Work, Learn, Evolve: Conference on Workplace Learning

Woman pointing at a whiteboard covered with colorful sticky notes during an office planning meeting. — The conference focuses on workplace learning as a key part of lifelong learning in both the public and private sectors. Photographer: Martin Thaulow, norden.org

On October 20th, 2026, a Nordic conference on workplace learning will be held in Iceland, bringing together professionals engaged in adult education and lifelong learning across the Nordic region.

Place: Hilton Reykjavik, Suðurlandsbraut 2, 108 Reykjavík

Date: October 20, 2026 from 9 am to 4 pm

The conference is aimed at:

staff in adult education institutions
competence policy experts
training and learning departments within public and private organisations and enterprises
professionals responsible for organising learning in civil society and the third sector

The primary focus of the conference is workplace learning as a central element of lifelong learning — across both the public and private sectors. The programme explores how organisations develop learning internally, how competencies are supported and renewed in everyday work, and how local and national educational institutions contribute through professional support, partnerships, and innovation.

The conference highlights workplace learning as a key arena where education, working life, and societal change meet.

The conference addresses core aims and priorities for adult education and lifelong learning in the Nordic countries, including:

Supporting the strategies for lifelong learning and competence development
Strengthening cooperation, networks, and exchange of experience among professionals in Nordic lifelong learning
Creating synergies between lifelong learning initiatives and other relevant Nordic and international efforts for competence development
Contributing to innovations in lifelong learning systems
Promoting interaction among the key stakeholders from education, research, civil society, and the labour market

Keynote 1: The Benefits of Learning

Professor Petri Salo, Åbo Akademi and Associate Professor Ulrik Brandi, Aarhus University, will introduce and discuss their views on the benefits of learning. They will highlight the wide-ranging impact of adult learning at individual, organisational, and societal levels.

Workshops session one: Competence development and challenges

Workshop A – in English

A Lifetime of Learning – Nordplus project
Partners from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden collaborate to examine how skills are developed in workplaces, with focus on healthcare and technology sectors facing acute labour shortages. By analysing workplace cases, the project identifies effective models for work-based learning and supports the development of adaptable, resilient workforces across the region.

Workshop B – In Icelandic

Lifelong learning in Iceland – Símennt
Hvað er símenntun? Hvaða gildi hefur hún fyrir einstaklinginn, atvinnulífið og samfélagið í heild sinni. Hvaða starfsemi fer fram á símenntunarmiðstöðvum landins með áherslu á ráðgjöf og raunfærnimat. Símennt eru samtök fræðslu- og símenntunarmiðstöðva. Markmið samtakanna eru m.a. að vinna að símenntun og framhaldsfræðslu á Íslandi, þar sem lögð er áhersla á að efla þekkingu og hæfni einstaklingsins og að auka vitund fyrirtækja og stofnana á mikilvægi símenntunar starfsfólks í krefjandi og síbreytilegu starfsumhverfi.

Workshop C – in English

Worklife learning – innovative and practice-oriented competence development in working life – Nordic Network for Lifelong Learning
A Nordic initiative that investigates the implementation of the Learning Circle Model at five public-sector workplaces in health and care services in the Nordic countries. The focus is on how employers, managers, union representatives, and employees together can help ensure that learning becomes a natural part of the workplace culture?

Workshop D – in English

Professional certification in working life – The Education and Training Service Centre
In a rapidly changing labour market, it is important that job-related skills are visible and verified. The Professional Certificate in working life makes this possible. Through a competence assessment, employees’ skills are measured against the job’s competence criteria. Training and instruction tailored to the assessment results follow. When all competence criteria for the job have been met, the skills are certified with the Professional Certificate for the Workforce for that occupation. This brings benefits for both employers and employees.

Keynote 2: From Skills Gaps to Skills Ecosystems

Antonela Miho, Economist at the OECD’s Local Employment and Skills Unit

Antonela Miho will address the shift from skills gaps to building sustainable skills ecosystems, moving beyond identifying shortages toward comprehensive, system-level solutions.

Workshops session 2: Innovation and regional development

Workshop A – in English

Fostering Innovation and Sustainability in Rural Businesses – Nordplus Project
This project identifies emerging competency needs in sparsely populated Nordic regions through structured dialogue with businesses and educational institutions. It maps successful innovation practices, highlights barriers faced by rural SMEs, and offers a framework for strengthening sustainable, future-oriented competencies in rural communities.

