We are the voice of non-formal adult education in Europe

Gina Ebner, Secretary General of the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA), was inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame in September 2019.

BRUSSELS, 30 September 2019 – On 25 September, ahead of the second European Education Summit, the European Parliament’s Lifelong Learning Interest Group met to discuss Skills for Life, Skills for the Future with Members of the European Parliament Julie Ward and Sirpa Pietikäinen, representatives of the European Commission, Finnish Presidency of the Council and stakeholders from all sectors of education, training and beyond. The meeting focused on how to better implement the concept of life skills, which enable people to fully participate in society as self-sufficient individuals, by bringing various domains and stakeholders together, including the different configurations of the EU institutions.

Ten years have gone by since the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET2020) was adopted by the Member States of the European Union. The European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA) has closely followed up its implementation. While ET2020 has brought some improvements for the field of education and training, progress in adult learning has been slow. The successor of ET2020 should be ambitious, but also ensure that its objectives can be reached by promoting national strategies for their implementation.