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.

The SkillHUBS pilot projects are underway at prison institutions in Slovenia, Romania and Malta, with Belgium set to join later this summer. Now we can reveal the essence of the SkillHUBS Teaching and Learning Model, and what makes it radical and innovative. In September, SkillHUBS is launching a community of practice in EPALE, giving prison educators the opportunity to share experiences and access detailed information of the Model.

The LQN project showed that participating in community development projects can reveal the potential of individuals.

“The change is in the simple things like finding laughter again, doing family shopping, going back to work, being part of a group where once they were hermits.” – says Alice McDonnel about the impact of “Self-care and well-being” project, which participated in Grundtvig Award 2019 on Life Skills, on the participants. The idea of the initiative is underpinned by principles of co-production, mutual trust, and empathy. In the following interview, Alice tells more about the experience.

The 6th International Winter School on Comparative Studies on Adult and Lifelong Learning took place in Würzburg, Germany in February 2019. For the first time, adult education practitioners we able to join the programme. EAEA’s Silvia Tursi, who previously participated in the school as a student and now joined the programme as a practitioner, looks back on the experience. Applications to Winter School 2020 are now accepted!

In the world of rapid technological advancement, how to make sure those with low digital skills do not get excluded? Older adults appear to be in greater danger of exclusion due to the challenges they experience when it comes to new technology. The European project ISEV tackles the issue by organizing intergenerational learning activities, for seniors to get to know modern tools and for youth to experience coaching roles. The project participated in GRUNDTVIG AWARD 2019, and now Marek Rembowski from Fondazione Mondo Digitale tells us more about it.

The project “Learning with the whole family” tackles the issue of inclusion of people with disabilities in the society through addressing their parents and building their capacity for project-management. However, that is not it… The project involved young people with disabilities in learning to help them advocate for their own rights. Below, Volha Salanovich from the organization “Nadezhda” (meaning “hope”) shares more details about the project and its impact.

Theatre never goes out of fashion, and even more, theatre never gets old. The project “Mobilizing seniors on and off the stage” in Poland, the participant of GRUNDTVIG AWARD 2019 in the national category, proved that music and play can bring joy and happiness no matter the age. Here Nina Woderska and Kinga Mistrzak, the project organizers, talk about the ideas behind it and the effect the project had on its target group.