Dear EPALE colleagues,
The first two months of 2015 have got off to a strong start, with colleagues all over Europe busy preparing for the year ahead. New calls for proposals are coming out for 2015, and members of the community in Europe are making plans for adult learning events in your country.
There has never been a better or more important time to be part of adult learning. The 2014 Employment and Social Developments in Europe Review has revealed how adult education helped to protect the economies of some Member States during the financial crisis, and the digital revolution is poised to bring exciting new opportunities to everyone by opening doors to greater equality in Europe.
Blogs
EPALE’s thematic experts have also been looking forward. ‘What will adult learning look like in 2015?’ gives an expert’s hopes for the year ahead, while Aaron Rajania has been reflecting on the issue of Europe’s ageing population. He urges us not to forget about the wellbeing of older learners in his post ‘Why adult learning needs to look beyond qualifications’. Ian Atkinson discusses whether employment or social inclusion is more important in ‘What role should adult learning have in supporting social inclusion?’, and Andrew McCoshan gives his candid opinion in his post ‘Adult learning and the European Commission work programme: the story so far’.
Informal learning was also on the agenda in February. Simon Broek puts forward a compelling argument for keeping some learning informal by asking ‘Do we actually learn more by formalising learning?’ and the barriers to the formalisation process in Europe are outlined in ‘The seven challenges to validating informal and non-formal learning’.
Join us!
Don’t forget to register to EPALE to be able to share your opinions on these posts. Join now and become part of the adult learning community in Europe.
