The development of procedures for the recognition, validation and accreditation (RVA) of skills, learning and work experience obtained in non-formal and informal settings is a priority of UNESCO, central to lifelong and life-wide learning. The aim is to make visible and give value to the hidden and unrecognised competences that individuals have attained in various settings, strengthen lifelong learning pathways and increase labour market inclusion.

RVA procedures have been introduced in several countries. The introduction of these procedures has been documented and shared widely through the UIL Global RVA Observatory and the Global Inventory of Regional and National Qualifications Frameworks 2017 (Cedefop, ETF, UNESCO, and UIL 2017). At the regional level, particularly in the European context, country examples on validation of non-formal and informal learning are reported in the European Inventory of the Validation of Non-formal and Informal Learning (European Commission 2017) and updated every 2 years.

UNESCO regards these developments across the world to be a consequence of the increasing importance given to lifelong learning, implying extended and prolonged opportunities for knowledge and skills development throughout the life of individuals. From a political perspective, RVA is becoming increasingly important because of the growing significance of skills development policies and national qualification frameworks that can be regarded as the first step towards more prominently recognising non-formal and informal learning. This perspective underpins the idea that qualifications should reflect learning outcomes and competences instead of educational programmes. From a research perspective, the use of RVA mechanisms is raising new questions regarding the different aspects of workplace learning, employability, concepts of skills and competences, as well as the potential to include the recognition of green skills in RVA mechanisms and workplace learning.

1 Skills Recognition Through Non-formal and Informal Learning

Recognition of non-formal and informal learning is a core component of the concept of lifelong learning, which has influenced international as well as national policies over the past decades, significantly changing the ways in which learning and its key elements and processes are to be understood. The lifelong learning system can be defined as a threefold structure:

  • Formal learning takes place in an organised and structured educational environment, usually leading to a certificate or a diploma.

  • Non-formal learning refers to a semi-structured training without a resulting in a formal qualification certification.

  • Informal learning is the acquisition of practical competences, expertise, work practice and attitudes to perform which leads to no qualification, degree or certification.

Rogers (2015) refers to multiple ways of informal learning. These can be self-directed learning, incidental learning and unintentional learning. Incidental learning takes place alongside a task. The workers concentrate upon completing the tasks, but they are not typically aware of the task-related learning. Unintentional learning is that which takes place through everyday experience. Through RVA processes, non-formal and informal learning can lead to qualifications, given that a certain common definition of a set of skills, knowledge and competences serves as a reference for all learning.

1.1 The Need for Systematic Recognition Procedures in MSMEs

Considerable importance has been placed on informal learning in small, medium and micro enterprises (Dohmen 1998; Marsick and Watkins 2001). Studies on MSMEs in Europe (Weiß 2001) highlight that between 70 and 90% of a person’s vocational knowledge and skills are acquired informally, outside formal learning arrangements. This happens while performing vocational tasks and solving problems, usually without an explicit intention to learn. Informal means of learning such as “learning from others” and “learning on the job” play an outstanding role particularly in small and medium enterprises. Development and recognition of skills should therefore not be defined solely by analysing opportunities for learning or by assessing the skills that individuals acquire. Rather, it is necessary to consider occupation-specific contexts as well as the technical and organisational framework for learning (Singh 2000; see also Pilz et al. 2015; King and Palmer 2010).

However, in developing countries and emerging economies, studies (King 2011; Mehrotra 2016; NCEUS 2009; Singh 2005) have shown that although most skills in MSMEs are acquired through non-formal and informal learning on the job, there is currently no systematic recognition or documentation of informally acquired competences. MSMEs, especially in developing countries, are poorly informed about the benefits of, or the need for, recognising competences acquired by employees in a non-formal and informal way. The lack of financial resources often proves to be an obstacle in adopting lengthy procedures of RVA. Singh (2011) argued that more discussion is necessary on the question of how recognition and certification of skills in MSMEs can help workers to move into further learning and enhance their employability and mobility. The lack of arrangements for competence recognition makes workers less likely to secure decent employment. Thus, there is an urgent need for a bottom-up approach to skills recognition within MSMEs that goes beyond just restructuring existing vocational training systems.

Employees’ informal competences have been shown to form an important part of an enterprise’s capital (Ellström 1997). Enterprises depend on the unintentionally acquired competences of their members. Research conducted at the Technical University of Berlin on skills acquisition in the informal sectors of India, Peru, Rwanda, Chile and the Philippines (Institute for Scientific Co-operation 1997) have shown that the competences developed in informal sector enterprises were very different from those that were promoted and developed through traditional training courses, where the process of training rather than competences acquired was the focal point. Individuals working in the informal sector were predominantly dependent upon themselves for the development of their employment-related skills. MSMEs were found to put greater emphasis on the general competences versus instrumental skills such as technical, managerial and market-related competences.

