Get to know the innovative projects that applied for the 2026 EAEA Grundtvig Award on Resilience and Community-Building!

What is the role of ALE in strengthening our democratic societies? How can we build community and resilience? These were the core questions of the ABC of ALE training 2026, organised from 28 September to 1 October by EAEA and supported by CVO Crescendo.

To strengthen adult education worldwide and reinforce commitment to advancing adult learning and education (ALE), while recognising both its challenges and its important role in society, 142 UNESCO Member States adopted the Marrakech Framework for Action (MFA) in June 2022. Four years on from the adoption of the 2022 MFA, we now identify three central issues that EAEA believes deserve more attention: basic skills education, the digitalisation of work and global responsibility.

Sport and movement build more than physical strength. Read against the European Commission’s LifeComp framework, judo is a great example of a practice that develops a wide span of personal, social, and learning-to-learn competences, from self-regulation and empathy to critical reflection and collaboration.

Europe’s resilience cannot be built only through defence, technology and economic competitiveness. It also depends on sustained investment in adult learning, communities and people’s ability to shape change together.

In 2026, the European Commission released a new Gender Equality Strategy and Gender Equality Roadmap, setting out the EU’s priorities for advancing gender equality in the coming years. But what does gender equality have to do with lifelong learning? And what role can education and learning play in challenging persistent inequalities?

On June 10th, EAEA’s members reunited for the Annual Event, this time in Poland, hosted by the NGO organization sTOP. The Panel discussion titled ‘‘Resilient Communities in Times of Crises’’ saw the participation of Benedetta Perego (lawyer admitted before the Italian Supreme Court and founder of Strali), Musa Kirkar (President of CEIPES and EAEA’s Board Member), Oleg Smirnov (Director of DVV International Ukraine and EAEA’s Vice President), and Irena Lipowicz (lawyer, professor, and ex diplomat for the United Nations).

At the Feminist Futures Festival in Brussels, participants explored how feminist perspectives, coalition-building and transnational solidarity can strengthen democracy and social inclusion.

The EAEA Annual Conference 2026 explored resilience as a collective process, highlighting the role of adult learning in strengthening communities in times of uncertainty.

Education is a fundamental right. But for people living in prisons, detention centres, and other closed environments, that right often remains out of reach. At the EAEA Annual Conference in Warsaw, a workshop brought together adult education practitioners to explore what it takes to make education (including digital education) a reality behind closed doors and how ALE can contribute actively to systemic change.