4. Strengthening stakeholder engagement in adult learning in Korea
Effective stakeholder engagement is essential to support Korea’s performance in adult learning. Effective adult learning policies require the engagement of a wide variety of stakeholders so that governments can benefit from the expertise and knowledge of stakeholders, enhance the political legitimacy of policy making, and improve the effectiveness of policy implementation. This chapter explores the following opportunities to strengthen stakeholder engagement in Korea: 1) raising the awareness of, and capacity for, effective stakeholder engagement; and 2) involving stakeholders effectively in the adult learning policy-making process.
Effective stakeholder engagement is essential to support Korea’s performance in adult learning. Policy makers dealing with complex policy choices in adult learning need and benefit from the expertise and knowledge of stakeholders. Engaging stakeholders enhances the political legitimacy of policy making in adult learning, which is important as complex policy decisions often involve a number of trade-offs and political costs. This is especially the case for adult learning policy, which is more complex than many other policy areas as it is located at the intersection of education, labour market, industrial and other policy domains (OECD, 2019[1]). Given that disadvantaged groups in particular have been adversely affected by the social and economic ramifications of COVID-19, targeted stakeholder engagement efforts are needed to ensure that recovery policies, such as those dealing with adult learning, are sufficiently tailored to the specific needs of such disadvantaged groups (OECD, 2020[2]).
Stakeholders are defined in this report as “parties that have an interest or stake in adult learning”. They include all individuals, groups and organisations participating in, directly influenced by or with an interest in adult learning policy making (OECD, 2015[3]). Stakeholder engagement is defined as the “practice of involving members of the public in the process of policy making” (OECD, 2015[3]). Stakeholders should be given the opportunity to play a role throughout the entire policy cycle, which requires sufficient resources such as funding, venues and staff. Undertaking stakeholder engagement continuously and sustainably builds mutual trust and allows all parties involved to achieve a common goal (OECD, 2019[1]).
This chapter provides an overview of Korea’s current arrangements and explores two key opportunities for improving stakeholder engagement in adult learning: 1) raising awareness of, and capacity for, effective stakeholder engagement; and 2) involving stakeholders effectively in the adult learning policy-making process. For each opportunity, the available data are analysed, relevant national and international policies and practices are discussed, and policy recommendations are provided.
The following section provides an overview of Korea’s stakeholder engagement, the main adult learning stakeholder groups, including those represented by formal organisations and those not well represented (e.g. disadvantaged groups), as well as the main stakeholder engagement bodies.
Overview of stakeholder engagement in Korea in comparison with other countries
In Korea’s policy-making process, the government has historically played a dominant role, while stakeholders have had more limited roles. From 1962 to 1987, the authoritarian government in Korea exerted control over policies to achieve rapid economic growth. Without much input from stakeholders, the government set the goals and policies for economic development, determined the allocation of resources, and fostered the growth of business conglomerates (chaebols) that still dominate Korea’s economic structure. In order to provide cheap and strike-free labour to fuel this growth, the government controlled unions and prohibited collective action and strikes, while employers unilaterally set wages and conditions (Lee, 2011[4]). As the government was in control of labour relations, employers’ associations were not needed to participate in collective bargaining processes and played only a passive representational role. This undermined the role of key stakeholders, such as unions and employers, and minimised their influence in the policy-making process (Jun and Sheldon, 2006[5]).
Since the transition to a democracy in 1987, the government granted autonomy to unions and, with the unions’ increased role in determining workplace management issues, employers’ associations also mobilised and became more active. The membership and density of unions and employers’ associations then grew quickly and have increasingly participated in the newly created stakeholder engagement bodies (see further below), which have led to some significant agreements between the government and stakeholders on issues such as labour reform (e.g. the Social Pact in 1998) (Lee, 2019[6]).
However, significant challenges in stakeholder engagement remain. Due to the difficulties of resolving disagreements and deadlocks in existing stakeholder engagement bodies, a large number of strikes continue to occur in Korea (in 2019, there were 141 strikes in Korea compared to 119 on average across the OECD) (ILO, 2020[7]). Some stakeholder organisations have been frustrated and disillusioned with the engagement process, which remains dominated by the government, and have decided to either not join or to temporarily withdraw from formal engagement bodies, which undermines their effectiveness (Lee, 2019[6]). This has been the case with the Korean Employers’ Federation in the Korea Tripartite Commission and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in the Economic, Social and Labour Council. Union and employer organisation density levels still remain among the lowest across the OECD, which means that a significant share of workers and employers are not well represented by these organisations (OECD, 2020[8]).
In comparison to other OECD countries, Korea falls below the OECD average in stakeholder engagement. According to the Bertelsmann Foundation’s 2018 Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI), Korea is below the OECD average on the dimensions of societal consultation, voicing opinion to officials and voter turnout (Figure 4.1) (Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2018[9]). The one dimension where Korea performs above the OECD average is policy knowledge. While this dimension is an important aspect for effective stakeholder engagement, it needs to be complemented by the other three dimensions in order for effective stakeholder engagement to occur.
Note: For interpretation, please note that the higher value indicates a higher ranking.
Source: Bertelsmann Stiftung (2018[9]), Sustainable Governance Indicators, http://www.sgi-network.org/2018/.
Korea’s approach to stakeholder engagement is closest to a state corporatism approach (Table 4.1), which is similar to other East Asian countries. In such an approach, the government has the leading role in the design and implementation of most policies, and mobilises stakeholders to a large extent to support these policies. A limited number of stakeholder groups represented by formal stakeholder organisations (e.g. unions, employers’ associations) are invited to participate in formal engagement bodies, through which the government collects feedback on policies (OECD/ILO, 2017[10]). The advantage of this approach in Korea is that the government has been pursue the quick implementation of policy priorities. The challenges have been designing policies that sufficiently address the unique circumstances of local skills needs and securing enough support from stakeholders to effectively implement policies.
In other OECD countries, stakeholders play a more active role in the policy-making process. For example, in Germanic and Scandinavian countries, a social corporatist approach is common, whereby stakeholders are involved throughout the policy cycle, which generates commitment for implementation. These countries have a long history of formal engagement bodies convening a broad range of stakeholders, ensuring that all stakeholders are able to participate on a level playing field, and making joint policy decisions. Another common approach among Anglo-Saxon countries is the pluralism approach, whereby the government allows stakeholders to freely compete with each other for influence in the policy-making process, which means that the stakeholders with the largest support and legitimacy exert the most influence in the policy-making process (OECD, 2020[11]).
Overview of stakeholder groups
Some stakeholder groups in Korea are well represented in policy making for adult learning through formal stakeholder organisations, while others are less well represented formally.
The most significant formal stakeholder organisations are employers’ associations and unions. The Federation of Korean Industries represents large conglomerates, such as Samsung and Hyundai. The Korean Employers’ Federation represents large and small employers. Small and medium-sized employers are also represented by the Korean Federation of Small and Medium-sized Businesses. The Korea International Trade Association represents employers engaging in international trade. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry represents employers of all sizes and sectors. The most important trade unions are the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (Lee, 2019[6]).
Another group of stakeholders are adult learning provider organisations, which can be further broken down into not-for-profit or for-profit formal education institutions, and not-for-profit or for-profit non-formal education institutions (Table 4.2). Given that many of these adult learning provider organisations are directly under the control of, or accountable to, the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Employment and Labour, their interests are typically represented by the government.
Other stakeholder groups exist that are not well represented by any of the abovementioned formal organisations, and which are among the most disadvantaged in terms of their participation in adult learning. In particular, women, older adults, adults with lower levels of education and non-regular workers have lower levels of participation in adult learning, such as labour market relevant non-formal education (Figure 4.2). In the current COVID-19 crisis, women in general, and mothers in particular, have had relatively less time to acquire new skills for, and effectively participate in, remote working due to their additional care responsibilities. Similarly, older adults and adults with lower levels of education, many of whom are working in small businesses, have struggled to acquire the necessary digital skills to effectively use online platforms and other digital tools to telework (OECD, 2020[2]).
Many women, older adults and adults with lower levels of education are also non-regular workers. In the current COVID-19 context, non-regular workers have been more likely to lose their job than regular workers, and have less access to adult learning opportunities to support their transition to other jobs (OECD, 2020[2]). Not being able to effectively engage non-regular workers through a formal stakeholder organisation has been a particular concern for policy makers, as they represent a significant share (around 34%) of the workforce (KOSIS, 2020[14]).
