Currently Europe is facing a highly turbulent confrontation of values, cultural influences and challenges, connected with diverse identities and ways of living in a partly ‘united’ EU space. Besides its own unsolved dilemmas regarding confrontations between mixtures of cultures and nations in Europe, it has lately also been facing an intensive set of immigration challenges and opportunities from outside Europe, which are not generally accepted as a constitutive part of European culture. At the same time, demographic pressures as many European societies age and a lively and at times tense policy and political debate over questions of identity and immigrant integration are having obvious impacts on perceived European strengths.

In this situation the question of aging in a multicultural world takes on a different meaning and becomes even more relevant. How should we deal with new cultures, new languages, new identities, new communities, a new society? What is the role of adult educators in a multicultural world? How must we respond to the needs of thousands of older migrants and refugees who are struggling with many problems and barriers (cultural, linguistic, educational, psychological, social)?

The aim of the conference is to discuss what kind of research, regarding culture, is present in older adult education in academic communities, what are the cultural, social, philosophical and psychological backgrounds of learning of older adults, how do these issues influence the formulation of fundamental life and professional questions in a changing multicultural world and an aging society; how do they relate to current older adult learning and education theory, policy and practice?

The conference will provide spaces for participants to engage with these and similar issues in workshops, parallel (thematic) sessions and plenary sessions; the conference will be a forum for researchers to facilitate cooperation, exchange knowledge and experience, and integrate PhD students into the professional field. In terms of the deconstruction and change brought to the traditional methodology of presenting research results, we would welcome alternative and innovative approaches, for example: performances, visual art, creative use of media, of space and interaction.

Call for Papers

The Abstract should be maximum 450 words long and must include a title and 5 keywords, but not the author/s name/s or institution/s. These should be stated in the email accompanying the abstract together with name, institutional affiliation, and contact details. All abstracts will be put to the consideration of the Academic Committee.

The Abstract should be prepared according to following requirements:

• Should address selected aspects of adult education;
• Should include the theoretical framework and represent a systematic enquiry
  of an analytical or empirical nature;
• Background, method, results and implications should be set out clearly in a manner which is accessible to an international audience.

The abstract proposal must indicate which of the named authors will be presenting the paper. The conference organizers will allocate a discussant for the group where papers will be presented. Accepted abstracts will be available in PDF-format on the conference website. The date for submission of abstracts is 1 June 2016. All abstracts are to be submitted to email eloa2016@uwr.edu.pl  Acceptance will be confirmed by 20 June 2016.
If accepted for presentation, final versions of papers (no more than 5,000 words including references) must be submitted by 20 October 2016. Please use Times New Roman, 12 and the APA (American Psychological Association) reference system.