The Reflect-OR project: Background to the special issue

The article introduces the path, the actors and the contexts of the Reflect-OR Project. Reflect-OR is a Leonardo da Vinci Transfer of Innovation (TOI) project developed in the framework of the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) and promoted by the European Commission. Reflect-OR aimed at sustaining the empowerment processes of career guidance practitioners by supporting a major awareness and use of their individual, organizational and networking resources. The Reflect-OR project is the transfer of a previous Leonardo da Vinci project called Reflect which experimented with reflective methodologies with teachers and trainers. The path was characterized by an active process of transfer of innovation, constantly constructed and negotiated with the various life-long career guidance (LLCG) practitioners and agencies and based on a creative methodological approach called Participatory and Appreciative Action and Reflection (PAAR). Another important aspect was constituted by the peculiarities of the different contexts involved in the transfer process (Italy, Switzerland and Bulgaria) which allowed a deep reflection on LLCG systems and created a common background for reframing and empowerment. © 2011 Taylor & Francis