General competences were perceived by enterprise members to be divided into two fields: personality-related competences (intra-personal) and social and organisational competences (inter-personal) (Institute for Scientific Co-operation 1997). Person-related general competences comprised curiosity and creativity, self-initiative and independence, learning to learn, sense of responsibility, frustration tolerance and ability to improvise. Social–organisational competences included abilities to communicate and empathise, cooperate, analyse and plan.

The Observatory of European SMEs (European Commission 2002) highlights the increasing importance of fostering key competences in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These competences include learning to learn; information processing; deduction and analytical skills; decision-making, communication and language skills; the ability to work in a team; team-based learning and teaching; management and leadership; strategic thinking; self-management and self-development; and flexibility, creativity and problem solving (ibid.).

The notions of key competences or general competences correspond to the notion of green skills adopted in this study. As argued above, “green skills” or “green competencies” include generic green technical skills as well as cognitive, inter-personal and intra-personal skills within the environmental protection context. The idea of “competences” as a collection of abilities and skills in contrast to qualifications as a proof of vocational capabilities is important for the discussion on green skills recognition. According to Ellström (1997), competence refers to the actual capacities of an individual or working team, whereas qualification (such as a degree or diploma) denotes the knowledge, skills and competences that are officially required. Competences frequently comprise special knowledge that is acquired while working in specialised sectors serving niche markets. This knowledge is difficult to replace and, as remarked, forms a large part of an enterprise’s capital (ibid.). Numerous studies both in the European as well as developing countries context show that enterprises place a higher value on employee competences such as communication, problem solving and flexibility, and abilities related to learning methodologies than they do on formal qualifications (European Commission 2002).

1.2 Lack of Recognition and Visibility of Skills in Enterprises: A Barrier to Transitioning into the Green Economy

To understand the importance of making individual skills in enterprises visible, Ellström (1997) makes a distinction between competence, understood as the property of an individual (or working team), and the demands or requirements posed by enterprises or work tasks. According to Ellström, the ability to use the entire spectrum of an individual’s or a working team’s competences will provide meaningful information on what job applicants and employees can do and what competencies are in need. The lack of transparency for competency at work is a problem for employees. While qualifications are becoming outdated increasingly rapidly, new knowledge and competences, such as those required for the green economy and production, are not documented anywhere. This is an obstacle to employability and thus the mobility of the worker. It is therefore crucial to make the outcomes of occupational learning visible through mechanisms for the recognition, validation and accreditation of non-formal and informal learning (ibid.).

The outcomes of this study are intended to fill these gaps. We believe issues of transparency and visibility of competences, skills and knowledge in general and emergent green skills in particular are not only crucial to the development of human capital of enterprises but also for their contribution to a greener environment, society and economy.

2 The Integrative Purposes of RVA: Education and the Labour Market

The following sections provide examples from the seven countries and one territory participating in the study as well as from countries outside the study that highlight RVA’s inclusive nature. RVA serves several purposes: it promotes access to education, training and qualifications; workforce development; and participation in the labour market. It also contributes to social inclusion and democratic citizenship, as well as to the personal and professional development of individuals. While countries and territories tend to singularly concentrate on one or another purpose depending upon their specific contexts and circumstances, it is important to keep in mind the entire range of social, economic, cultural and personal purposes—particularly those relating to social inclusion, equity and personal self-esteem and self-awareness—as expressed in the integrative goals of lifelong learning and education for sustainable development (Singh 2015).

Many countries are committed to developing RVA as a policy tool alongside other measures with the aim of promoting a diversified lifelong learning system and granting flexible access opportunities. In PRC, it is practised in the field of adult education and vocational continuing education to motivate adults to take up further education and training. The Open University of China admits credits and exempts students from some courses based on the recognition of their prior knowledge. Those who have the College English Test 4 (CET-4) or above, for example, can apply to be exempted from the public English examination.

In 2011, the Shanghai Credit Bank of Lifelong Education operated by the Shanghai Open University oversaw the accreditation of six vocational subjects (such as accountancy and business administration), 166 courses and 139 vocational qualifications within academic education. The university integrates different kinds of educational institutions such as higher vocational colleges and adult schools. A variety of educational resources are used, such as self-directed learning leading to examinations and multi-media courses taught through television and radio. RVA in PRC also aims to address the challenges of skills shortages by placing an emphasis on continuing non-formal technical and vocational education and training (TVET) alongside formal TVET. It has set in motion educational reforms with the potential to be the most important tool in the furthering of greening and sustainability, with providers of non-formal TVET of both a not-for-profit and a for-profit character.

In the Philippines, the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP), which was established in 1996, is seen as an important RVA framework for many Filipinos who have sought employment without beginning or finishing tertiary education but who have acquired competences in the workplace that correspond to those acquired in a formal college degree. Filipino students who have at least finished secondary education may be assessed through the standards in ETEEAP if they have gained substantial work experience (5 years as per the guidelines) related to the academic programme for which they are seeking an equivalent qualification.

