a coproduced learning module to nursing students in Europe and Australia. Results: Participants described their unique and essential contribution to mental health nursing education under four main themes: critical thinking, beyond textbooks; interactive and open communication; understanding personal recovery; and mental health is health. Conclusions: These findings present an understanding of the unique knowledge and expertise Experts by Experience contribute to mental health education not previously addressed in the literature. Appreciating and respecting this, unique contribute is necessary as Expert by Experience contributions continue to develop. Implications for Practice: Mental health services purport to value service user involvement. Identifying and respecting and valuing the unique contribution they bring to services is essential. Without this understanding, tokenistic involvement may become a major barrier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is among the first to investigate the impact of over-education and over-skilling on workers' wages using a unique pan-European database covering twenty-eight countries for the year 2014, namely the CEDEFOP's European Skills and Jobs (ESJ) survey. Overall, the results suggest the existence of a wage penalty associated with over-education. When the educational and the skills mismatches are interacted with each other in order to distinguish apparent over-education from genuine over-education, the results highlight that the workers with the highest wage penalty are those who are both over-educated and over-skilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the link between young people's well‐being and the creative arts is strengthening, there is a lack of research which focuses on the roles that artists play to help teachers and parents engage young people in the creative arts. This paper explores the benefits of and barriers to artists working in education in six European countries (England, Iceland, Germany, Greece, Italy and Austria). Using the '5A's model of creativity' and a view of professional development taking place within 'landscapes of practice', the data were analysed in order to explain how creativity is operationalised in the different contexts. Our study highlights the need for policy at a national and transnational level to value the creative arts in order to help teachers cross boundaries and utilise the full potential of the creative arts in schools. Our study also highlights that further research is needed into how artists shape teaching and curriculum and how schools engage parents in the creative arts in order to build an evidence‐base relating to young people's positive mental health that can affect policy at these levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial paper introduces the relevance of trust in educational settings. It discusses interdisciplinary approaches to trust, reflects upon the relationships between trust and education and how trust has so far been studied in educational research. In addition, a comprehensive model of trust is introduced as a framework for the individual papers of this special issue that altogether, through different disciplinary and methodological lenses, investigate trust in various realms of education in five European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With populations rapidly aging, the development over time in the cognitive function among the elderly approaching or reaching retirement is important for successful aging at work and planning pension policies. However, few studies in this field focus on this age group. This study characterizes time trends in cognitive function among 55-69-year-old Europeans from 2006 to 2015, and compares these trends by region, gender, and education. This study analyzes 40,689 subjects in Waves 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) covering ten countries. Cognitive function was measured by Recall and Verbal Fluency. Educational levels were classified by quartiles. A Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) model was used to explore the association between cognitive function and development over time after controlling for confounders. Further stratification analysis using GEE models was conducted, stratified by region, gender and education. Cognitive function improved significantly in southern and central Europe over the observed timeframe, whereas it did not in northern Europe. Those with relative low levels of formal education displayed the most rapid increases in cognitive function in southern and central Europe. Among those with lower education in southern Europe, males' cognitive function improved more quickly than females'. The improvement of cognitive function at ages 55-69 in southern and central Europe may contribute to continuing engagement with productive activities in old age. Educational interventions for people with lower levels of education may be most effective in achieving such engagement. This paper extends the literature on the development over time in the cognitive function among the elderly close to retirement age in Europe by analysing southern, central and northern Europe, as well as differences by region, gender and education. The results may provide evidence for planning pension policies and educational interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theoretical and empirical foundations of research on trust in education are still weak. To contribute to a better understanding of the role of trust in educational systems, this final article of the special issue "Trust in educational settings. European perspectives" highlights the findings from the contributions in this special issue and links them to insights and concepts from interdisciplinary trust research. Furthermore, it identifies and discusses seven avenues for future research on trust in educational settings. Thus, this paper and the special issue as a whole aim to highlight relevant avenues for future research, thereby strengthening research on trust in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Following the 2008 economic crisis many countries implemented austerity policies, including reducing public spending on health services. This paper evaluates the trends and equity in the use of health services during and after that period in Spain – a country with austerity policies – and in Germany – a country without restriction on healthcare spending. Methods: Data from several National Surveys in Spain and several waves of the Socio-Economic Panel in Germany, carried out between 2009 and 2017, were used. The dependent variables were number of doctor's consultations and whether or not a hospital admission occurred. The measure of