Source: Ministry of Education and KEDI (2019[15]), Lifelong Learning Survey 2019.
In Korea, non-regular workers are made up of three groups, which sometimes overlap: 1) non-permanent workers, including those working on a temporary or fixed-term basis; 2) part-time workers, including those with 35 or fewer regular working hours per week; and 3) non-typical workers, including daily workers, contractors (either engaged for a specific task or paid on commission), temporary work agency workers, domestic workers, and other such categories of workers with only weak ties to their employer (OECD, 2018[16]). These people frequently work in industries engaged in office support services, cleaning services, tourism, domestic service, agriculture and fishing, among others (KOSIS, 2020[14]).
There have been a number of challenges that have made it difficult for non-regular workers to represent themselves in formal organisations. Existing unions have mostly represented the interests of regular workers, while non-regular workers have historically either been excluded or have chosen not to join these unions due to conflicting interests and priorities over issues such as wages, working conditions and job stability. Non-regular workers have thus created their own unions in specific sectors (e.g. education, railway, healthcare, construction, entertainment) and for specific subgroups (e.g. the Korean Women’s Trade Union, the Senior Hope Union) (Lee, 2019[6]). These unions are often small, have limited financial resources and have been reluctant to join larger union organisations (such as the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions) as they fear that their voices will not be sufficiently represented. Given that only the largest organisations are participating in most stakeholder engagement bodies, the interests of smaller and less well-organised stakeholder groups, such as those for non-regular workers, have not been well represented.
Overview of stakeholder engagement bodies
In Korea, there are a number of formal bodies through which the government engages stakeholders in adult learning. These include the Economic, Social and Labour Council, industrial skills councils, regional skills council, sectoral human development councils, and local labour and management committees (Table 4.3), all of which fulfil different roles and face different challenges, which are further discussed in Opportunity 2 in this chapter. These stakeholder engagement bodies typically engage the more established large stakeholder organisations (e.g. union federations and employer associations).
The current administration in Korea has placed great emphasis on stakeholder engagement. One significant initiative in 2018 was to reform the Economic, Social and Labour Council, which has been one of the most important tripartite bodies since 1997, and enlarge the membership to also include representatives of disadvantaged groups (e.g. non-regular workers and women). However, due to the fragmented and large number of small organisations representing disadvantaged groups, as well the limited number of membership places in the council, it has been challenging to identify the main organisations that would most effectively represent the collective interests of a disadvantaged group (see Opportunity 1). The organisations that ended up representing the interests of disadvantaged groups in the council did not enjoy a strong base of support from the groups they were supposed to represent, and thus had lower levels of legitimacy and reduced bargaining power relative to the other stakeholder organisations (Korea, 2019[17]). This underscores the need to support disadvantaged groups to organise and represent themselves better so that they can more effectively participate in formal stakeholder engagement processes.
This chapter presents two opportunities for strengthening stakeholder engagement. Opportunity 1 examines how awareness of the importance of engagement and the capacity for engaging could be raised for both government officials and stakeholders. Opportunity 2 explores how to involve stakeholders effectively in the adult learning policy-making process through expanding opportunities for stakeholders to provide input (e.g. participatory budget processes, formal partnerships), as well as improving the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement bodies.
Korea can strengthen stakeholder engagement by:
1. Raising the awareness of, and capacity for, effective stakeholder engagement.
2. Involving stakeholders effectively in the adult learning policy making process.
Opportunity 1: Raising the awareness of, and capacity for, effective stakeholder engagement
This section provides an overview of engagement arrangements between government and stakeholders, and examines how such engagement could be made more effective by raising awareness of, and building capacity for, engagement among government officials and stakeholders. Relevant country examples and specific recommendations are also presented.
Raising the awareness and capacity of government to engage stakeholders
It is critical to raise awareness among government officials about the importance of stakeholder engagement and which stakeholders to engage. Discussions with government representatives in Korea emphasised that awareness of the importance of engaging stakeholders in adult learning policies needs to be raised (Korea, 2019[17]). While responsible government officials may understand the general benefits of stakeholder engagement, such as accountability, responsiveness and legitimacy, they are hesitant to engage in such activities due to the potential risks, such as delays in policy implementation and higher administrative burdens (OECD, 2009[18]). Some may also wish to avoid conflicts, in particular when stakeholders do not share a common goal and when the debate is about distributional issues affecting resources (“who gets what from whom?”). When stakeholder engagement does not take place, this adversely affects policy implementation, with stakeholders not supporting government decisions (OECD, 2020[11]). Raising awareness among government officials of the need to engage stakeholders and how to engage them early in the policy design process increases the likelihood of adult learning policies being successfully implemented.
A particular challenge for government officials in Korea is identifying the relevant stakeholders to engage. Stakeholders in Korea are not as well organised as those in other OECD countries. For example, trade union and employer organisation density levels are among the lowest across the OECD (Figure 4.3). A low density level means that the share of employees or employers represented by these organisations is low. Thus, while the Korean government does engage with the official unions and employer organisations, there are still many employees and employers who are not members of these organisations and whose voices are therefore not represented in formal engagement bodies. In addition, other disadvantaged stakeholders are not well represented generally in formal organisations, such as women, older individuals, individuals with lower levels of education and non-regular workers (see also Chapter 5). This makes it challenging for the government to identify how and with whom to engage.
a. 2016 for Chile, Greece, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia; 2017 for Austria, Belgium, Canada, Israel, Korea, Switzerland.
b. 2011 for New Zealand; 2012 for Israel; 2014 for France, Hungary, Ireland, Norway; 2015 for Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Poland.
c. 2000 for Austria, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Sweden; 2002 for Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain and the United Kingdom.
d. 2005 for Turkey; 2008 in Greece, Hungary, Spain and the United Kingdom; 2009 for Korea; 2010 for Denmark; 2011 for Estonia, Germany, Ireland and Portugal; 2012 for Belgium, France, Italy, Lithuania and Luxembourg; 2013 for Iceland, Latvia, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia; 2014 for Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden; and 2015 for the Netherlands.
Source: Panel A: OECD (2020[8]), OECD Statistics (database), https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?QueryId=90648. Panel B: OECD (2017[19]), OECD Employment Outlook 2017, https://doi.org/10.1787/empl_outlook-2017-en.
A thorough stakeholder mapping exercise could help to identify key stakeholders. Through such a process, Korea can identify stakeholders who have not been sufficiently engaged, but should be based on attributes such as extent of concern for a specific policy, how much they have at stake, and how much influence they would have in the success of the policy (Bryson, 1995[20]; Mitchell, Agle and Wood, 1997[21]; Jeston and Nelis, 2008[22]). In the mapping process it is important to pay particular attention to disadvantaged stakeholders who are crucial for the success of a policy. This mapping exercise can prioritise which key stakeholders to engage based on their attributes (mentioned above) and an assessment of how to target engagement efforts in the most effective way. Some examples are featured in Annex 4.A. The mapping exercise can also analyse the relationships between stakeholders and identify potential areas of disagreement between the government and stakeholders, as well as between stakeholders themselves, so that government officials can anticipate and prepare for such challenges by, for example, analysing the different positions actors are likely to take, examining the relationships between the different actors, and identifying options for a compromise (Moura and Teixeira, 2010[23]). The mapping exercise should also identify the roles of stakeholders during different stages of the policy cycle, such as policy design, implementation and evaluation. The Australian government’s toolkit for stakeholder engagement starts with a mapping exercise to identify the right groups to engage at a particular stage of the policy cycle, as well as the composition of target groups. It also delineates the risk of not including these groups (Box 4.2).
Another challenge for government stakeholder engagement efforts is the lack of sufficient and relevant training to strengthen the engagement capacities of government officials. Specific capacities for effective stakeholder engagement include negotiation skills, communication and presentation skills, and monitoring and evaluation skills (OECD, 2016[24]). In a survey of government officials, the policy measure identified as most important for raising the capacities of government officials was the development and provision of educational training programmes (Figure 4.4). While all Korean government officials receive initial training when they first start in their positions, this training typically covers their general responsibilities and is not sufficiently tailored to equip them with the skills necessary to effectively fulfil their broader roles and responsibilities, such as the engagement of stakeholders in the development and implementation of adult learning policies (see also Chapter 3). During the OECD mission, representatives in Korea emphasised the specific need for educational training programmes to teach government officials how to reach out to stakeholders, in particular those who are disadvantaged.
