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1. Innovation in formal education

2. Fostering innovation through non-formal and informal learning and youth work

Innovation in formal education

The objectives clause in the Education Act states among other things that:

• Education and training shall provide insight into cultural diversity and show respect for the individual's convictions. They are to promote democracy, equality and scientific thinking.
• The pupils and apprentices shall develop knowledge, skills and attitudes so that they can master their lives and can take part in working life and society. They shall have the opportunity to be creative, committed and inquisitive.
• The pupils and apprentices shall learn to think critically and act ethically and with environmental awareness. They shall have joint responsibility and the right to participate.
• Schools and training establishments shall meet the pupils and apprentices with trust, respect and demands, and give them challenges that promote formation and the desire to learn. All forms of discrimination shall be combated.

In the compulsory and secondary education reform of 2006, five skills were defined as basic to learning in school, work and social life. These skills are basic in the sense that they are fundamental to learning in all subjects as well as a prerequisite for the pupil to show his/her competence and qualifications. These five skills are oral skills, writing, reading, numeracy, and digital skills. From the 2006 reform all subject-specific curricula describe how the five basic skills contribute to developing the pupils' competence and qualifications and how these skills are integrated into the subject. 

The Government's White Paper No. 14 (2022-2023) on skills needed for the emerging labour market presents four priorities for education and skills policy:

• strengthening competencies necessary for a highly productive and competitive business life,
• strengthening competencies necessary to carry out the "green shift",
• strengthening competencies necessary to improve welfare services throughout the country and to handle demographic developments, balanced against the need for labour in other sectors of society, as well as
• assist those who find themselves outside the workforce to qualify for an emerging labour market.

Fostering innovation through non-formal and informal learning and youth work

There is no national programme aimed at fostering the capacities for innovation of young people through non-formal and informal learning.