RVA plays an important role in providing access to higher education institutions. In Malaysia, the Ministry of Education is responsible for RVA in public higher education institutions (which include polytechnics and community colleges). The Malaysian Accreditation Agency under the purview of the Private Higher Education Institutions Act 1996 oversees private higher education institutions. The agency has recommended curricular changes in community colleges to improve their collaboration with industries to assess competences with industry certification and, if required, green industries to develop a competency-based model. In economically developed countries such as Germany, RVA is promoted in rehabilitation courses administered through employment agencies for matching labour market competence requirements to the competence profiles of employment seekers. This is being done through close collaboration between qualification systems/frameworks and continuing vocational education and training (CVET) providers. In Denmark and Finland, providers of CVET have established support services to enable adults to use RVA at all levels of the formal education and training system leading to certified qualifications.

RVA has been shown to meet part of the new qualification requirements in different sectors (such as adult education, construction and social services). In Canada, RVA is used in this way to attract migrants to fill labour gaps. It also supports workers in private- and public-sector organisations to complete primary and upper secondary education to enhance the economic capacity of the workforce. In Denmark, employers are encouraged to invest in the training of those with very low skills who need to be brought into the productive economy, while in the USA and Australia, RVA is used to link non-credit workforce programmes to educational credit to lower some of the barriers to obtaining qualifications.

By contrast, most informal and non-formal workplace learning in developing and emerging countries has not met quality assurance requirements such as accreditation and is not recognised through any credit transfer arrangement. Recognition in the context of non-formal and informal learning takes place without being related to the formal system. However, this is expected to change with the establishment of a learning outcomes-based qualifications framework. RVA, by leading to a better matching of skills with labour market demands, can address skills shortages (Arthur 2009). We argue that efforts need to be made in MSMEs in Asia to put systems in place to ensure that informal learning in the workplace is encouraged, formalised and recognised.

3 RVA in Workplaces Compared to RVA for Access to Education

Both RVA for access to education/training as well as in the workplace need to be linked to standards. Regarding standards in an educational curriculum or qualification, work experience is verified by admission to universities and colleges, secondary education/certificate or primary education certificate, where professional practice partly compensates for education. However, verification within enterprises operates in relation to professional or occupational standards and the work requirements of the enterprise (Aase 2017).

RVA in relation to education and training requires alignment with level descriptors and/or programme content; RVA in relation to workforce development and industry is dependent on different variables. Some of these have been mentioned by Harris (2014, p. 1) as

robust social partner approaches to industrial relations and collective agreements. RPL in workplaces needs to connect to industry classification systems and benchmarks, skills standards, pay scales and industry or company-specific in-house training, as well as articulating to the learning outcomes of education programmes and associated qualifications, if need requires. It could be more complex than RVA in relation to education and training.

The different purposes of producing documentation of individuals’ knowledge and skills have also been highlighted. While the purpose of documentation for access to education is to communicate formalised knowledge and skills for all stakeholders to see, industry-specific documentation models are mainly used in immediate work situations. Knowledge and skills that are developed through the workplace receive recognition from both management and colleagues through their utilisation in the immediate work situation. Industry-specific RVA supports the development of new occupational areas and improves legitimacy and equity. While education-specific RVA may contribute to lifelong learning by making continuing education more accessible, industry-specific RVA usually contributes to increased job security and higher employability by recognising workplace-acquired competences. It reduces, or completely abolishes, periods of unemployment and creates higher mobility and flexibility in the labour market (Aase 2017).

However, as Murphy (2014) points out, it is important to take account of the cross-sectoral understanding of RVA at all levels—individual, company, sectoral, professional and national. She argues that RVA in the context of training and education operates as learning in the workplace or for the workplace, while in the workplace it is used to motivate people to continue learning. RVA in the workplace also serves the purpose of guiding people back towards an education pathway.

4 Working with Standards

There are issues in dealing with the ways that industry sectors should adhere to standards, including how links are created between NQF and occupational standards. Should standards be regulated in detail or be more generic? Is there a need for a common conceptual taxonomy for transferable vocational skills and competences? These matters are important for labour mobility from one sector to another. If the implications for employees are taken into consideration and RVA is developed using a working-life focus, a modular structure in the form of competence units may help to identify skills shortages and address them from a lifelong perspective.

In the ensuing sections, therefore, we look at a variety of standards used for RVA from different countries and different working cultures, all in relation to different purposes.

4.1 RVA in Relation to VET Standards for Regulated Professions

To recruit skilled and qualified artisans in regulated professions, RVA is used in relation to vocational education and training (VET) standards. Such standards not only safeguard professional practice but also establish pathways to national and international mobility for professionals. Increasingly, VET standards are being used to reduce shortages in technical occupations within environmental fields by building on the practical experiences of refugees. In Germany, the Elbcampus Competence Centre of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce—a new centre for vocational education and training in “green” trades—started an initiative to recruit skilled artisans by building on the practical experience of refugees and migrants in the field of construction, environmental protection and renewable energies. The first steps in the RVA process include a four-day demonstration of skills to identify refugees’ informal competencies. This is followed by advanced training courses of 5–7 months to improve language (up to a certain level of proficiency, here B2 level) and green skills. Quality VET standards serve as benchmarks for competence assessment, after which the refugees have several options. They can either register for further technical qualifications, take up a job, apprenticeship or internship, or progress to academic studies (Hünemörder 2016). These green skills are supported through a partnership with the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU), a German foundation for the environment.

