31.10.2018

Engaging socially and educationally disadvantaged adults in lifelong learning is possible

The Implementing Outreach, Empowerment and Diversity project (implOED) has just launched a comprehensive and hands-on document which will help policy makers and practitioners in the field of adult education and beyond to improve practitioners’ skills as adult educators, involve learners in self-determination of their learning and to find out what makes a difference at policy level.

The goal is to achieve increased social justice, emancipation, integration and inclusion. As such, both the education sector and society will benefit from the long-term positive impact of implementing the approaches detailed in the implOED manual.

‘Outreach is one of the key challenges of adult education – our manual will support both policy-makers and practitioners to make a difference’, says Gina Ebner, EAEA Secretary General. ‘We want to create a better understanding for the changes that are necessary to reach out to and to empower learners.’

The manual, which is now available on the project website:

  • Presents the practice of inclusion – focusing on outreach, empowerment and diversity
  • Shows that these models can be tailored to fit all adult education settings
  • Builds a dialogue between policy makers and practitioners
  • Informs and supports collaboration between all in this field.

This outstanding piece of work was also presented at the implOED final conference “Transforming lives, society and adult education through outreach, empowerment and diversity” which took place in Brussels on the 17th of October 2018. More than 40 practitioners and policy-makers got together to discuss how to outreach to people currently not participating in learning, how to empower adult learners and how to increase and value diversity in non-formal adult education. Find out more by reading the conference report.

For further information, please contact the European Association for the Education of Adults:
Gina Ebner, EAEA Secretary General
gina.ebner@eaea.org
+32 2 893 25 24

10.02.2026 EAEA Annual Conference

Introducing EAEA’s 2026 Annual Theme: Resilience and Community-Building

EAEA'S 2026 annual theme is closely linked to current EU priorities, especially the Democracy Package - including the Civil Society Strategy and the Democracy Shield initiative. At a time of rising Euroscepticism and threats to democratic values, adult education has the power to strengthen democracy by promoting civic engagement, critical thinking and participation.

09.02.2026 climate

How learning and action shape a more sustainable society: golden nuggets from neuroscience to foster a constructive climate change debate

On February 4-5, EAEA participated in a learning symposium and keynote speech around climate education research and action, in Geneva, Switzerland. The events were organised in the context of the Horizon Europe LEVERs project, in which EAEA is a partner.

04.02.2026 digitalisation

Remote work: Challenges and opportunities for ALE in the digital world

EAEA’s Communication, Capacity-building and Membership Officer, Marina Sakač Hadžić, attended a conference on the topic of Remote Work & Social Change, taking place at the University of Antwerp on the 20th and 21st of January. She combines her work at EAEA with a PhD in law, bringing together insights from non-formal adult learning with ethnographic research.