Note: The Government Civil Servant Survey, conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), polled civil servants in central government ministries and regional governments.
Source: OECD elaboration of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (2018[25]), Government Civil Servant Survey, https://www.kipa.re.kr/site/eng/main.do.
Some national good practices do exist regarding the training of government officials in stakeholder engagement, which may be worth expanding further. For example, within the National Institute for Lifelong Education, government officials receive training specifically on reaching out to stakeholders in addition to their initial training. The Seoul Metropolitan City Government also provides training on stakeholder engagement through its “Collaborative Governance School”, and publishes relevant textbooks (Box 4.1). Courses provided by the school cover topics such as understanding the concept of collaborative governance, communication skills and conflict management. They aim to provide information on other good examples of collective governance and to develop the necessary skills for developing and managing public-private partnerships.
While such training offers are promising, more specialised training and support is needed to engage disadvantaged stakeholder groups that currently have low levels of representation, such as non-regular workers (see Chapter 5), women and youth. Such specialised training should cover, for example, how to tailor the language and format (e.g. print material, online material, social media) of communications to the specific profile and needs of disadvantaged stakeholder groups. Government officials should also be trained in how to effectively facilitate face-to-face meetings such as workshops, town hall meetings and advisory groups in an inclusive way to support the participation of disadvantaged stakeholders. In Finland, the government has taken steps to improve dialogue between the government and stakeholders through the training of government officials to communicate effectively with stakeholders, including those disadvantaged, by using plain language and visualisations, describing clear government structures and processes, and making official information easy to find (Box 4.2).
Government officials also need training to review and assess stakeholder proposals. During the OECD mission, representatives in Korea highlighted that the training government officials receive should raise their capacities to evaluate stakeholder proposals based on available evidence. Otherwise, there is a risk that government officials, especially when they are new to a position and policy domain, adopt proposals submitted by the most vocal stakeholders, without an evidence-based evaluation of the proposal’s merits. This process could thus be at risk of being unduly influenced by special interest groups (OECD, 2009[18]). In Korea, this risk is particularly prominent due to the large group of disadvantaged stakeholders not represented by existing formal stakeholder organisations (i.e. trade unions, employers’ associations).
Government officials, therefore, need to be trained to develop and use consistent and transparent indicators when evaluating stakeholders’ proposals so that all proposals can be assessed in the same merit-based manner. The indicators used for such evaluations should be publicly available. Government officials should be trained in how to use the indicators and what information to collect from stakeholders to assess their proposals.
In Korea, some promising examples of developing and using indicators for reviewing stakeholder proposals exist. For example, in the Seoul Metropolitan City policy forum, citizens made 55 project proposals to the mayor (Box 4.1). The city government officials then reviewed and selected 35 projects in collaboration with stakeholders, using 5 transparent indicators of feasibility, responsibility, effectiveness, the extent of public-private partnership and a cost-benefit evaluation. The budget for implementing the 35 projects amounted to approximately USD 7.4 million and included two adult learning programmes (Seoul City, 2017[26]). Government officials responsible for assessing stakeholder proposals should be trained to develop indicators to use for assessments so that a merit-based selection process gives all stakeholders, including those disadvantaged, the same opportunities to have their proposals considered. Given that disadvantaged stakeholders are likely to have limited ability to submit well-developed policy proposals, their capacity in this regard should be raised (see next section).
Seoul Metropolitan City’s initiative to establish a collaborative governance structure
Seoul Metropolitan City enacted “The Basic Ordinance for Promoting Public-Private Collaborative Governance” in 2016 to set a foundation for sustainable stakeholder engagement in the policy-making process. The ordinance defined the rights and responsibilities of citizens and the responsibility of the mayor, setting the basis for establishing a dedicated committee and building a plan to promote stakeholder engagement. Following up on the ordinance, in 2017, Seoul City strengthened the participatory budgeting system, and designed and implemented 35 projects in collaboration with stakeholders, including adult learning projects. To build the capacity of government officials and stakeholders, Seoul City provides training on collaborative governance and publishes textbooks. The courses aim to help actors understand the concept of stakeholder engagement and develop the necessary skills for policy implementation in public-private partnerships.
Source: Seoul City (2017[26]), White paper on collaborative governance 2017.
Australia: A government toolkit to engage stakeholders in policy design and delivery
The government of Australia has produced a toolkit to help the public sector engage stakeholders in different policy domains, including skills policies. The toolkit identifies the key elements of effective engagement:
Involve the right people: To identify the right stakeholders, it should be clear why there is a need to engage them and what the scope of the engagement will be. Who needs to know? Who has an interest? The answers will ultimately determine the composition of the target group of stakeholders. The risks of not engaging particular stakeholders should also be considered.
Use a fit-for-purpose approach: There is no one-size-fits-all approach to engaging stakeholders – each interaction should be tailored. Stakeholders have different expertise, objectives and capacity to engage with government. Do not assume that what worked for one situation will work for another. Often a mix of approaches will be needed and policy makers may need the flexibility to adjust their approach quickly.
Manage expectations: Stakeholders should have a clear understanding of how their contributions will be used, and the degree of influence their input will have as approaches to policy design and implementation are formulated. When stakeholders’ expectations cannot be met, anger, frustration or cynicism may result, which will affect the current and future relationship with the government. The purpose of the engagement and the role of participants, including how their input will be used, need to be clear from the beginning.
Use the information: Engagement is not just about collecting information, it should involve a process of responding to the gathered information to shape and improve the quality of the initiative. Information from stakeholders may also indicate whether the engagement approach itself needs to change. Greater organisational benefits will flow if lessons learned from engagement are shared across the agency, particularly when the agency regularly engages with the same set of stakeholders on a variety of issues.
The toolkit also assesses common challenges to stakeholder engagement. These include: 1) the purpose of the engagement may not be clear; 2) stakeholders may have limited capacities and resources (time, people and money) to engage with the government; 3) government may have limited experience and skills to implement effective stakeholder engagement; 4) unfocussed dialogue may cause stakeholders to highlight a range of issues that are important to them but not related to the government initiative that is the object of the engagement; and 5) failure to review and evaluate may negatively affect the capacity to assess the results of the approach. The engagement plan should include review points throughout the policy design and implementation, with the flexibility to adjust the approach if needed.
Source: Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (2013[27]), Cabinet Implementation Unit Toolkit: 3. Engaging Stakeholders.
Finland: Enhancing dialogue skills for civil servants
Effective communication is important to further strengthen the relationship between government and citizens. Finland has acknowledged the significance of sound dialogue skills for civil servants and included commitments to further improving these skills in its first Open Government Partnership (OGP) Action Plan (2013-14). The following six concrete aims were formulated: 1) standard language titles and resumes will be drafted for government proposals; 2) visualisation of decisions on expenditures of the state budget will be created; 3) training will be organised for civil servants on use of clear language and plain language including committing to use of terms already known; 4) the comprehensibility of the texts produced by public administration will be tested with citizens and service users; 5) the terms and concepts used in public administration and service production will be standardised and clarified; and 6) the comprehensibility of customer letters and decisions will be enhanced, especially when using standard texts.
These commitments were taken up again in the second OGP Action Plan, which also includes a commitment to “clear administration”. The main objectives that contribute to a more tangible and understandable bureaucracy are: clear structures and processes, as well as customer orientation, are targeted in major reforms; structures and processes are described so that citizens know which authority should be contacted for different issues; official language is correct, clear and easy to understand; information on issues under preparation is available and can easily be found; and the administration takes feedback into account when developing its ways of working.
This example of Finland provides good practice on facilitating communication, engagement and collaboration between citizens and civil servants, which has the potential to positively influence the perception of the entire government. Open government, if understood as a culture of governance, requires an emphasis on civil servants now and in the future acknowledging the more active role of citizens throughout the entire policy cycle, through approaches such as those in Finland.