In Spain, the high demand for professional qualifications can be explained by a new law that will require accreditation of all workers in certain sectors such as care and health services. Such new regulatory requirements may make it easier for employers in these areas to motivate employees to embark on courses leading to a certified qualification (see Werquin 2010).

4.2 RVA in Relation to Industry-Based National Qualifications

Although many occupational sectors are now using RVA to regulate standards of practice, many countries that have developed industry-based national qualifications as part of their national skills strategies still lack a methodology for enterprise-based skills recognition. According to Skjerve (2017), for example, Norway’s new skills strategy seeks to promote in-company RVA, but its success will depend on building awareness at the enterprise level and changing the prevailing mindset on the learning-outcomes approach, qualifications, and having a coherent recognition system for informal learning and reference frameworks for both formal and non-formal qualifications. Norwegian enterprises conducting recognition in relation to a qualifications framework are given guidance on the definition of qualifications criteria—these include knowledge of the qualifications and titles that the RVA leads to; whether learning outcomes are defined in terms of knowledge, skills and broader competences (outcome-based) or in terms of an open text (input-based); who assures quality and how; whether the qualification is related to an academic subject such as engineering or commerce; what the relevance of that qualification is for education, the labour market or the environment; whether the qualification is an industrial certificate or diploma; whether the assessment is oral or written, the evaluators internal or external; whether the learning venue after RVA is to be a school, the workplace or a practice; vertical or horizontal career opportunities; what regulates entry requirements—law, regulation or practice; and who the partners are who give support in terms of teaching resources.

Norway’s industrial certification system is determined by several stakeholders, such as trade unions, advisory groups and the Fafo Research Foundation. Education authorities are responsible for summative assessment/testing and the Ministry of Education and Research is responsible for the policy framework and funding. National standards for education and occupations are based on learning outcomes. By developing this guidance for enterprises, the country hopes to change and improve the knowledge base for skills policy making; promote an understanding of learning in all contexts including in-company learning; refine notions of qualifications, informal competences and learning outcomes; erect bridges between formal and non-formal systems of education and training; and provide guidance on learning and career pathways (Skjerve 2017).

4.3 RVA in Relation to a Quality-Management System

Where the purpose is career development and progression, RVA benefits from the use of ISO standards or quality management. These standards are usually based on requirements set by clients or the authorities. They can be used to describe, document and verify skills gained through work experience in an industry or sector, to be fully acknowledged inside or outside that industry or sector. Standards aligned to quality management may pertain to

  • job specifics;

  • work processes, including input and output;

  • roles and responsibilities;

  • skill requirements derived from these roles;

  • types of training required.

In the context of quality management, competency assessment or RVA can be defined as a method to “describe, document and verify skills gained through work experience in an industry or sector, to be fully acknowledged outside this industry or sector” (Aase 2017).

5 RVA Methods and Procedures

Several countries have piloted a wide range of procedures and tools in SMEs. The EXEMPLO Toolkit for SMEs (Fietz and Junge 2006) highlights the experience and activities of European partners in recognising informal learning in companies. It focuses on the application of RVA tools in the context of small-scale enterprises and micro enterprises that are seeking to improve the visibility and transparency of informally acquired competences in the context of the recruitment of personnel or human resource development.

Determining what people know

Skills recognition in companies and enterprises is about determining what people know and can do regardless of when, how and what they have learned. In addition, it is about providing useful feedback to learners so that they can progress. It is fair to the workers in the workplace to have their assessment tied to specific learning- or performance-based outcomes or an industry certification so that they are guided along a pathway.

Profiling skills and knowledge through self-assessment

Recognition mechanisms give workers the opportunity to profile their skills and knowledge through self-assessment. This can help them plan their lives and help them screen jobs that may not be appropriate for them. Online self-assessment tools can give workers a realistic perspective on requirements and an effective way to demonstrate or improve certain skills such as reading and writing.

Using simple portfolio assessments

Cameron (2012) has shown the value of portfolio assessment in the workplace for recognising and leveraging learning beyond the purpose of formal credentials. Adapting definitions from different types of portfolios used in workplace learning, he presents a variety of portfolio assessments that are useful for RVA:

  • Dossier portfolio Records achievement required for entry to a profession where a precise specification of levels of competence is required.

  • Reflective portfolio Provides evidence of accomplishments to be brought forward for promotion to a workplace.

  • Training portfolio Provides evidence of a candidate who is learning for the purposes of accessing a training programme.

  • Personal development portfolio Contains reflective accounts of professional growth.

