“Making lifelong learning a reality” is one of the priorities of the Strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020) adopted by the Council in 2009. Since the implementation of coherent and comprehensive lifelong learning strategies and policies at Member State level remains a challenge[2], the European Commission, DG Education and Culture, is planning a peer learning seminar to exchange good practices between national policy makers and key actors (i.e. stakeholders and those involved in delivering programmes in the formal, non formal or voluntary sectors) active in the field of lifelong learning.
To prepare the peer learning seminar (scheduled for May 2010), the Commission has recently appointed GHK Consulting[3] (as part of the DG EAC Framework Contract 19/06) to undertake an analysis of the critical factors for the implementation of LLL strategies or policies. The analysis will be supported by a selection of good practices illustrating, on concrete examples, what factors have led to successful implementation of such policies.
The outcomes of this analysis and of the peer learning seminar will be published in a Commission report in September 2010. For your information we are attaching the accreditation letter from the European Commission regarding this assignment.
The identification of examples of good practice is the reason why we are contacting you. This exercise will follow a two step process:
– First, a long list of potential candidates for good practices is collected and examined against a set of criteria;
– In a second step, twenty examples are selected and examined more closely through desk research and interviews (case studies).
Your support in suggesting one or a number of examples for the long list of practices that will then be further examined would be greatly appreciated.
We would also appreciate if you could send this request to other persons/ organisations (such as stakeholders, lifelong learning providers, NGOs) at the national, regional and local level which could provide us with inspiring examples.
If your example of good practice will be chosen to be further explored as a case study, you might be contacted and invited to present this policy approach at the peer learning seminar.
We are interested in identifying successful examples of LLL strategies and policies.
By examples of LLL strategies/policies we understand explicitly formulated policy visions or sets of existing policies that cover and interlink different contexts (formal, non-formal, informal) and levels of learning (pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, adult, general/vocational, continuing) with the aim of facilitating access to and promoting participation in lifelong learning, and of allowing more flexible learning pathways.
These examples should:
– Illustrate policies/actions which aim at facilitating or stimulating learning through bridging different education and training sub-systems, linking education and training with other sectors and stakeholders/actors (employment, social affairs, NGOs, etc), valuing all forms of learning (formal/non-formal/informal) and linking systems of guidance;
– Have proven sustainable (i.e. existence beyond “project” level) and effective in reaching desired results. This means that documented evidence of results exists and is available for review to our research team. Only approaches that have proved successful, in other words where evidence (such as evaluation, research) on results and benefits is available can be examined.
The report will pay specific attention to the link between LLL and social inclusion. Therefore approaches which integrate a social inclusion dimension should be a particular focus.
The examples of strategies and policies can:
– Cover different target groups: from young children (early childhood education), through pupils and students (including vocational education and training and higher education), young people at risk of leaving school early or who have already dropped out from education systems, to different target groups in the adult population;
– Be designed and implemented at or across different levels of political governance: national, regional and local level.
To submit examples please use the grid provided in a separate attachment.
Please support this brief description with further existing documentation (or a link to such documentation – research, reports, web-sites or evaluations). Obviously, the documentation provided can be in the national language of the country where the practice is put in place.
Please submit the examples to Daniela Ulicna, GHK Consulting (daniela.ulicna@ghkint.com) by 12 March 2010.
If you have any further questions regarding this study do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Daniela Ulicna,
Senior consultant
GHK Consulting Ltd
Rue Royale 146
B-1000 Brussels
Tel: +32 2 275 01 08
Fax: +32 2 275 01 09
Email: daniela.ulicna@ghkint.com
Web: www.ghkint.com
[1] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2009:119:0002:0010:EN:PDF
[2] See 2010 joint progress report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the “Education & Training 2010 work programme” http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc1532_en.htm
[3] www.ghkint.com
Template for submission of examples
Accreditation letter examples of good practice for LLL