Sources: Open Government Partnership (2013[28]), Finland Open Government Action Plan 2013-2014, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/20130314-OGP-Action-Plan-Finland.pdf; Open Government Partnership (2015[29]), Finland Open Government Action Plan 2015-2017, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/OGP_Action_Plan_Finland-2015_2017.pdf; OECD (2016[30]), Open Government: The Global Context and the Way Forward, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264268104-en.
3.1. Identify through a mapping exercise the relevant stakeholders in adult learning policy and how they should be engaged. Government officials should conduct a mapping exercise to raise their awareness about which stakeholders to engage, for what reason they should be engaged and how they should be engaged. In such a mapping exercise, government officials should consider the extent of stakeholders’ concerns for a specific policy, how much stakeholders have at stake, and how much influence stakeholders have in the success of the policy. The mapping exercise should also consider the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders during the different stages of the policy cycle, from policy design to implementation to evaluation. Particular attention should be given to engaging disadvantaged groups, such as women, youth and non-regular workers, who have often not been sufficiently engaged. The mapping exercise should also identify the relationships among stakeholders and where potential disagreements could lie so that government officials can anticipate and prepare for such challenges and manage them more effectively. A toolkit could be developed explaining how to undertake an effective mapping exercise. This could be shared across the whole of government.
3.2. Expand training for government officials on how to engage in particular disadvantaged stakeholders in adult learning policies, as well as how to assess stakeholder proposals. Existing training on stakeholder engagement from the National Institute for Lifelong Education and the Seoul Metropolitan City Government should be expanded and further developed to ensure that it raises the capacity of government officials to engage disadvantaged stakeholder groups. For example, it should raise capacity to tailor the language and format (e.g. print material, online material, social media) of communications to the specific profile and needs of disadvantaged stakeholder groups. Government officials should also be trained in how to effectively facilitate face-to-face meetings such as workshops, town hall meetings and advisory groups with stakeholders in an inclusive way to support the participation of disadvantaged stakeholders and ensure that their voices are heard. Training should also raise the capacity of government officials to develop consistent and transparent indicators that they can use in evaluating stakeholder proposals, so that all proposals can be assessed in the same merit-based manner. The indicators used for such evaluations should be publicly available. Government officials should be trained in how to use the indicators and what information to collect from stakeholders to assess their proposals.
Raising the awareness and capacity of stakeholders to engage with government
More needs to be done to raise awareness among stakeholders about the importance of their participation in the development and implementation of adult learning policies. For trade unions such as the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the topic of adult learning has a relatively low priority compared to issues such as wage and working conditions. Some experts argue that this phenomenon is due to Korea having a relatively small safety net and a relatively large share of workers for whom the minimum wage is binding, in comparison with other OECD countries (ESLC, 2018[31]). Similarly, for many employers in Korea, especially SMEs, adult learning for their employees is often considered an expense, not an investment, regardless of the significant benefits. Employers are concerned that employees might move to another company for higher wages after acquiring new skills (KRIVET, 2018[32]). Due to this situation, in the labour-management council meetings, which bring together representatives from labour and employers to discuss a variety of issues within the firm, the topic of worker training and education is relatively low on the agenda (Figure 4.5). Awareness-raising efforts are needed to help stakeholders understand the benefits of adult learning for both employees and employers, and how this can lead to better outcomes (e.g. higher productivity, work satisfaction). At the same time, stakeholders need to be made aware that their participation in the process of developing and implementing adult learning polices is important.
Note: The Workplace Panel Survey, conducted by the Korea Labor Institute (KLI), polled 3 916 corporations and 359 public institutions across Korea.
Source: OECD elaboration of the Korea Labor Institute (2013[33]), Workplace Panel Survey, https://www.kli.re.kr/kli_eng/index.do.
Stakeholders’ interest in participating in the adult learning policy-making process is low, partly due to a lack of awareness about how to engage with government. Based on discussions with Korean representatives during the OECD mission, stakeholders in adult learning face barriers or lack expertise in how to engage effectively with government. A lack of understanding of the nature and importance of adult learning policy making and how to participate effectively in the process is common (OECD, 2015[3]). Besides lobbyists, few stakeholders know all the details of how the government works, how the adult learning policy-making process is organised, and how and where to get involved. In adult learning in Korea, the government landscape is particularly complex (see Chapters 2 and 3). Stakeholder groups that are not well organised (Table 4.2), such as those representing women, youth and non-regular workers, face particular hurdles in knowing how to participate in the political process. This highlights the need to raise awareness about how to engage and how to enhance their capacity to engage (OECD, 2009[18]). Training could allow stakeholders to better understand the nature and importance of adult learning policy making (and policy making more generally), and how to participate effectively in the process. Such training could cover details of how the government works, how the adult learning policy-making process is organised and how to get involved.
Unions need to increase their coverage to engage effectively with government. In Korea, the majority of unions are still enterprise based and bargain at the firm level, instead of bargaining on behalf of all employees across enterprises (Lee, 2011[4]). The unions of large companies are often reluctant to participate in political processes and prefer to represent mostly internal company issues during negotiations. The organisation of unions differs across sectors, with relatively strong levels of union organisation in the textile sector, followed by the chemical, metal and other heavy industries. In the case of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, some internal affiliates have an even stronger voice than the umbrella organisation and take the lead in decision-making processes, which hampers the ability of the national leadership to co-ordinate with, and effectively meet the needs of, all of their affiliates (Korea Labor Institute, 2013[34]). These issues reduce the unions’ bargaining power, leverage and credibility in negotiations with government and other stakeholders. In addition, disadvantaged workers, such as those in non-regular work arrangements, often do not have a formal organisation that effectively represents their views, and are reluctant to join existing unions as they do not see them as sufficiently addressing their interests.
The decreasing membership of unions is a common challenge across the OECD, as more employees are choosing not to join a union and are working in more non-regular forms of employment. Due to these challenges, some unions have merged or applied new recruitment and internal organisation strategies. In Austria (Box 4.4), some unions have combined and introduced representational groups (e.g. employees in micro companies, self-employed) to raise their overall numbers and increase their influence. In the United Kingdom, the government provided funding to unions to enhance their capacity and help them adapt to the changing labour market and new forms of employment (Box 4.4).
Employers’ associations need to co-ordinate better internally and with one another to engage more effectively with government. In Korea, there are several national employers’ associations. The Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the oldest and largest association with numerous regional chambers and represents companies of all sizes and sectors. The Federation of Korean Industries represents the large conglomerates (chaebols). The Korean Employers’ Federation is the main employer association dealing with labour employment and industrial relations and represents large and small companies (Cooke and Jiang, 2017[35]). Other smaller employers’ associations include the Korea International Trade Association and the Korean Federation of Small and Medium-sized Businesses. A common challenge for all these employers’ associations is the ability to co-ordinate internally and position themselves with one clear voice. For example, while the national representation may take one position, the affiliate companies at the sectoral and regional levels may take other positions and adopt different industrial relations strategies (Baccaro and Lee, 2003[36]). This weakens the overall legitimacy and bargaining power of the national representation.
The capacity of stakeholders to participate in evidence-based dialogue with government needs to be raised. In a survey of stakeholders in Korea, most responders highlighted the importance of having sufficient expertise and expert knowledge among stakeholders to participate constructively in an evidence-based dialogue with government (Figure 4.6). During the OECD missions to Korea, many participants mentioned that a common challenge of engaging stakeholders was the fact that they tend to propose adult learning policy ideas that reflect only their special interests and that they are not sufficiently informed by the available evidence about the challenges and efficacy of proposed solutions (Korea, 2019[17]). Without a common understanding between the government and stakeholders about how to interpret the available evidence, a dialogue between the two parties about the policy challenges and potential solutions becomes more difficult. Stakeholders expressed that discussions can become very political, and that it is easier for the most vocal and powerful participants to dominate the discussions and decision-making process, even if the policy solutions they present are not evidence based (Korea, 2019[17]).
Note: The Stakeholder Engagement Survey, conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), primarily polled citizens to understand their engagement with government.
Source: OECD elaboration of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (2018[25]), Government Civil Servant Survey, https://www.kipa.re.kr/site/eng/main.do.