6 Using the Right Assessment Tools

Results from piloting the EXEMPLO Toolkit for SMEs (Fietz and Junge 2006) highlighted the usefulness of summative assessment tools such as Norway’s “competence card”, which employers use when recruiting employees for a specific post. Formative assessment was applied when the focus of the enterprise was competence development, meeting the future occupational requirements of an enterprise, development of business requirements and optimisation of in-company learning processes. Much attention was paid to the identification of opportunities and further development of the individual, and matching individuals with the companies’ requirements.

7 RVA: A Translation Method for Identifying Transferable Skills

RVA in not just about recognition of learning, but the transfer of learning as well. A few studies have focused on the skills and knowledge acquired by workers to transfer their learning to new occupations or jobs. RVA strategies can provide a fruitful start to helping workers translate practice into transferable skills and can be used to collect evidence for potential formal assessment. Millar (2014) highlights challenges to RVA in relation to workplace learning, particularly for those workers in transition to other jobs or other areas of work:

  • While informal learning is a reality at most workplaces; structures and processes for helping workers identify their informal learning and outcomes, competencies, or job descriptions are lacking.

  • Many private and public providers spend time, money and energy on training workers. The training provision often tells workers what they should do without considering how they learned their tasks.

  • Most portfolios are designed to help individuals gain credit in an academic programme. However, Millar argues the portfolio should extend beyond a focus on return to formal education; it should generate an opportunity for those workers who want to re-enter the workforce or take up different tasks (for example, greener work).

  • Often, people identify themselves with their occupations and place of employment, not with the skills they take with them.

Millar (2014) also highlights the importance of “portfolio workshops” to teach workers how to reflect on their experiences and make career and education decisions (through exercises, activities and the inter-personal relationships made while they complete the portfolio). Such workshops also include informational interviews with different employees in a company to find out more information about an enterprise, the work and workplace culture. RVA for workers in transition focuses on the incorporation of life events, experiential learning, formal and informal education, volunteer activities and hobbies. Previous work should emphasise how these activities resulted in the development of employment skills (ibid.).

Millar found that portfolio workshops not only increased worker self-confidence by helping them realise their skill set was much more extensive than they had originally thought, but they also identified new skills. In creating their own personal chart of experience, workers were encouraged to think about their experiences and draw out the associated skills and competences, before the job, during the job and after the job. Employers, case managers and human resource development managers should therefore guide workers to see how their work experience could translate into new employment opportunities.

8 Summary of Tools and Procedures

To sum up this section on methods and procedures, Box 3.1 highlights strategies for the effective implementation of RVA by industry and in enterprises.

Box 3.1 Strategies for the effective implementation of RVA by industry and in enterprises

  • Have a clear purpose for implementing an RVA system.

  • Team up with a compatible registered non-formal or formal training organisation to design and apply an RVA process specific to the enterprise; remembering RPL can be done before training starts and throughout the process.

  • Actively encourage RVA as part of career progression pathways.

  • Ensure processes are implemented, understood and accepted by the major stakeholders.

  • Liaise with accredited non-formal training providers to ensure business and industry needs are met.

  • Ensure implementation is fair yet cost effective.

  • Plan and negotiate fair and equitable post-assessment processes.

  • Support services to enterprises and non-formal training providers; this should include information (print-based, online, information sessions and workshops) for employees; checklists and strategies for the conduct of the processes; and provision of guidelines for the types of evidence required and collection and storing of information.

  • Understand the time and support required by trainers and assessors.

  • Be flexible to give access to less traditional learners.

Source: Author, based on Hargreaves 2006

In addition, it is important in the Asian context to undertake RVA to understand a workforce’s characteristics. Assessment of workers should include the workers’ levels of education, literacy and aspirations, and the challenges presented by gender or social standing and geographical breakdown. Understanding the challenges faced by each group would help ensure appropriate guidance and counselling, progression and upskilling pathways. Identification of competences and learning should include current perceptions regarding the value attached to training and certification, the current course and certification, as well as the level of buy-in from the workforce. Understanding whether entry-level green jobs in an industry and in a specific geographical local area are desirable to the workforce are first steps in the RVA process. RVA systems need to be able to access the hard-to-reach low-qualified workers in the informal sector.

9 Benefits of RVA: A Win–Win Situation for Employers and Employees

The process of determining skills within enterprises is commonly portrayed in the literature as being highly beneficial to the productivity and human resource development of enterprises and the empowerment of employees as well as the development of environmentally green societies (Maclean et al. 2018). Report findings from interviews with human resource managers, team leaders and union representatives in Sweden found that skills assessments are only successful when they are presented as a win–win situation, not only for the employee but also for the employers, which can be used when marketing the enterprise’s products and the services of its staff (Berglund and Andersson 2012). For the employer, it is a matter of developing human resources to optimise economic opportunities in the green sector; for individuals, it is a question of the value of their full range of competences; for society, it is a question of fully using knowledge, skills and existing talents to create an environmentally friendly society. In the labour market, RVA of competences can result in improved opportunities for enterprises.

