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The purpose of this paper is to argue that both the supply‐based model and the demand‐based form of vocational education and training (VET) have their limitations and propose a “third way” in which reflective learning in the workplace is a central ingredient.

The data was collected from several studies of VET programmes in Sweden based on individual and group interviews, a survey and continuous participation in developmental work. The paper uses an interactive research approach in the research design.

The paper proposes a “third way” that tries to overcome the deficiencies of both the supply‐ and demand‐based strategies for VET by developing a more equal balance in the relationship between the education and workplace systems. Collaboration and partnership between education providers and progressive workplaces are core elements.

The paper tries to connect activities and changes at the organisational, inter‐organisational and institutional levels of the VET system. It is argued that changes at different levels are strongly interconnected and necessary to an understanding of the prerequisites for workplace learning. These vertical relationships form the main focus of future research.

It is argued that changes in the VET system should be initiated using a “bottom up” approach, start at the local level, and include change at all levels. The “bottom up” approach should include a combined employer, employee and service‐user perspective. It requires that learning issues are solved in a partnership that represents both the supply side of education and the demand side of working life.

Inter‐organisational relations need to be based on equal, mutual and trustful relationships between the education and workplace systems in order to support a sustainable change process.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the competence in use when working with interactive research, which is a continuation and elaboration of action research.

A qualitative research approach was adopted for the study. The main body of empirical material in this paper is based on two sources of data – a survey comprising open-ended questions, followed by a series of focus group interviews. The respondents were researchers with varying degrees of experience in using interactive research.

The findings provide illustrations of what characterises interactive research as work and identify an additional set of activities that go beyond traditional research activities. Some activities are relatively easy to describe, while others exist in the gaps between other activities – e.g. boundary spanning – and are harder to explicitly define in terms of implications for the involved researchers’ competence. The work activities reaching beyond the traditional research boundaries are implicit and are not a common shared practice. From a competence point of view, this implies that the competence in use for these implicit tasks of interactive research becomes individually carried. Based on these findings, a number of individual aspects of what constitutes competence in use are suggested.

In future studies, it would be valuable to use a mixed-method approach that also includes longitudinal observations of the actual work of conducting interactive research.

The findings and suggestions for how to understand the competence of interactive researchers can be used as guidance for training in research education.

This study contributes to previous research by describing important requirements and critical elements of competence in use when conducting interactive research.

A model for workplace learning is presented, which intends to integrate formal and informal learning with the use of e‐learning. An important underlying assumption is that the integration of formal and informal learning is necessary in order to create desirable competencies, from both an individual and an organisational perspective. Two case studies are presented in which the model was tested. One of the studies was carried out in an industrial setting, the other in a hospital context. The results are promising in terms of flexibility and accessibility, but some problems remain to be solved. These problems have to do with the integration of individual and organisational learning, but also with the lack of time for reflection and learning during conditions of down‐sizing and rationalisation.

Earl Moon of Viking Interconnect Systems addressed those present at the 21 May meeting on the subject of ‘Characterisation of Military SMT/MLB Requirements as a Function of the Total Package Concept’.

The understanding that theorists and practitioners hold of self‐directed learning can vary depending on the context in which they find themselves. In an effort to understand these variations, attempts to synthesize theoretical understandings of the concept of self‐directed learning in the workplace. Includes an empirical study involving 21 white‐collar employees in four Australian businesses. Reveals six variations in the workers′ conception of the experience of self‐directed learning in their jobs. Provides a brief comparative discussion of the results of synthesis of the literature and those from the empirical study.

This paper examines human resource development in Sweden. By way of context, it discusses socio‐cultural conditions, prevailing economic conditions and recent structural changes and employment and flexibility trends in Sweden. It sets down the characteristics of the national education and training system and examines recent policy developments. It presents Swedish data from the Cranet‐E survey in order to paint a picture of training and development practices at organisational level. The implications for employers, employees and government are outlined and the likely future challenges for training and development in Sweden are set down.

In the present discourse of university politics, collegiality has come to be viewed as a slow force – seemingly inefficient and conservative compared to popular management models. Concerns have thus been raised regarding the future prospects of such a form of governance in a society marked by haste and acceleration. One way to bring perspectives on this contentious issue is to perceive it in the light of the long history of the university. In this article, I derive insights about the shifting state of collegial governance through a survey of an intense period of reforms in Sweden c. 1850–1920 when higher education was allegedly engaged in a process of modernization and professionalization. Drawing on recent work in historical theory and science and technology studies (STS), I revisit contests and debates on collegiality in connection to a number of governmental commissions. Focusing on the co-existence – and collisions – of multiple temporalities reveals that overcoming potential problems associated with heterogeneous rhythms required an active work of synchronization by universities in order to make them appear timely, as higher education expanded along with the mounting ambitions of national politics, focused on centralization, efficiency, and rationalization. The analysis is structured around three focal issues for which collegial ideals and practices, including their temporal characteristics, were particularly questioned: (a) the composition of the university board, (b) the employment status of professors, and (c) hiring or promotion practices. Pointing at more structural challenges, this study highlights how collegiality requires a constant maintenance paired with an awareness of its longer and complex history.

On 18 March the LA/Ventura Chapter featured the subject of ‘Proposition 65 and AB 2185/2187. Keynote speaker was Barry Groveman, former Deputy Attorney, Chief Environmental Prosecutor, LA City and County Chairman, LA County Bar, Environmental Law Section.

Despite the April sunshine, the landscape in southern Sweden remained devoid of fresh Spring colours—the result of a prolonged and severe Winter—when Circuit World made the visit to Perstorp earlier this year. The journey to this tranquil inland village crosses fairly flat arable land interrupted here and there by belts of forestation.