The capacity of stakeholders to participate effectively in engagement processes could be raised by internal research units. While most unions and employers’ associations have research units (Table 4.4), they are relatively small in scale, heavily reliant on government funding, and are often driven by the political views of their leadership (Korea Labor Institute, 2013[34]). Having a better resourced and independent research unit within stakeholder organisations would allow stakeholders to participate in policy negotiations with more evidence-based ideas (Korea, 2019[17]). While government organisations such as the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET), the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI) and other research institutes responsible to the prime minister play a mediating role between the government and stakeholders, as well as provide research to inform discussions between the government and stakeholders, their role could be complemented by the stronger research capacity of individual stakeholder organisations. Research units in such organisations could collect data from the constituencies they represent and analyse and disseminate these data. Such units could consider the implications of long-term challenges and identify policy options (Box 4.3). The research units will need access to relevant skills data to undertake such tasks. Data from various ministries should be linked (Chapter 2) to enable stakeholders to properly analyse the changing skills needs in the local context and use the information as a base for their proposals. Given that the Employment Insurance Fund is co-funded by employees and employers and used to finance a variety of adult learning programmes (OECD, 2018[37]) (see also Chapter 5), it could potentially also be used to financially support internal research units in unions and employers’ associations, and thus enable them to more effectively inform adult learning policies.
In some OECD countries, such as France, stakeholders including employers’ organisations, unions and political parties have their own well-resourced and independent research units (sometimes called occupations and skills observatories) that analyse data and regularly publish reports (Box 4.4). The majority of observatories are embedded in and financially supported by either employers’ associations or government bodies that manage employer training levies. The observatories allow stakeholders to participate in public debates with evidence-based arguments and provide a constructive framework to engage with proposals.
Federation of Korean Trade Unions Research Centre
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions is one of the largest trade unions in Korea, with a national network of 1 million union members as of 2018. It established a research centre in 1994 to set out a direction for the labour movement in Korea and to develop policies aimed at improving the quality of workers’ lives. This centre undertakes research on labour policies including working hours, wages, welfare and industrial safety. It also publishes an annual guide instructing the unions on how to engage with employers in terms of labour issues, including vocational education and training. The guide is distributed to approximately 3 000 regional unions under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions.
Source: Federation of Korean Trade Unions, (n.d.[38]), “Vision”, Fedseration of Korean Trade Unions Research Centre, http://inochong.org/vision.
Austria: Internal reorganisation of unions
One of the main responses of the Austrian social partners to new challenges such as financial pressures is a process of integration and concentration. In 2006, three major trade unions (the railway workers’ union; the union representing workers in hotels, restaurants and personal services; and the union for transport, traffic and commerce workers) created Vida, a new trade union representing nearly 140 000 members. In 2009, the metal, textile and food workers union merged with the chemical workers union to form the Union of Production Workers (PRO-GE), with a total membership of more than 230 000 workers. The white-collar workers’ union, Gewerkschaft der Privatangestellten (GPA), expanded its membership base through a merger with the journalists and printing industry union to become GPA-djp, and now has more than 275 000 members. The municipal workers’ union joined forces with the trade union for workers in the art, media and sports industry to represent more than 150 000 members. On the employer side there is only one major representative – the Chamber of the Economy – and therefore no need to merge organisations. However, within the Chamber of the Economy there are various subsections representing different sectors (Fachverbände). As part of the reform process, some of the subsections have been merged to decrease in number from 128 to 95.
The social partners have also introduced new platforms to attract new members and to respond to the specific needs of a changing membership structure. This includes the creation of special interest groups by the trade unions, and new fora for small and very small companies (one-person companies) formed by the Chamber of the Economy. The trade unions also campaign or organise workers to attract new members. As membership in the Chamber of the Economy is mandatory, there is no need for it to engage in any such strategies.
Source: Voss and Biletta (2016[39]), New topics, new tools and innovative practices adopted by the social partners, https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/default/files/ef_publication/field_ef_document/ef1619en.pdf.
United Kingdom: Funding to strengthen the internal organisation of unions
The Employment Relations Act 2004 established a Union Modernisation Fund to provide financial assistance to independent trade unions and their federations in the United Kingdom, on the condition that they strengthen their internal organisational capacity. The fund sought to financially incentivise “innovative projects which speed unions’ adaptation to a changing labour market and new ways of working”, enhancing their ability to proactively contribute towards constructive employment relations and the British economy as a whole.
Source: Voss and Biletta (2016[39]), New topics, new tools and innovative practices adopted by the social partners, https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/default/files/ef_publication/field_ef_document/ef1619en.pdf.
France: Occupation and skills observatories
French occupation and skills observatories (observatoires prospectifs des métiers et des qualifications, OPMQ) tend to be jointly managed by employers’ organisations and trade unions. This allows for flexibility with respect to their legal status and composition, depending on sectoral needs. The majority of observatories are embedded in and financially supported either by employers’ associations or government bodies managing employers’ training levies. The observatories’ outputs and activities are similar across skills councils, such as mapping or listing occupations; conducting surveys and analyses on skills management, training and recruitment needs; and creating certification schemes. Their outputs lead to recommendations and the development of actions and tools for use by firms and workers.
Source: OECD (2019[40]), Getting Skills Right: Making adult learning work in social partnership, http://www.oecd.org/employment/emp/adult-learning-work-in-social-partnership-2019.pdf.
3.3. Provide stakeholders with training to raise their awareness about the importance and benefits of engaging with government on adult learning policies, and on the processes through which they can engage. The training should raise stakeholders’ awareness about how engagement with the government can benefit stakeholders in terms of desirable outcomes (e.g. higher productivity, work satisfaction) and therefore about their need to participate in the process for developing and implementing adult learning polices. The training should help stakeholders understand how the government works, how the adult learning policy making process is organised, and how and where to get involved. It should in particular target stakeholder groups that are not well organised, such as women, youth and non-regular workers, so that they can also actively participate in the political process.
3.4. Strengthen stakeholders’ capacity to represent themselves effectively in engagement processes. The government should consider financially supporting some stakeholder organisations that are lacking financial resources (e.g. non-regular workers) to organise and represent themselves effectively. In addition, some stakeholder organisations, in particular those that are relatively small, should consider merging with other similar organisations or adopting new strategies to attract more members through the creation of new representational groups to recruit and represent the needs of new members (e.g. non-regular workers).
3.5. Raise the capacity of internal research units in stakeholder organisations to participate in an evidence-based dialogue with government. Existing internal research units should be strengthened through additional financial resources (e.g. from the Employment Insurance Fund) to enable them to collect data from their constituencies, analyse these data, consider the implications of long-term challenges, identify relevant policy options and more effectively inform adult learning policies. These internal research units should have easy access to relevant skills data from government by, for example, making it possible to link data sources from various ministries. Strengthen knowledge partnerships between these internal research units and independent government research organisations, such as KRIVET, KEDI and other research institutes under the prime minister.
Opportunity 2: Involving stakeholders effectively in the adult learning policy-making process
This section provides an overview of how stakeholders participate in the adult learning policy-making process, and how such involvement could become more effective by expanding opportunities for stakeholders to provide input into policy making, as well as by improving the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement bodies. Relevant country examples and specific recommendations are also presented.
Expanding opportunities for stakeholders to participate in the adult learning policy-making process
The government needs to expand opportunities for stakeholders to provide input into policy making, particularly at the subnational level. The relatively centralised decision-making process for adult learning policy in Korea has often struggled to effectively meet subnational needs (Korea, 2019[17]). Adult learning needs differ significantly across regions and municipalities (see Chapter 3). Encouraging subnational stakeholders to constructively contribute to the design and implementation of adult learning helps to cultivate trust at the subnational level, resulting in better outcomes.
The government should solicit stakeholder feedback and input throughout the entire policy-making process. In a survey of Korean stakeholders, respondents were asked whether they had experience in expressing their opinions on government policy issues or projects. Only 23% of respondents said that they had such experience, which was usually through online participation (74%) followed by other forms of in person participation such as citizen panels, forums and open meetings (Figure 4.7).
Note: The Stakeholder Engagement Survey, conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), primarily polled citizens to understand their engagement with government.
Source: OECD elaboration of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (2017[41]), Stakeholder Engagement Survey, https://www.kipa.re.kr/site/eng/main.do.