RVA has been shown to make employees more competent, confident, reflective and analytical, improving their performance as team members and their communication skills. Employees experience onsite, work-relevant learning and show higher motivation, resulting in gains in overall productivity. For example, RVA of existing competences in New Zealand has been shown to lead to an increased willingness among employees to take part in workplace training or teaching (Keller 2013).

RVA can also help to identify the overall stock of competences and qualifications—including green competences and qualifications—in an organisation, thus making it easier for organisations to invest in the training of their employees. Training becomes a more profitable investment for an organisation when it is expressed in terms of national qualifications or industry sector standards which employers and employees regard as relevant in the changing world of work. Furthermore, RVA provides valuable feedback to educational providers on the content and methods of both formal and non-formal/informal learning, including providers of green content. Private- and public-sector institutions are offering more and more flexible and customised training courses by using RVA to gauge the existing skills levels of individuals.

RVA in an enterprise can also result in the recognition of skills outside a subject’s occupation, such as family skills (Geezer-Sass 2005). RVA procedures may motivate individuals to look upon learning not only in a lifelong sense, but also as a life-wide opportunity, often encouraging an individual to start new learning experiences (Keller 2013).

In Norway, emphasis is placed on the importance of RVA in contributing to greater flexibility in working life, enabling employees to move more easily from one position or profession to another. RVA facilitates access to higher education and can lead to an improved standing in the job market. It can lead not only to more interesting tasks and better wages, but also to improved social integration through better access to the labour market for those previously excluded (Christensen 2013). In addition, in the case of people who become redundant, RVA can help in finding jobs better suited to their current competences.

Enterprise-based RVA can also be directed to social-justice-related policies addressing inequality and promoting decent work. RVA benefits individuals by improving career and employment prospects and creating pathways to further learning and qualification opportunities. Beyond the bounds of these external dimensions, enterprise-based RVA contributes to improved self-esteem, confidence and motivation, greater awareness, improving personal reflection, increased confidence and self-directed learning management.

10 Recognition in the Asian Context: The Potential for Including Green Skills in RVA

Interest in enterprise-based or workplace RVA in developing countries and emerging economies has been limited. In addition, there has been no research into the question of the potential for Asian countries, to include green skills in their RVA mechanisms. Thus, the study presented in this book provides a unique opportunity to highlight trends and challenges that the seven countries and one territory participating are facing.

In this section below, we look at the potential for recognising green skills in the Asian context, highlighting some factors enabling RVA in the countries/territory participating in the study.

10.1 Creating a Space for RVA: Identifying, Assessing and Formalising New Green Jobs

RVA mechanisms can be useful in “assessing” and “recognising” the labour force that could be participating in the green economy. Recognition can assist enterprises in assessing their specific capabilities to minimise the environmental impact of their production processes. In this context, the formalisation of “green jobs” in national qualifications, occupational and professional standards in a growing number of Asian countries adds a formidable context for providing opportunities in taking up green jobs within enterprises. New tools such as NQFs, which include industry standards, commit to supporting and developing training pathways by providing the recognition of prior and emergent learning including work and life experience.

Kazakhstan has established descriptors of qualification levels, sectoral qualifications and occupational standards that serve as the main reference point for skills recognition and development of educational programmes. It considers these established level descriptors as one of the most effective mechanisms for the inclusion of green skills into recognition systems of qualifications. The descriptors are also expected to be a stimulus for SMEs to develop their own methods for competence assessment of employees. Until now, however, only large enterprises in Kazakhstan have their own methods for competence assessment of employees.

Given the growth of new green economic activities, Nepal also acknowledges the need for the formalisation of new green occupations, new skill profiles, qualifications and training frameworks. It further argues that many existing occupations and industries experiencing “greening” will require adjustments to the current training and qualification frameworks.

In the Philippines, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) expressed environmental concerns in the development and amendments of competency standards and training regulations dealing with production and services across all industries, not just in the green sectors. TESDA has developed qualifications related to refrigeration and air-conditioning. The training regulations consider safety parameters regarding workers, customers, tools/equipment and, most importantly, environment.

In Bangladesh, the term “green collar occupation” is used to refer to carbon trading, solar energy engineers and technicians, and mechanical engineers and technical persons in charge of compressed natural gas (CNG) conversion.

In India, the Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ) has a mandate to address environmental challenges in the following sectors: renewable energy, green transportation, green construction and waste management (solid, water and e-waste co-generation). SCGJ believes that these sectors cut across all other industries including catering, automotive and PVC manufacturing.

Kaye (2012) argues that, in the future, it will not be enough to list existing jobs and categorise some as green; rather, an important aspect in the recognition, assessment and formalisation of new green jobs will be their direct or indirect impact on reducing greenhouse emissions and in finding and applying mitigation strategies to address either direct or indirect impacts of climate change.