Workshop B – in English

The Future Festival – Reykjavik City Library
How to future? What skills do we need to practice? How can we share what we know with each other? The future is often described as a faraway place we have very little control over, but one day, somewhere, someone imagined that we would live the way we live today. The program is created each year in collaboration with many partners and explores diverse forms of learning and collective imagination. We use our hands, brains and whole bodies to form connections and shape the world we want to live in. Libraries have always been places of empowerment—helping people navigate information, ask better questions, and think critically. In today’s age, that mission extends beyond bookshelves. Libraries are vital third spaces that foster knowledge exchange in hybrid formats and provide much needed spaces of encounters.

Workshop C – In Icelandic

Erasmus+ verkefni sem styðja við vinnustaðaþjálfun
Í vinnustofunni munu verða kynnt Erasmus+ samstarfsverkefni
Hjá Iðunni fæðslusetri er öflug starfsemi sem er hluti af Erasmus+ náms og þjálfunarverkefnum og snýr að skipulagningu starfsþjálfunar íslenskra iðnnema í Evrópu og móttöku iðnnema frá Evrópu. Gæði starfsþjálfunarinnar hjá móttökustofnun er þar lykilatriði og hefur Iðan í samstarfi innan Erasmus+ samstarfsverkefna unnið gæðaviðmið og gæðavottun. Núna leiðir Iðan Erasmus+ samstarfsverkefi sem ber heitið EQAMOB (European Quality Assurance in Mobilty) sem einmitt snýr að gæðakröfum til fyrirtækja sem taka þátt í náms-og þjálfunarverkefni ásamt því að leita leiða til að styðja við fyrirtækin og efla samfélag þeirra sem taka þátt í náms-og þjálfunarverkefni.
Miðstöð símenntunar á Suðurnesjum leiddi verkefnið Job Ready: Leið inn í ferðaþjónustuna
Verkefnið þróaði námskeið og námsefni fyrir einstaklinga sem vilja hefja störf í ferðaþjónustu. Verkefnið sameinaði fræðslu og starfsþjálfun á vinnustöðum á Íslandi, í Austurríki og á Kýpur og sýndi hvernig alþjóðlegt samstarf getur stutt við færniþróun, atvinnuþátttöku og betri tengingu náms og atvinnulífs.

Workshop D in English/Icelandic

Learning spaces and Worklife innovation
Learning can take place beyond the traditional classroom or workplace. How do we foster innovation in corporate training, support employees in their daily work, and use technology to communicate with staff and customers. How can NGOs and other none profit organizations support professional development and personal growth? Presentation from Icelandic companies from different sectors as: Red Cross, Hrafnista Nursing homes, Þingvellir National Park and ISAVIA Airports

Wrap-Up and Reflections

Antonela Miho

Antonela Miho is an Economist at the OECD’s Local Employment and Economic Development Programme in Paris, where she leads research on local labour markets and skills policy. Her work examines the impact of structural change on local labour markets, including shifts in technology and trade, and the role of skills in helping people and places navigate economic transitions. She holds a PhD in Economics from the Paris School of Economics.

Petri Salo

Petri Salo is a Professor of Adult Education at Åbo Akademi University, Finland. In addition to a long-standing interest in the traditions and practices of popular adult education in the Nordic countries, his research interests include action research and school development. As part of his professional responsibilities involves teacher education within Vocational Education and Training (VET), his recent research has focused on teachers’ competencies and professional learning.

Ulrik Brandi

Ulrik Brandi is an Associate Professor of Organisational Learning at the Danish School of Education (DPU), Aarhus University, Denmark, where he heads the university’s research programme on lifelong learning and vocational education. His research interests include lifelong learning, workplace and organisational learning, and employee-driven innovation, with a particular focus on the conditions in everyday work that enable or hinder learning. He has led national and European research and intervention projects in collaboration with public institutions, private enterprises and social partners. His work primarily uses participatory approaches to competence development in organisations.

The conference serves as a meeting place for practice, research, and policy, encouraging shared reflection on how workplace learning can support sustainable working lives, inclusion, and continuous professional development in a rapidly changing world.

Hosted by the University of Iceland, the Nordic Network for Lifelong Learning (NLL), and The Education and Training Service Centre (ETSC), the conference provides a shared Nordic platform for dialogue, exchange, and collaboration on the advancement of lifelong learning systems.

Join us in Reykjavik, Iceland on October 20th, 2026, and take part in shaping the future of workplace learning and lifelong learning in the Nordic region.

Fjóla María Lárusdóttir, NLL coordinator in Iceland, fjola@frae.is.