The Korean government has experience of engaging stakeholders through a variety of initiatives. For example, since 2013 a community participation mobile application (app) called “mVoting” has allowed citizens in Seoul to propose policy solutions at any time, once they have downloaded the app. Efforts are currently underway to use this app for actual policy decisions. The app has been downloaded at least 100 000 times on Google Play and approximately 280 000 times on the App Store. As of June 2016, more than 1.1 million users had voted in the app. At least 4 400 proposals and voting agendas have been posted – 88% of which came from citizens and 12% from officials. At least 181 proposals have turned into actual Seoul City policies. The government has also established civic participatory service design teams composed of stakeholders, government officials and experts. Each team consists of about 8 to 15 members who work together for about three to four months conducting field studies, literature reviews, and research and brainstorming to propose policy solutions. National, regional and local governments have organised more than 200 teams, which have submitted policy proposals in diverse areas such as education, social welfare, public health, transport, industry, housing and finance (OECD, 2016[42]) .These different initiatives are promising and should be expanded to make them more readily available across the country.
Stakeholder engagement mechanisms such as these should ensure that disadvantaged stakeholders, who are less vocal and more passive, are heard as much as more outspoken and active stakeholders. Disadvantaged stakeholders often do not use these online platforms or participate in other types of engagement activities. They may be more passive and lack of awareness of these engagement forms, and may not have sufficient capacity to participate.
In order to involve stakeholders more in the policy-making process, including those who are disadvantaged, Korea could consider the example of the Citizens Forum in Belgium. This forum brings together stakeholders representing different perspectives to deliberate on a particular policy issue, learn from each other and develop innovative policy solutions. To ensure the broad participation of stakeholders, the forum organises a G1 000 summit that convenes 1 000 randomly selected residents of Belgium, who then form smaller groups of 32 to discuss and propose a number of specific policy recommendations (Box 4.6). In Germany, the government of Berlin’s Lichtenberg borough engages stakeholders through regular online and face-to-face activities to make and evaluate suggestions of how to spend the annual EUR 31 million discretionary budget. In order to ensure the broad participation of all stakeholders, including disadvantaged groups, 25 000 residents are randomly selected and surveyed to receive their input. The government invests considerable resources in raising awareness among stakeholders of the participatory budgeting project through posters and leaflets, information stands at local festivals and events, and information in the local media (Box 4.6).
The government in Korea should foster more government and stakeholder partnerships at the local level. However, some relevant experiences do exist. For example, since 2000, the Ministry of Education has run the “Lifelong Learning City” project, which promotes government and stakeholder partnerships in lifelong learning at the city level. In 2019, 160 Korean cities were designated as official Lifelong Learning Cities, representing 70% of all Korean cities. In each lifelong learning city there is an ordinance or law to support governance structures that involve residents, experts and local social partners in a decision-making process that develops mid- and long-term goals. The amount of funding the Ministry of Education provides depends on the size of the city and its project plan. This national funding is complemented with funding from the city and stakeholders. While the performance of lifelong learning cities varies significantly (Ministry of Education, 2019[43]), a good practice case study of Suwon City can be found in Box 4.5.
Along similar lines, in 2006 the Ministry of Employment and Labour created the “Local-based Job Creation Support Programme” which works with local NGOs, academic institutions, unions and employer associations, regional skills councils, and subnational governments to develop innovative job creation projects, relevant training programmes and career counselling services. In 2018, the government provided around USD 95 million to fund 455 selected local projects. A relevant case study of Gwangju, which has been highlighted by stakeholders in Korea as an example of good practice, can be found in Box 4.5.
When evaluating such stakeholder initiatives, sufficient time should be given to show results, as investments in adult learning programmes take time to bear fruit. Otherwise, any experimentation and the development of new initiatives may be discouraged. Currently, most of these programmes are evaluated annually, which does not provide sufficient time to significantly improve and demonstrate adult learning outcomes. The government should thus also consider medium- and long-term outcomes (e.g. more than one year) when evaluating how funding for local initiatives is spent. This would allow stakeholders more time and flexibility to try different approaches to identify those that best fit the local context.
The management of government and stakeholder partnerships, such as the Lifelong Learning City project and the Local-based Job Creation Support Programme, could be improved. Discussions with participants as part of this project reveal that in these partnerships, stakeholders are often competing for funding from the government, which reduces incentives for them to work together. When stakeholders do not collaborate in adult learning programmes there can be the unnecessary duplication of efforts and an inefficient use of financial resources (OECD, 2020[11]). Stakeholders who are also better organised and represented (as discussed in the previous opportunity) are also better positioned to submit well-developed proposals than disadvantaged stakeholder groups (e.g. non-regular workers, women and youth) and may thus have a higher chance of being selected.
In order to address these issues, the government should encourage stakeholders to submit joint proposals and give priority to proposals that specifically involve disadvantaged stakeholder groups. This would encourage both well-represented and disadvantaged stakeholders to build government and stakeholder partnerships, as well as foster networks among stakeholders to help them collaborate in the delivery of adult learning programmes.
Suwon City is an exemplary case of a Lifelong Learning City that has been able to successfully foster networks among stakeholders, including over 600 local adult learning providers such as community centres, libraries, child and youth centres, and cultural and art centres. The network is supported by an Urban Policy Citizens’ Planning Team, which consists of representatives from the 43 neighbourhoods in Suwon. The team organises regular roundtables that invite stakeholders to explore how to better collaborate among themselves and form partnerships with the government to implement adult learning programmes. Stakeholders can present their ideas, discuss possible adult learning policy options and apply together for public funding to support their adult learning programmes. The team’s governance structure ensures that stakeholders collaborate with each another and that the voices and adult learning project proposals of all types of stakeholders, including those who are disadvantaged, are heard and considered. This governance structure could be worthwhile expanding across other cities in Korea (OECD, 2020[11]).
Across OECD countries, dedicated public-private partnership units facilitate partnerships between the government and stakeholders. They are often established in the ministry of finance or other line ministries (Table 4.5). The advantage of such units is that they can co-ordinate public-private partnership efforts across the whole of government, and promote peer learning of how to manage such partnerships effectively. This could be useful for the successful dissemination of best practices of partnerships between government and stakeholders.
Korea has a public-private partnership unit called the Public and Private Infrastructure Investment Management Centre (PIMAC), which is housed in the Korea Development Institute (KDI) and reports to the Ministry of Finance (Delmon, 2017[46]). PIMAC co-ordinates public and private partnerships that have an infrastructure component. For example, the building of school facilities can be co-financed by stakeholders, which gives them the right to receive financial returns (e.g. rent) for a specific period. PIMAC reviews applications for public-private partnership projects, conducts feasibility studies and related research, as well as provides capacity building in the management of public-private partnerships.
A public-private partnership unit specifically for adult learning could be established in Korea. This unit would provide guidelines on how to support such partnerships, identify common issues and problems, provide capacity training for government officials managing such partnerships, and disseminate good practices across the whole of government for fostering horizontal (see Chapter 2) and vertical (see Chapter 3) co-operation. Such a unit for adult learning could also consider partnerships that go beyond infrastructure investments, as contributions from stakeholders in adult learning could include the provision of trainers, materials, curriculum development, and participation in monitoring and evaluation.
Community participation mobile application
Since 2013, a community participation mobile application (app) called “mVoting” has allowed citizens in Seoul to propose policy solutions at any time, once the app is downloaded. Efforts are currently underway to use this app for actual policy decisions. The app has been downloaded at least 100 000 times on Google Play and approximately 280 000 times on the App Store. As of June 2016, more than 1.1 million users had voted in the app. At least 4 400 proposals and voting agendas have been posted – 88% coming from citizens and 12% from officials. At least 181 proposals have turned into actual Seoul City policies. The mVoting app is accessible to anyone who is able to confirm their identity with a Korean phone number or social media account. Phone number authentication is used to avoid duplicate votes and prevent disproportionate participation. Although this method of authentication does exclude those who do not own mobile phones, or specifically an Android or iPhone, there is also the option for citizens to vote online on their computers, with PC mVoting developed for this specific purpose. The closed intermediate voting results means that voting results cannot be seen before participating. This is to prevent biased influence by particular groups based on intermediate results. The app also has a social network service (SNS) sharing function that can be freely activated and inactivated to avoid conflict between groups on votes regarding sensitive matters. These settings are made available to encourage strong participation among all types of groups and to protect the private and personal information of citizens.
Source: Seoul City (2020[47]), Community participation mobile application “mVoting”, https://participedia.net/case/5554.