socioeconomic position was education. In each year, the estimates were made for people with and without pre-existing health problems. First, the average number of doctor's consultations and the percentage of respondents who had had been hospitalized were calculated. Second, the relationship between education and use of those health services was estimated by calculating the difference in consultations using covariance analysis – in the case of number of consultations – and by calculating the percentage ratio using binomial regression – in the case of hospitalization. Results: The annual mean number of consultations went down in both countries. In Spain the average was 14.2 in 2009 and 10.4 in 2017 for patients with chronic conditions; 16.6 and 13.5 for those with a mental illness; and 6.4 and 5.9 for those without a defined illness. In Germany, the averages were 13.8 (2009) and 12.9 (2017) for the chronic group; 21.1 and 17.0 for mental illness; and 8.7 and 7.5 with no defined illness. The hospitalization frequency also decreased in both countries. The majority of the analyses presented no significant differences in relation to education. Conclusion: In both Spain and Germany, service use decreased between 2009 and 2017. In the first few years, this reduction coincided with a period of austerity in Spain. In general, we did not find socioeconomic differences in health service use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that crucial elements of the three most important theoretical models of twentieth-century education can be traced back to three Protestant denominations that were developed in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. First, rather than to look in depth at the Protestant Reformers' own educational ideas, the paper examines their perceptions of how the social or political order should be governed as appropriate for salvation. It then shows how educational models became possible in the context of the three Protestant denominations as they morphed across time and space: German Lutheranism and how it eventually gave rise to the theory of Bildung, which goes hand in hand with the dual world view of Lutheranism; the political theology of Zwinglianism and how it was developed into the Congregational religious order in England and led to the ideal of the virtuous and cooperative citizen in American pragmatism; and Geneva Calvinism and how it was transformed into Presbyterianism in Scotland, its principles of governance, and how it contributed to a certain idea of school organisation that is to be regulated by test psychology and experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of outlaw bikers is growing globally. Despite this, little research exists on these groups and their alleged violent tendencies. To address this, the current paper uses unique data to examine whether gang violence causes outlaw biker violence. The period examined runs from mid-2008 until early 2012 during which violent clashes occurred between outlaw bikers and street gang members involved in an alleged conflict in Copenhagen, Denmark. A precise description of each individual act of violence would make it possible to identify whether specific acts were carried out in furtherance of the alleged conflict. This would allow one to determine whether outlaw bikers commit violence on behalf of their club. However, such knowledge is unavailable. The paper therefore takes a different approach by examining whether acts of violence committed by the two groups are statistically associated. In other words, it considers whether one or more acts can be described as retaliatory during the observation periods. The sample consists of 640 individuals involved with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club or with non-biker street gangs–both of which are present in Copenhagen. Statistical models are used to predict 143 violent events committed by 196 outlaw bikers. The results suggest that violence committed by gang members predicts violence committed by outlaw bikers. This indicates that violent acts committed by outlaw bikers are at least partly a form of retaliation carried out on behalf of their club. The paper expands the literature on the kinds of inter-group, micro-level processes that can lead to reciprocal violence by including outlaw bikers in a literature that has previously focused on non-biker street gangs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning design is growing in importance but is not yet widely adopted by teachers. This paper describes the development of a scenario‐led learning design process, divided into two stages, which was implemented with over 500 teachers altogether from 15 European countries. Activity theory is used to explore the contradictions that arose when such changes were introduced into the established activity system of lesson planning. Data were collected through interviews and questionnaires from a small sample of participants including national coordinators (stage 1: n = 8; stage 2: n = 13) and teachers (stage 1: n = 13; stage 2: n = 23). These participants perceived that the scenario‐led learning design process, involving a wide range of stakeholders, was collaborative, supportive and innovative (compared to previous lesson planning practices). However, a number of contradictions were identifiable between: (1) the shift to collaborative learning design from teachers preparing their lessons alone; (2) the new tools and the existing rules of the national/regional education systems; (3) the time required to both understand and implement learning design, and the impact of competing demands. This paper discusses the challenges faced when attempting to scale‐up European school teachers' development of digital pedagogy. The structured (yet flexible) approach was welcomed and the tools promoted teacher reflection but, as commonly noted, the complexity and time‐constraints were major issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health disorders (MHD) in elite athletes is a topic that has received increased attention in recent years. The overall aim of this position statement is to enhance awareness of this important topic and to critically discuss optimal service provision for athletes who suffer from MHD. In the first part of the paper a short overview of the research on MHD in elite athletes is provided. Elite athletes seem to have comparable prevalence rates for the most common MHD when compared to non-athletic peers, but there are still many disorders that have not been investigated in athletes. Sport specific situations such as injuries, periods of overtraining and career termination may put athletes at an increased risk of developing MHD. In the second part of the