10.2 Recognising Everyday Work Practices and Skills at the Enterprise Level

We consider the assessment of the everyday practices of the labour force and their capabilities in relation to the green economy through RVA mechanisms. However, green standards cannot remain at the level of qualifications standards; this is highlighted by Baumgarten and Kunz (2016), who point out that, despite the introduction of numerous new standards and initiatives through global trade and industry, the accumulated knowledge around climate change, and the development of green qualifications and green TVET, the challenges in moving towards cleaner production at the level of enterprises remain. MSMEs still struggle to fit national occupational standards into their current operational model. They highlight the importance of closing the industry–market divide to make the transition to green industry and a green economy. According to Baumgarten and Kunz (ibid.), even small changes in everyday work practice for all employees in a company, or on a farm, will cumulatively build towards a whole new core of sustainability practices, not only in individual business, but also in the supply chains fed by these workers and producers through their labour.

It is in this context of identifying, documenting and assessing everyday work practice that the inclusion of green skills into RVA mechanisms is proposed as an important factor in promoting environmental friendliness in workplaces. By taking stock of everyday work practices and making skills visible, RVA can play a role in encouraging workers and employers to participate in waste minimisation and management, and environmental friendliness, in the workplace.

10.3 Green Skills Recognition as a Means to Create Opportunities for the Disadvantaged and Under-Qualified

Given that most people working in the present and future market economies of Asia are either unskilled, semi-skilled or under-qualified labour, predominantly represented in the hard labour market or in micro enterprises of informal sectors, the exercise of identifying and formalising green jobs, as well as the development of processes for assessing everyday work practice and skills, will be critical in building an alternative economy that includes jobs for the disadvantaged. For Bangladesh and India, skills recognition could play an important role in helping informal sector workers involved in waste collection, street catering and automotive services to progress to fill green jobs across different skills levels.

It is often argued that if higher levels of an enterprise hierarchy are reformed, the lower levels will automatically conform to their practices. However, recognition processes within MSMEs require a differentiated understanding and consideration. Usually, most employers can shape their own qualifications: they “invest” in their own education and training and take advantage of learning opportunities that they consider useful to their enterprise. So-called “low-skilled” employees acquire much of their occupational expertise informally on the job; however, they are less able to profit from it in terms of their career development. Recognition systems that identify, document, assess and certify their current and prior green skills and competences offer a great opportunity, especially for those who have no or low formal qualifications. These employees require proper RVA mechanisms and support structures, such as guidance and counselling and self-assessment portfolios, that empower them in their career management competences. One of the goals of skills recognition in enterprises and industrial settings should be to help these so-called low-qualified employees to gain qualifications and competences that endorse and support green behaviour. If effective structures are not in place, RVA mechanisms will only benefit those who already possess qualifications: employers and managers.

10.4 Recognition as a Means of Making Workers Aware of Emergent Skills

While prior learning requires learners to prove their knowledge with evidence such as test scores, portfolios and other written documentation, and is undoubtedly beneficial, workers must also be helped to build on their newly acquired skills and emerging competences developed through workplace learning. According to Sax Mahoney (2014), an assessment model that recognises emergent and workplace learning is vitally needed. She argues that the recognition of prior learning (RPL) offered by institutions of higher education has focused on learning that occurred before a student entered college, and this practice does not engage employers in efforts to build on the skills and competences developed through workplace learning. Emergent learning requires not only life skills, problem solving and critical thinking that informs and changes our actions, but also respect for, and recognition of, non-formal and informal learning.

She points out that recognition of skills must follow practice. It is useful to engage employers in validating attainment of competences demonstrated through workplace activities. Unfortunately, this is not a common practice, even though today’s employers may base important decisions about training, hiring, promotional advancement and organisational direction on their knowledge of workplace learning and competences. While it is mostly large corporations that have put learning management systems, online learning and digital badges to assess emergent learning into operation, it is also useful for SMEs to validate attainment of competences demonstrated through workplace practices. Employers need to link the benefits of RPL assessment and certification to their enterprise. This could be achieved by linking the productivity of an individual to the productivity of the enterprise.

According to Millar (2014), RVA is an important tool to translate workplace practices into skills. While workers thoroughly understand their jobs and how to do them, she says, they need support to deconstruct that work to delineate the sub-skills of their jobs:

…workers in the pulp and paper environment and the NUMMI [auto] plant regularly read a manifest, which was a document similar to work orders, and needed to see how this skill translated into reading and deciphering complex information. These skills can be used in many other settings that would require navigating documents, such as manuals, specifications, etc., or academic materials. Additionally, once people learn the language of transferable skills, they can make links from their own learning to learning needed in new settings (Millar 2014, p. 10).

10.5 Bringing Workplace and Industry Partnerships Together in a Meaningful Way

An article in the Economist (2017) highlights the brokering role that specialised institutes need to play in enabling workplaces to identify the competences necessary for green industries and linking them with qualifications standards and curriculum. In Hong Kong SAR, PRC, for example, Industry Training Advisory Committees (ITACs) are tasked to develop, maintain and update the Specifications of Competency Standards (SCSs) according to the latest labour force requirements. The SCS accommodates both small and large companies to meet the full range of an industry’s education and training needs. Training providers can then develop programmes according to SCSs. The Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) recognises such programmes and related qualifications under its qualifications framework.