Civic participatory service design teams
The government has launched civic participatory service design teams, composed of members of the general public, to help citizens participate in the design process for certain public policies or services. These teams are composed of citizens (as customers), civil servants (as service providers) and experts. They play a role in the design of a new government policy or public service, and improve existing policies or services. For each policy task, conducted either by a central government agency or local government, about 8-15 members assemble to form one team and work for about three to four months in various forms such as field studies, literature reviews and brainstorming sessions. The civic participatory service design teams also use service design methodologies to conduct research. Before such service design methodologies were adopted, the government struggled to understand what citizens actually needed. Rounds of interviews, surveys and discussions only ended up with fragmentary and superficial results. Unlike other methodologies, service design involves closely observing customer experience, behaviour, psychology and even surrounding environments to discover the hidden needs of customers. In 2014, 19 central government agencies and 12 municipal or provincial governments piloted the civic participatory service design teams, which produced satisfactory policy proposals that met the needs of the people. This pilot programme was significant in that citizens themselves served as active participants, rather than passive customers, in designing public policy. This new model for policy establishment engaged citizens in the policy decision-making process as partners, thus innovating the ways of working in the public sector. Thanks to the success of the pilot programme, civic participatory service design teams were launched on a larger scale at various levels of government in 2015. To date, over 200 teams have been formed to work on policy proposals in nearly every area, including education, safety, public health, culture, social welfare, industry, energy, environment, transport, housing and finance.
Source: OECD (2016[42]), The Governance of Inclusive Growth, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264265189-en.
Belgium: Citizen forums
Belgium’s G1000 programme organised citizen forums in which individuals representing different perspectives come together to deliberate on a particular policy issue. This approach supports peer learning and the development of innovative solutions, as well as helps to bridge gaps between citizens and policy makers by creating space for discussions between experts and stakeholders. The G1 000 programme consists of three phases that collectively function like a funnel. The process started with a broad online survey that aimed to detect relevant policy areas and topics of discussion. The G1 000 citizens’ summit, which brought together 1 000 randomly selected residents of Belgium, was held during the second phase, followed by the organisation of a citizens’ panel of 32 people who undertook a process of focused deliberation to draw up a number of specific policy recommendations. The citizens’ panel has full autonomy to determine the topic to discuss. For example, in 2012 the panel chose to discuss unemployment and labour issues in Belgium.
Source: OECD (2015[3]), Regulatory Policy in Perspective: A Reader’s Companion to the OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook 2015, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264241800-en; G1 000 (n.d.[48]), Idea of the G1 000, http://www.g1000.org/en/introduction.php.
Germany: Participatory budgeting
In Germany, the government of Berlin’s Lichtenberg borough engages stakeholders through regular online and face-to-face activities to make and evaluate suggestions of how to spend the annual EUR 31 million discretionary budget. The government invests considerable resources in raising awareness of the participatory budgeting project among residents through posters and leaflets, information stands at local festivals and events, and information in the local media. There are several options for citizen participation. An online platform, which operates for several weeks, allows citizens to post online their suggestions and comments, and at the end of the discussion period vote for the best ideas. The online platform includes a detailed information section, moderated discussion forum, budget calculator, proposal wikis, preference polling, newsletter, and editor interviews with politicians. The government conducts thirteen citizen assemblies (one in each of the borough’s districts) where citizens can discuss the general budget and the budgetary implications for their specific district with representatives and public officials. All budgetary suggestions are evaluated at the end of the meeting and each participant can cast a vote. The top five suggestions from each district assembly and the top ten suggestions from the online discussion are then gathered into a single list (a total of up to 75 suggestions). The government also carries out a large survey of 25 000 randomly selected residents (nearly 10% of the borough population) to evaluate the best suggestions raised online and face to face. The list of winning citizen suggestions based on the general borough survey is brought to the city's central assembly of representatives, which is supposed to consider and include the “realisable and fundable” ideas in the budget. A tracking number is allocated to all suggestions – either online or face to face – so that citizens can follow the status of their idea up to the discussion and decision making at the city's central assembly of representatives. The assembly has to report which proposals have been accepted and provide reasons as to why other suggestions were rejected. Upon the conclusion of the yearly participatory budget, Lichtenberg publishes a detailed brochure listing the outcomes of the participatory process.
Source: Berlin-Lichtenberg (2020[49]), Participatory Budgeting in Berlin-Lichtenberg, https://participedia.net/case/12.
3.6. Use diverse and inclusive engagement formats to solicit input and feedback from stakeholders, in particular those who are disadvantaged, on the development of adult learning policies. Existing initiatives for soliciting feedback and input from stakeholders, such as the community participation mobile application and the civic participatory service design teams, should be expanded. More attention should be directed in particular at engaging disadvantaged stakeholders and ensuring that they are heard as much as the most outspoken and active stakeholders. This could be achieved through various awareness-raising efforts (e.g. online, print media, events) and through a variety of online and offline formats that are inclusive (e.g. surveys and interviews of randomly selected participants).
3.7. Create a dedicated public-private partnership unit to support the management of government and stakeholder partnership projects in the area of adult learning. Such a unit should provide guidelines on how to support public-private partnerships and provide capacity training for the government officials involved in their management. The unit could review existing partnerships (e.g. Suwon Lifelong Learning City Initiative, Gwangju Job Creation Programme) that are working well, analyse the success factors and disseminate good practices across the whole of government. The unit should promote the idea that funding for government and stakeholder partnerships should be prioritised for projects that involve more than one stakeholder in order to support a variety of stakeholders to work together with government.
Improving the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement bodies
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to stakeholder engagement. While some engagement activities are informal, others are formal and institutionalised in law. The form of stakeholder engagement depends on the purpose of the engagement. Engaging all stakeholders equally and with the same intensity is neither effective nor practical given time and resource constraints (OECD, 2020[11]). As discussed in Opportunity 1, it is important to tailor the level of engagement according to the profile of the stakeholder group. Broadly speaking there are three levels of engagement (Table 4.6), each with an increasing effort requirement: 1) “informing” refers to the dissemination of information to stakeholders; 2) “consulting” refers to the collection of data from stakeholders; and 3) “engaging” refers to holding discussions with stakeholders. Based on the relative importance of the stakeholders (see Opportunity 1), a large number of stakeholders could be informed, a smaller number of stakeholders could be regularly consulted and only the key stakeholders could be continuously engaged through formal engagement bodies.
For stakeholders, engagement tends to be more meaningful when they have formally defined roles in governance and decision-making bodies. In a stakeholder survey in Korea, most participants stated that they viewed the existence of an independent institution or council as important or very important for a successful consensus-building process (Figure 4.8). Such an institution or body can guide policy making in adult learning by involving key stakeholders and making it mandatory for the body to discuss and provide feedback on proposals before passing the policy. Such a process is more credible and effective than one characterised by ad hoc and/or informal engagement (OECD, 2020[11]).
Note: The Stakeholder Engagement Survey, conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), primarily polled citizens to understand their engagement with government.
Source: OECD elaboration of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (2017[41]), Stakeholder Engagement Survey, https://www.kipa.re.kr/site/eng/main.do.
One common challenge across existing engagement bodies is the level of representation of specific stakeholders. While stakeholders report that the representativeness of participating groups in a consensus- building process matters for their success (Figure 4.9), some stakeholders are under-represented. For example, unions are under-represented in bodies such as regional skills councils (RSCs) and industrial skills councils (ISCs). In RSCs, unions represented only 5.3% of participants, while business associations (39.6%), employers (4.5%), local and central government (17.8%), universities and research institutes (32.9%) made up the rest. Similarly, in ISCs, unions represented 6.2% of participants, while business associations (36.5%), employers (39%), professional organisations (8.1%), and universities and research institutions (10.2%) made up the rest (Ministry of Employment and Labour, 2019[50]). In sectoral human resource development councils, union involvement is also relatively low. In some cases, while a group of stakeholders overall seems well represented, a certain subgroup may not be. For example, employers are well represented generally in ISCs, but large employers are not represented. Overall, further efforts are needed to balance the level of representation across stakeholders in Korea’s engagement bodies.