paper, models of service provision for elite athletes suffering from MHD from six European countries are presented, focusing on 1) professional service providers, 2) support systems, 3) diagnostic assessment, 4) clinical treatment, 5) performance during treatment, 6) screening, and 7) education systems. It emerges that competencies, certification issues, and professional boundaries of the involved service providers, as well as the structure of the National Health Care systems differ strongly across European countries, which makes defining a golden standard difficult. In the third part of this paper, the authors provide general recommendations for athletes and coaches, clubs, federations, organizations and scholars that hopefully will inspire stakeholders to optimize their support systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This scoping review focuses on the views of informal caregivers regarding the division of care responsibilities between citizens, governments and professionals and the question of to what extent professionals take these views into account during collaboration with them. In Europe, the normative discourse on informal care has changed. Retreating governments and decreasing residential care increase the need to enhance the collaboration between informal caregivers and professionals. Professionals are assumed to adequately address the needs and wishes of informal caregivers, but little is known about informal caregivers’ views on the division of care responsibilities. We performed a scoping review and searched for relevant studies published between 2000 and September 1, 2016 in seven databases. Thirteen papers were included, all published in Western countries. Most included papers described research with a qualitative research design. Based on the opinion of informal caregivers, we conclude that professionals do not seem to explicitly take into account the views of informal caregivers about the division of responsibilities during their collaboration with them. Roles of the informal caregivers and professionals are not always discussed and the division of responsibilities sometimes seems unclear. Acknowledging the role and expertise of informal caregivers seems to facilitate good collaboration, as well as attitudes such as professionals being open and honest, proactive and compassionate. Inflexible structures and services hinder good collaboration. Asking informal caregivers what their opinion is about the division of responsibilities could improve clarity about the care that is given by both informal caregivers and professionals and could improve their collaboration. Educational programs in social work, health and allied health professions should put more emphasis on this specific characteristic of collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reforms in higher education have been passed in many European countries in the last decades, mostly trying to adapt national systems to new European and global challenges. This study examines some consequences of such major reforms in France and Spain. Specifically, these reforms introduced new agencies whose remit was inter alia to provide evaluation of research and to make such assessments pivotal for academic career progression. The paper investigates empirically whether, and to what extent, these new forms of authority have been capable of engendering the expected change to the system of academic career evaluation. The respective policy approaches and policy implementation in France and Spain reveal that these reforms triggered a reconfiguration of powers at various levels of academic life – affecting strategies for successful career development. Policy-making implications are relevant when these two countries are compared, suggesting that more radical policy approaches (coercive isomorphism, the French case) do not result in more change to academic evaluation practices than mimetic ones (the Spanish case). It is also important to note that coercive isomorphism encountered more frictions in its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benchmarking the analysis of countries' performance in terms of sustainable development helps to understand the success factors of countries that over perform and to target priority issues of others with lower performance. However, assessing sustainable development comes with methodological challenges, including indicator standardization, aggregation and weighting. Our study significantly contributes to the measure of sustainable development by providing a new approach based on an extended Hellwig method. After describing the main limitations of existing methodologies, this paper's aim is twofold. First, we show that the proposed analytical framework allows for comparing the sustainable performance of EU countries on the national level. The extended Hellwig method takes into consideration EU targets and/or national targets in building patterns of development. Second, this framework is tested as a part of the evaluation of the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy in the education area. The results obtained using the extended Hellwig method were compared with those obtained by means of the Education Index, TOPSIS and Ward technique. Our analysis showed the significant disparities in the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy recommendations in the education area in 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the significant emphasis placed on incorporating 21st century skills into the educational framework, particularly at the primary level, recent scholarly works indicate considerable variation in the implementation of these skills across different countries and regions, suggesting a demand for further research specifically focusing on primary education. The indications of the Digicomp framework and 21st-century skills in Europe have outlined the key competences for lifelong learning needed for all citizens, including teachers and students. In this perspective, Education plays a fundamental role in ensuring that citizens acquire the required skills. The objective in the common European framework is clear: to initiate a transition from the culture of knowledge to the culture of competence. Nowadays, technological advancement allows the researchers to create and combine different frameworks with the perspective of an even more tailored, and engaged education, some examples derived from the implementation of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), in the combination of Gamification and AI, or the development of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) to foster and create an even more personalized learning and teaching. Following these premises, in this