Why is Learning from National Working Life Programmes not a Matter of Course?

Public policy programmes in the field of working life reforms may be needed, but they cannot do more than supplement the genuine dynamics of the working life. They can influence people’s perceptions of the prob-lems and the work forms applied in organizing development. Power rela-tions in private and public organizations, as results of business and socie-tal trends, are obstacles to innovative and anthropocentric oriented reforms in working life. The more participative elements funded projects have been integrated, the more robust are their outcomes. National programme structures have to strive for the establishment of persistent local-level de-velopment coalitions, and to support collaboration of all actors concerned in development processes. International networking is possibly a learning facilitator. The implementation of, and learning from, reform programmes from the 1970s to our time is analyzed, with a focus on personal experi-ences from research, project management and evaluation of Scandinavian and German programmes.