When the participation of a given stakeholder group is low relative to others, it becomes more challenging for that group to have their voices heard. Achieving a more balanced proportion is thus advisable. The government is aware of the imbalance in the participation of stakeholder groups in engagement bodies, and aims to raise the proportion of union representation to 10% in the abovementioned councils, which is heading in the right direction but still low compared to other countries. For example, in the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium), the social and economic councils are equally composed of 10 employer representatives and 10 union representatives, which ensures that their voices have equal weight in the policy discussions (Box 4.8).
Note: The Stakeholder Engagement Survey, conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), primarily polled citizens to understand their engagement with government.
Source: OECD elaboration of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (2017[41]), Stakeholder Engagement Survey https://www.kipa.re.kr/site/eng/main.do.
Another common challenge is the significant overlap in terms of mandate and responsibilities across bodies. The same stakeholder representatives are often invited to participate in multiple bodies as they sometimes cover similar issues on the topic of adult learning. The large number of such bodies is partly due to the lack of co-ordination and co-operation among the different institutions and ministries, which often created these bodies for their own specific purposes. These bodies thus tend to make decisions in favour of their respective overseeing ministries (Korea, 2019[17]). However, from a practical standpoint this duplicates engagement efforts and makes the process of engagement more inefficient as a whole, with certain bodies competing with each other. This underlines the importance of better co-ordination across these bodies. Better co-ordination between sectoral human resource development councils and ISCs is being planned, including through the alignment of their roles and responsibilities (Lee et al., 2019[51]) (Box 4.7).
Engagement bodies should be reviewed and, when appropriate, consolidated. Not all engagement bodies are equally effective. During the OECD mission to Korea, participants reported that there are vast differences even within the same type of engagement body. For example, while the Busan Regional Skills Council (see Box 3.1. in Chapter 3) was often mentioned as a good practice example, this would not apply to all regional skills councils. Systematic and regular review and monitoring efforts would be helpful to determine which engagement bodies are operating well and which are not, and the determining factors in terms of performance. Given that in some cases there are significant overlaps in functions across engagement bodies, the Korean government may also consider consolidating some of these bodies, and thus reduce the overall number. The Ministry of Interior and Safety (MoIS) conducts an annual monitoring of activities undertaken by councils, which involves recording the number of meetings convened, attendance, agenda, actions taken and budget allocated. However, the decision-making authority to consolidate or abolish councils resides with the parent ministries, and there are currently no set standards on which to base such decisions (Lee et al., 2019[51]). A legally binding framework with clear standards and a co-ordinating mechanism among the relevant line ministries of bodies should support the process of making decisions about consolidating or abolishing committees and councils.
The effectiveness of individual bodies should be strengthened through policy specific working groups. As these bodies often have the mandate to cover a range of policy issues that include, but also go beyond, adult learning, this issue is often not given much space on their agendas. To improve the effectiveness of dealing with specific policy issues such as adult learning, it would be useful to have separate working groups under each body that are responsible for specific policy issues (see also Chapter 3). Such working groups can meet more frequently than the plenary sessions and be composed of relevant experts in the policy area. In order to select members with relevant policy expertise to participate in such working groups, greater autonomy should be given to the working groups for the member selection process, without too much influence from the overseeing ministries (Korea, 2019[17]). For example, in the Economic and Social Council (SER) of the Netherlands, an executive committee conducts the day-to-day work, while a specialised sub-committee or working group prepares recommendations on specific policy issues. This allows the SER to cover a wide range of policy domains, including adult learning, while also being able to consider each in depth (Box 4.8).
Co-ordination between sectoral human resource development councils (SCs) and industrial skills councils (ISCs)
SCs were initiated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in 2004 to co-ordinate and implement human resource programmes in single industries. Their main objectives are to conduct labour market forecasting analyses and produce corresponding annual publications, playing a major role in initial vocational education and training and outplacement services. ISCs were established in 2015 under the Ministry of Employment and Labour to encourage industry-led skills development. ISCs are present in 17 industries and consist of 456 sector associations involved in developing National Competency Standards and qualifications frameworks. SCs and ISCs often engage in similar issues and in overlapping industries, which calls for better co-ordination between them. In recent years, consultations between the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Employment and Labour have taken place to provide an integrated approach to some ISCs and SCs with overlapping industries. There are currently efforts underway to jointly use the expertise of the two types of council and to reduce overlap in their work.
Source: Lee et al. (2019[51]), “Written input prepared for the Korea governance review on adult learning”; Korea (2019[13]), OECD Skills Strategy for Korea Questionnaire.
Flanders: Social-Economic Council of Flanders (SERV)
The Social-Economic Council of Flanders (SERV, Sociaal- Economische Raad van Vlaanderen) is the main advisory body to the Flemish government on Flemish socio-economic policy. Trade unions and employer associations each have 10 representatives on the council. In SERV, the social partners consult, negotiate and conclude agreements with each other, such as the agreement and action plan on workable work. SERV has a research department, the Stichting Innovatie & Arbeid, which carries out research on the labour market, innovation, careers and workable work at the request of the social partners. It also organises the secretariat of Vlaamse Economisch en Sociaal Overlegcomité (VESOC - high-level dialogue body between social partners and the Flemish government) and the VESOC working group. It provides an ongoing forum for policy debate between social partners and the government and can result in official agreements, such as the recent agreement on the reform of training incentives.
Source: OECD (2019[52]), OECD Skills Strategy Flanders: Assessment and Recommendations, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264309791-en; SERV (2016[53]), SERV-Platformtekst, Vlaanderen 2030: Een uitgestoken hand [SERV Platform text, Flanders 2030: An outstretched hand], http://www.serv.be/sites/default/files/documenten/SERV_20160208_platformtekst2030_DOC.pdf.
Netherlands: Social-Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER)
The Social-Economic Council of the Netherlands is the main advisory body to the Dutch government and parliament on key points of social and economic policy. It also undertakes activities arising from governance tasks and self-regulatory matters, and functions as a platform for discussions on social and economic issues. The council consists of independent Crown appointed members, employers and employees. It was established in law by the Social and Economic Council Act (Wet op de Sociaal-Economische Raad). The SER is financed by industry and is wholly independent of the government. It represents the interests of trade unions and industry and advises the government (upon request or on its own initiative) on all major social and economic issues. The SER also has an administrative role, and helps the government enforce the Works Councils Act (Wet op de ondernemingsraden). The SER has an executive committee to prepare and carry out its day-to-day work. In principle, the full SER meets on the third Friday of each month. The main items on the agenda are the discussion and finalisation of opinions to be submitted to the government or parliament. Each opinion is prepared in detail by a committee or a working party. If all points are not agreed unanimously, the different views are set out in the opinion. The plenary meetings of the SER are open to the public. The SER has set up a large number of committees and working parties to prepare and carry out its work. These committees are made up of three groups: representatives of employers’ organisations, representatives of trade unions and independent experts. Committees are chaired in principle by a Crown member.
Source: Social and Economic Council (n.d.[54]), What does the SER do?, https://www.ser.nl/en/SER/About-the-SER/What-does-the-SER-do; OECD (2017[55]), OECD Skills Strategy Diagnostic Report: The Netherlands 2017, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264287655-en.
3.8. Improve the composition and co-ordination of, and support for, stakeholder engagement bodies. Attention should be directed at improving the balance of participation across different stakeholder groups (e.g. employers, unions) in existing engagement bodies. The responsible line ministries of stakeholder engagement bodies should encourage, support and require more co-ordination between similar bodies. Given that engagement bodies typically have a wide range of policy topics, consideration could be given to establishing separate working groups for topics such as adult learning. These working groups could meet more frequently and should have sufficient flexibility to recruit relevant experts as members.
3.9. Monitor and evaluate existing engagement bodies to raise their effectiveness in engaging stakeholders in adult learning policy. Engagement bodies should be regularly monitored to assess whether they have overlapping or complementary mandates, how effectively they are engaging stakeholders generally, and how effectively they are engaging stakeholders that are typically less well represented. The critical success factors of engagement bodies should be identified and disseminated. The Ministry of Interior and Safety (MoIS), which is in charge of evaluating the performance of committees and councils, should develop clear standards upon which decisions can be made on consolidating or abolishing councils that are either unnecessarily overlapping or no longer necessary. The MoIS should support co-ordination between the relevant line ministries of bodies so that decisions regarding consolidation or abolishment can be made in agreement.
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