Reimagining our futures together: starting from skills and the purpose they serve

In the last few years, many international institutions have been voicing a new vision around skills, one that brings change to education. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, reacted to the UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning report “Reimagining our futures together: a new social contract for education” by stating that:

“[It] proposes a new social contract for education – one that aims to rebuild our relationships with each other, with the planet, and with technology” 

One significant highlight of this report is the calling for attention to soft-skills and, specifically, on leadership. Leadership and soft skills in education, training and learning are depicted as essential in order to adapt to the world of today, to find work and maintain oneself in employment and to include oneself in society. This last bit is crucial, because it implies that policy-making shall include personal and societal development as one of its goals. It is all the more important if we link this principle to the overall aims of the report, which are to guide and support the design, implementation and monitoring of lifelong learning policies at  global, national and local levels.

This approach signals that while skills may fade in the eyes of the labour market, individual participation in society will not. Skills are not forever, but lifelong learning is! 

Therefore, what is required from a lifelong learning perspective is that individuals are given the chance to improve their competences and soft skills to ultimately become more engaged citizens and fulfil one’s potential as an individual.

Linking citizenship goals to skills-oriented policies is a decisive step towards a more holistic lifelong learning approach that, in the view of many, should permeate a new vision of education. 

To read Unesco's Lifelong learning opportunities for all: medium-term strategy 2022–2029.