paper, we want to point out new research reflections and perspectives that could help researchers, teachers, educators (and consequently students) to reflect on the introduction of new technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, robot tutors) and on how these can affect on human behavioral development and on the acquisition of new skills and competences (Specifically: Creativity, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Computational Thinking) for the educational context. The analysis carried on, suggests a perspective on how creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving can be effective in promoting computational thinking, and how Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be an aid instrument to teachers in the fostering of creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving in schools and educational contexts. • Point out new research reflections and perspectives on the introduction of new; technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, robot tutors) in educational context; • Outline activities and lines of research on Creativity, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Computational Thinking; • Propose solutions to be able to implement AI and new technologies for the development of skills in human behavior; • Suggestions for implementing technologies in the school context; • The fundamental role of the network of schools in the European context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This paper explores education-, income- and occupational class-related inequalities in risky health behaviours including into models all three factors together as well as their interactions, which has not been undertaken by previous studies analysing socioeconomic status (SES) related differences in risky health behaviours.Methods: Our data source is the special module "Social Inequalities in Health" included into the European Social Survey Round 7 (ESS R7) and conducted in 20 European countries. We run nine separate multilevel binomial logistic regression analyses for all the risky health behaviours with all our independent and control variables including country as the second level random intercept. Into all the models we also included interaction terms to consider possible moderating effects of separate independent variables.Results: Education and income emerged as factors most consistently related to risky health behaviours, but occupational class differences were also found to be significant: eating vegetables or salad less than once a day and being daily smoker is positively related to lower SES as measured by all three indicators; eating fruits less than once a day is related to lower income and occupational class, while drinking alcohol at least several times a week is positively related to higher education and higher income; being physically active for less than 3 days per week is positively related to lower education; patterns of heavy smoking and binge drinking are inconsistently related to SES variables. We also found considerable regional variation, especially in fruit and vegetable consumption, being physically active and alcohol consumption patterns.Conclusions: Without careful theoretical consideration linking SES and risky health behaviours, education, income and occupational class cannot substitute each other in the study of SES-related differences of health behaviours, as assumed in the larger part of research on the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is known that the education of significant others may affect an individual's mortality. This paper extends an emerging body of research by investigating the effect of having highly educated adult children on the longevity of older parents in Europe, especially parents with low educational attainment. Using a sample of 15,015 individuals (6,620 fathers and 8,395 mothers) aged 50 and above, with 1,847 recorded deaths, over a mean follow-up period of 10.9 years from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we examine whether the well-established socio-economic gradient in mortality among parents is modified when their adult children have higher educational attainment than their parents. We find that having highly educated adult children is associated with reduced mortality risks for fathers and mothers with low educational attainment, compared to their counterparts whose adult children have only compulsory education. The association is stronger in early older age (ages 50–74) than in later older age (ages 75 and over). Part of the association appears to be explained by health behaviours (physical (in)activity) and health status (self-rated health). Our findings suggest that the socio-economic–mortality gradient among older parents might be better captured using an intergenerational approach that recognises the advantage of having highly educated adult children, especially for fathers and mothers with only compulsory education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population aging is exacerbating the loss of competences in the workforce and simultaneously young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEETs) are struggling to be reengaged in employment. These issues, which are deemed priorities for the European policy agenda, could be addressed by triggering active aging dimensions, valuing and exploiting older adult entrepreneurs' knowledge for enhancing youngsters' entrepreneurial attitudes, through mentoring. This paper reports the results of a study based on an intergenerational learning program, carried out in 2018 in Germany, Italy and Slovenia. The study was aimed at developing and testing one training on mentoring addressing 41 older adult entrepreneurs (55 and over), and two intergenerational learning trainings aiming at boosting entrepreneurial competences of 33 NEETs (aged 18–29). The impact of the program on older adult entrepreneurs and NEETs was assessed through a pre and post-evaluation using qualitative and quantitative tools. Findings at country level were treated as national case-studies and then the latter were compared by considering them as a multiple embedded case-study. Results indicated that, to different extent in the study countries, mentors learned and enhanced mentoring competences, e.g. active listening and the capability of orienting, improved well-being and self-esteem, social inclusion and active aging attitude. Moreover, NEETs acquired entrepreneurial and socio-relational competences by benefiting from the full exploitation of mentors' know-how and the trust relationship with them. Companies, trade unions, educational and voluntary organizations should cooperate to adopt intergenerational learning programs as good