In Kazakhstan, stakeholders involved in sectoral qualifications frameworks (SQF) are responsible for integrating technological changes, regional and local market demand, as well as characteristics of the labour market and green skills. In Malaysia, industries in collaboration with the skills training sector are responsible for RVA under the Malaysian skills certification system, which is a five-tiered qualification system grounded on industry-based national occupational skills standards. In Nepal, the National Skills Training Board (NSTB) under the Council for Technical and Vocational Training (CTVET) develops Occupational Skills Standards. Although most of the already-developed test standards include technical or core skills, it is also planned to incorporate green skills.

10.6 Recognition: A Starting Point for Continuous Education and Training for Workers

RVA complemented by workplace training might focus on new routines that have a positive effect on the livelihood of workers and, on the larger scale, contribute to a green economy and sustainable development. In many countries and territories, the recognition of informal and non-formal learning is supplemented by continuous vocational training opportunities. For example, RVA in Hong Kong SAR, PRC, is seen as a stimulus for workforce development and continuous education and training of experienced practitioners in the context of increased trade with the mainland market, competition from South-East Asia and developments in technology. In Malaysia, the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDC) has a scheme for the recognition of prior experiential learning (RPEL), where employers who seek to enhance the skills of their workers can apply for financial assistance for recognising their employees’ skills and experiences. Malaysia considers the utilisation of work-related competency-based approaches in education and training as highly relevant for today’s green practices, and has therefore introduced competency-based training through national modular certificate programmes designed to expose participants to the world of work (Department of Community College Education, Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education 2010). Further, the Department of Skills and Development (Ministry of Human Resources) has established National Occupational Skill Standards (NOSS) to define the employment and essential competency levels to be fulfilled by employees.

11 Conclusions

This chapter has highlighted the crucial need for Asian MSMEs to use RVA mechanisms of non-formal and informal learning to promote greener industries and economies through the inclusion of skills in them. The lack of systematic recognition and documentation of informally acquired competences is not only an obstacle to the recognition of employees’ competences and further career development, but also an obstacle for MSMEs seeking to adjust and transfer to greener forms of production and new environmental standards. The transparency and visibility of competences and knowledge are not only critical for the development of enterprises’ human capital but also for their contribution to a greener environment, society and economy.

Given that MSMEs are among the main environmental polluters in Asia, the chapter has highlighted the need for motivating enterprises to include green practices and promote green skills. Tools and mechanisms such as RVA and industry standards can assist enterprises to assess their specific capabilities to minimise the negative environmental impact of productive processes. Thus, the chapter has emphasised the need within the Asian RVA community to explore approaches to assessment that recognise the broader competences developed within the workplace.

The chapter has highlighted important enabling factors for including green skills in RVA in the country cases (Bangladesh, PRC, India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nepal and the Philippines). It argues that while high-level policies, strategic plans, innovative technologies or qualification standards are significant factors contributing to greening of the economy, they will not have the impact hoped for unless workers in MSMEs have acquired the necessary green skills to turn these policies into practice. This adds to the necessity of emphasising the recognition of skills of the labour force that already is or will in the near future be participating in green industries and a green economy.

The chapter proposes a demand-oriented workforce development system that links green skills recognition to continuous education and training. It argues that RVA presents an opportunity to legitimise and promote customised non-formal on-the-job-training that is accessible to most people in Asia working and earning their livelihood in MSMEs. This focus is even more important when we observe a continued resistance in many Asian countries to making workplace learning a legitimate part of education and training systems. RVA in continuous education and training could help low-qualified workers to reflect on how they learned their tasks and enable them to translate practice into transferable skills, rather than simply learn how to use new equipment or to perform new job tasks.

Using examples from international best practice, this chapter has presented effective recognition methods and procedures that can be adopted in Asian MSMEs. For example, it is suggested that simple portfolio courses in the context of continuous education and training could help workers to become conscious of and identify their transferable green skills, separating skills from practice.

Informal learning in enterprises and companies is becoming increasingly significant for employers, employees and job seekers, as well as for sustainable development, global citizenship, for inclusive economic growth and decent work for all. Most skills are acquired informally through occupational practice on the job. However, the utility of the outcomes of informal and non-formal learning is severely limited if they are not visible beyond the narrow environment of individual learners.

In the Asian context, the recognition of informal workplace learning is not at present making the greatest use of what the area has to offer. RVA systems can prove to be an important tool for tapping into this unrecognised potential. RVA can help increase occupational mobility for individuals by providing them with the motivation to take part in further education, training and skill-upgrading programmes, and the recognition of green skills within RVA systems could prove to be critical for the promotion of environmentally friendly practices in enterprises and their potential to contribute to the sustainable development goals.

Thus, it is important to emphasise that employability and the effectiveness of the labour market are not the only aspects that can be improved by effective recognition systems. Recognising green skills acquired within the workplace can further empower both employees and employers and give them greater agency in the push towards a greener industry and economy.