practices for older adults and NEETs' lifelong learning promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines state that heart failure nurse specialists (heart-failure nurses) with specific competences are essential for a successful heart-failure-management programme. Thus, the Heart Failure Association (HFA) of the ESC developed the heart failure nurse curriculum (HFA curriculum). Several ESC member states developed cardiovascular education programmes to enable nurses to deliver high specialist care, but little is known of whether these curricula are in line with the HFA curriculum. Therefore, this paper describes the extent to which cardiovascular education programmes in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany correspond to the HFA curriculum. Methods and results: A case study approach was adopted to obtain an in-depth understanding of the programme contents in relation to the HFA curriculum. For this purpose, representatives of the educational programmes and/or delegates of the national cardiovascular nursing organization shared their educational curricula. All of the studied cardiovascular education programmes aim to provide heart failure and/or cardiovascular nurses with essential competences for implementation of evidence based and guideline derived care. However, every cardiovascular education programme has a different focus/area of attention. Cardiovascular education in Belgium discusses aspects of all core-learning objectives of the HFA curriculum and emphasizes mostly knowledge aspects of these. Learning objectives in cardiovascular education in The Netherlands focus on chronic diseases in general and on learning objectives concerning patient education, support in self-care and management of device and pharmacological therapy. Cardiovascular education in Germany discusses most learning objectives; however, not all learning objectives receive equal attention. Conclusions: Although local cardiovascular education programmes adopt certain aspects of the HF curriculum, the curriculum as a whole is not adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perception of Western governments' hostility to Islam is one of the indicating features of Islamic fundamentalism and, in some cases, is serving as a pull to join extremist groups. In this paper, using data from two waves of a cross‐national survey, we investigate what affects European Muslims' opinions about Western governments. We find that residential segregation is associated with perceived hostility of Western governments to Islam. Further, we find that Muslims living in segregated neighbourhoods and enclaves have a higher probability of believing that Western governments are hostile to Islam. National origins of Muslim immigrants have a significant impact, with people from African countries measuring less perceived hostility than others. We also find that education is associated with perceived hostility of Western governments to Islam in a non‐linear way. People with the highest and lowest levels of education tend to be less likely to believe that Western governments are hostile to Islam, relative to people with mid‐level education. This non‐linear effect is best explained by education's differential effects on perceptions of key world events. During the time between 2011 – before ISIS's announcement of its Caliphate in Iraq and Syria – and 2013, subsequent to that announcement, we see a sharp decrease in perception of Western governments' hostility to Islam, particularly among more educated European Muslims. We make the case that this decrease can be attributed, in some ways, to the emergence of ISIS. We discuss our findings in terms of theoretical and policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the characteristics and variety of digitization training initiatives in North America and to a lesser extent, Europe, and the growing development of credit-bearing courses and programs within higher education relating to digitization, with a specific focus on librarianship. Information was collected in response to an inquiry posted in late July 2004 on the ARLIS, JESSE, and DIGLIB listservs, supplemented by ongoing perusal of these sources, Web searches, and suggestions from colleagues. It also briefly discusses the benefits and challenges associated with the development of digitized library resources, and the need for greater attention to professional development for those working in digitization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: This paper presents part of the work undertaken by the European Network for Technology Enhanced Learning in an Inclusive Society (ENTELIS) to respond to the need for bridging the digital divide. It is based on previous evidence of lack of digital skills of people with disabilities of all ages to effectively participate in the digital society. OBJECTIVE: The paper aims to present the results of an exploratory study conducted in different European countries in order to identify needs, barriers, opportunities and good practices. METHODS: Data collection included the collection of experiences and best practices, and interviews conducted with different groups of people with disabilities of all ages and other stakeholders in five countries. RESULTS: Results emphasize the vital role of ICT-AT for independence, social integration, educational success, employment opportunities, and overall quality of life, while there seems to be heterogeneity in the way technology is considered and utilized among various groups of PwD. A number of challenges and barriers for ICT-AT competence development are also identified. CONCLUSIONS: Considerations and suggestions for further research, for policy and for practice implications are discussed, mainly focused on reducing the abandonment of ICT-AT, on responding to user's heterogeneous needs and on strengthening facilitating factors for the acquisition of digital competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by a super-diversity approach, this paper seeks to explore the influence of the 'ethnic hierarchy' of 'old' minority groups over the way 'new' migrants from Turkey negotiate their interaction in the daily life in three settings: Amsterdam, London and Barcelona. By focusing on highly educated migrants from Turkey who by virtue of their country of origin or religion are positioned at the bottom of 'ethnic hierarchies', it strives to understand the significance of these different sources of diversity in daily interaction. Applying boundarydrawing strategies developed for ethnic boundaries, this paper argues that education does not necessarily 'trump' nationality, but allows for substantial claims of difference. New migrants from Turkey carve out a space for themselves by on the one hand homogenizing Turkish or other Muslim communities through attributing 'unwanted' behaviours and on the other redefining the boundaries of their individual identity with emphasis on different sources of diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Training of human resources in port facilities is of particular importance, especially if one considers that cargo crime could be facilitated by negligence or support of personnel. Recommendations regarding training and education are available in the SOLAS Chapter XI-2 and ISPS code. However, experts claim that too much freedom of interpretation is given to these frameworks in the process to define security training and education. As a consequence, harmonization of security may be hindered, leaving weak points and compromising commitment, security culture and awareness. In this paper, we aim to understand the present status of port security training and education courses that today are offered in Sweden. In particular, we look at the market for these services and the current level of harmonization. Results show that level of commitment, size of ports, cultural and working conditions may affect the outcome of security courses. From a harmonization viewpoint, we found that more work need to be done to ensure the development of common requirements on EU level, quality assurance systems, and distance learning courses. This paper concludes with a roadmap to harmonization for governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ageing of the European population is creating a new demographic mix, increasing the relevance of intergenerational practice (IGP). To date, however, this field lacks an appropriate conceptual framework. This study aims to contribute to such a framework through an integrative review of peer-reviewed papers reporting on IGPs. Fifteen papers were obtained, published over the last 20 years. The main findings suggest that the wealth of IGPs lies in their versatility/diversity. In order to build an appropriate conceptual framework for IGP, it is recommended that IGP be understood as a tool to restructure society: from generations’ segregation to generations’ cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of human rights, the equality of all people and prevention of violence are central topics in European schools. With reference to evidence from the Children's Voices Project, this paper analyzes the most relevant good practices addressed to fight interethnic violence in schools. Indeed, specific activities have been organized to foster children's rights and to prevent generalized violence. Moreover, programs oriented to the promotion of integration of migrants or pupils belonging to ethnic minorities have been developed. Starting from these assumptions, selected good practices will be presented in a comparative way, in order to describe different characteristics, purposes and goals, within the context of the five countries involved in the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: NEETs (young people not in employment, education or training) are at higher risk for poorer mental and physical health. In France, the Missions locales (MLs) are the only social structures dedicated to this population. We sought to determine whether the systematic offer of a social and preventive medicine consultation at a ML might increase NEET participants’ access to training in the 12 months following the intervention. Methods: This intervention research was a parallel randomised controlled interventional study conducted at five MLs in mainland France in 2011–2012. It included 976 NEETs aged 18 to 25 years who attended one of the five MLs. At inclusion, participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to three groups: those in the first group were invited to see a social worker (not studied in this paper), those in the second group were invited to see a doctor and a social worker (intervention group), and the third was a control group. The primary outcome was participation in at least one training session during the year following study inclusion. Results: Among the 976 participants, 504 were randomly assigned to the intervention group and 472 to the control group; 704 (72.1%) were included in the analyses. A significantly higher proportion of the participants in the intervention group participated in a training session in the 12 months following the intervention than of those in the control group (63.3% vs 55.6%; p = 0.04). This difference was significantly greater for women, those less than 21 years of age, those unstably housed and those with a lower level of education. Conclusions: Social and preventive medicine consultations that are fully integrated into the social services for NEETs have an impact on their access to training and contribute to changing some of their health-related behaviours. This may improve their access to the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have shown that childhood circumstances can have long term consequences that persist until old age. To better understand the transmission of early life circumstances, this paper analyses the effects of health and financial situation during childhood on quality of life after retirement as well as the mediating role of later life health, educational level, and income in this association. Moreover, this study is the first to compare these pathways across European regions. The analyses are based on data of 13,092 retirees aged ≥ 60 and ≤ 85 years from the fifth wave of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with full information on childhood and later life measures of health, educational level, financial situation, and quality of life as well as relevant covariates. Five European regions are studied: Central-Western Europe (Austria, Germany), Central-Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia), Northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden), Southern Europe (Italy, Spain), and Western Europe (Belgium, France, The Netherlands). Path analysis is used to identify the direct and indirect effects of childhood measures on quality of life. We find retirees’ quality of life to be associated with childhood finances and health in all five European regions. While both the direct and indirect effects of childhood health are rather moderate and homogeneous across regions, especially the direct effects of childhood finances on quality of life after retirement display a distinct North-South gradient being strongest in Southern Europe. Potential explanations for the regional variations are differences in the countries’ welfare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following paper suggests a connection between recent developments in the justification of the capitalist system and contemporary European Liberal Arts programs. By looking at Luc Boltanski's and Eve Chiapello's study on The New Spirit Of Capitalism and Gilles Deleuze's term of societies of control we highlight a pivot within Western societies towards flexibility, creativity and self-fulfillment as essential requirements on the job market. We then link this observation to European Liberal Arts programs and ask to what extent the Liberal Arts' self-understanding, as it appears at European universities, conforms to this new capitalist imperative. Furthermore, we examine how we experienced these claims during our time as Liberal Arts students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Liberal Arts model of undergraduate education within small, internationally- focused University Colleges is becoming increasingly popular in Europe. This trend is most notable in the Netherlands, where the liberal arts model is acclaimed as filling a gap in Dutch undergraduate education at conventional research universities. This paper explores the status of the Dutch University College as simultaneously continuing the liberal arts tradition of the US, with its civic and pedagogic values, and providing a truly modern education preparing students to find innovative and inter-disciplinary solutions to the complex problems which define contemporary society. It concludes that the traditional role of a liberal arts education in cultivating intellectual rather than vocation skills does not have to exclude its appeal as providing the skills necessary for professional success in global sectors of the 21 st century knowledge economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NERIS is the European platform on preparedness for nuclear and radiological emergency response and recovery. Created in 2010 with 57 organisations from 28 different countries, the objectives of the platform are to: improve the effectiveness and coherency of current approaches to preparedness; identify further development needs; improve 'know how' and technical expertise; and establish a forum for dialogue and methodological development. The NERIS Strategic Research Agenda is now structured with three main challenges: (i) radiological impact assessments during all phases of nuclear and radiological events; (ii) countermeasures and countermeasure strategies in emergency and recovery, decision support, and disaster informatics; and (iii) setting up a multi-faceted framework for preparedness for emergency response and recovery. The Fukushima accident has highlighted some key issues for further consideration in NERIS research activities, including: the importance of transparency of decision-making processes at local, regional, and national levels; the key role of access to environmental monitoring; the importance of dealing with uncertainties in assessment and management of the different phases of the accident; the use of modern social media in the exchange of information; the role of stakeholder involvement processes in both emergency and recovery situations; considerations of societal, ethical, and economic aspects; and the reinforcement of education and training for various actors. This paper emphasises the main issues at stake for NERIS for post-accident management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the annual time series and the average annual growth rate of the European Gender Equality Index, which was proposed by Bericat (Soc Indic Res 108:1-28, ), for the EU and its 27 member countries for the period 2000-2011. The paper also reports the time series and average annual growth rate for each of the three subdimensions of gender equality-education, work, and power-and the underlying indicators for each subdimension for EU as a whole. The calculated index shows that in the period 2000-2011, overall gender equality, equality in education, work, and power in the EU has been improving at a rate of 1.7, 0.92, 0.65, and 3.48 % per year, respectively. By 2011, overall gender equality, and equality in education, work, and power has reached 58.3, 77.4, 60.9, and 42.7, respectively. In short, this paper offers the scientific community, as well as those that design and implement public policies, a robust, valid and precise synthetic description of the current situation and evolution, from 2000 to 2011, of structural gender equality in European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most cross-country studies on educational systems aim at identifying the net effects of single institutional aspects on students’ outcomes. In this paper, I argue that educational systems are best conceived as configurations of interconnected elements. The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic assessment of how selected features of the educational system and of the immigration context combine in countries where second-generation immigrants severely underperform their native peers, net of socio-economic differentials. Using PISA data from 2006 and 2009, I compare the relative mathematics achievement of students with and without an immigrant background in 17 Western-European educational systems. The empirical results, based on fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, point to the existence of functional equivalents and institutional complementarities. Equally severe disadvantages can be found in the rigidly tracking systems of German-speaking and Dutch-speaking countries, but also in the highly comprehensive Scandinavian systems, where a delayed entry in the educational system is coupled with a wide distance from the language of instruction. Moreover, even in the absence of tracking, second-generation immigrants critically lag behind their native peers if they are overrepresented in schools with a poor learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper addresses the international and internal digital divides that exist across and within the European member states according to the educational attainment of their populations. Our results suggest that even for those European countries that are outperforming their counterparts in terms of digital development, such as Finland, some internal gaps still remain and need to be addressed. In other countries, as in the cases of Malta, Spain, and Portugal, the divides are a matter for concern. These findings would probably be overlooked if we worked only with aggregate levels, as is usual. Consequently, this paper draws attention to the importance of complementing cross-country analysis of the digital divide with an assessment of internal gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a reflection that critically examines the dynamics of education and the struggle by African people for freedom, control of the mind, self-definition and the right to determine their own destiny from the start of colonial rule to the present. The primary methodological approach is historical structuralism, which stipulates that social reality and facts are determined and created by social agents within structural and historical contingencies. It addresses some of the most powerful challenges and contradictions that explain the ineffectiveness of numerous post-independence reforms, and presents the arguments for relevance and use of African languages, for instance, that have been made since the 1960s. The first section of the paper deals with the colonial imperatives for setting new education systems in the colonised societies of Africa and the initial attitudes of the Africans towards colonial education. The second section critically examines the evolving meanings of Western education in Europeanising African societies, the articulation of their rationale and the mechanism for resistance. It analyses the turning point when Africans began to embrace European education and demand it in the colonial and post-independence era. The third section addresses the roots of the inadequacies of received post-colonial education and the imperative of deconstruction and re-appropriation of African education using an ubuntu framework for an African renewal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development'sProgram for International Student Assessment(PISA) as a public policy instrument, whose worldwide circulation is mediated by processes of reinterpretation, negotiation, and re-contextualization, where national, local, and international agencies intertwine. It is focused on the active reception of PISA in six European spaces (Francophone Belgium, France, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, and Scotland) along its first three cycles. The paper identifies two contrasting developments: the Program's divergent uses and its attractiveness in different social worlds. The paper gives particular attention to what is called the ‘update of reference societies’ in the context of national receptions of PISA. These ‘updates’ are analyzed as part of a composite process that involves domestic reasons, either related to current agendas for education or to deep historical factors, and injunctions related to PISA's rationale and PISA objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of teaching and learning in small, rural schools, we investigate teaching and learning approaches in multi-grade classes. This introduction to four papers of a special edition, each of which documents practices in a different area of Europe, presents the background of the discourse on teaching mixed- or multi-age classes and provides information concerning the context of teaching in rural schools. As a synthesis, we outline a didactical framework of the mixed-age teaching approaches derived from the four papers and discuss the possible implementation of these approaches in the classroom. Finally, we propose to lead the rural education discourse away from the rural–urban antagonism to a more integrated view of dealing with heterogeneity in the classroom in general. The teaching approaches presented in this introduction can add to the theory of adaptive teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to show how competence as an educational concept for the 21stcentury is struggling with theoretical problems for which the concept ofBildungin the European tradition can offer alternatives, and to discuss the possibility of developing a sustainable educational concept from the perspectives of competence andBildung. The method of the study is conceptual analysis of ‘competence’ andBildung. The paper concludes that (1) competence must be abandoned as an educational concept, as its problems cannot be solved due to the lack of a theory of educational content. With competence, the content aspect of education is obscured and hidden from public debate, and human autonomy is threatened. (2)Bildungcan be revised as an educational concept by reinventing educational content as subject to interpretation and open debate by autonomous individuals on all levels from the transnational to the classroom. (3) A revised ‘mimetic’ concept ofBildungcan prepare students for the knowledge society, as imagining is a type of higher order thinking essential for innovation and creativity. Instructional content in school is meaningful to students if they are able to imagine the representational object ‘as if’ it is both subject matter and real to them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is often difficult to meaningfully convey concepts like security incident management cycle, information sharing, cooperation, as well as the roles of people, processes and technology in cybersecurity courses. Serious gaming can help solve this problem, since it can provide a more immersive and interactive learning experience than traditional methods. This paper presents a light weight tabletop exercise format that has been successfully used in cybersecurity education to demonstrate these and many other concepts to Master level students in two European universities over the past 5 years. The term light weight is chosen to indicate the low work load and resource requirements for the instructor. The paper provides practical guidance on how to develop and execute such exercises. In addition, it lists observations of concepts and recommended discussion points that have been successfully demonstrated in class using this exercise format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roma, today perceived as the most numerous European minority, face marginalisation and exclusion. Education is considered to be one of the focal points for improvement, and numerous studies have analysed and reported on the educational situation of Roma. Several studies have argued that Romani cultural values are not compatible with institutional schooling and that Romani families perceive schools as an alien institution. Other studies have drawn upon cultural–ecological theory (CE theory), developed by Ogbu and colleagues, and argue that the Romani cultural frame of reference is oppositional to academic success and thus suggest that successful Romani students distance themselves from Romani culture. The paper discusses the application of CE theory in the context of the academic discourse about the educational achievement of Romani students. Drawing on interviews with Spanish Romani university students, the paper argues that Romani students themselves challenge the assumption that educational success leads to cultural alienation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]