// EUCIS-LLL NEWS ///

European elections: supporting our Manifesto “Building together the Future of Learning” is more important than ever
In the wake of the European elections where record abstaining and rise of extremism reflected political disengagement and social distress, it is more than ever important for MEPs that are about to take seat to commit on their vision of education for the next parliamentary term. We need a sustainable investment to ensure our education and training systems deliver better for economic development, social and civic participation, personal fulfilment and well-being. The European Parliament and civil society should further engage together in the future of learning. EUCIS-LLL Manifesto “Building together the Future of Learning” comprises 12 principles for lifelong learning that more than 30 candidates supported during the campaign. If you are a newly elected MEP and willing to support our manifesto contact us or click here. We also encourage educational stakeholders to keep on echoing our campaign and convince their new MEPs to take action to defend the Manifesto principles – already available in (EN) (FR) (DE) (NL) (PT) (PL) (TR) (IT) (CRO) (SER) (ES) (CAT) ( (SW) (GR) (SV) (RO) to come!)

/// NEWS FROM MEMBERS AND PARTNERS ///

EAEA’s OED conference: for a European Network on outreach, empowerment and diversity // 16 and 17 June, Brussels
On 16 and 17 June in Brussels, EAEA will organise the OED conference building on the results of the OED project and inviting stakeholders to debate with the consortium partners. Its goal is to foster more diversity in adult education and to empower marginalised groups to make their voices heard at European level. Policy recommendations will be discussed during the conference and participants will have the occasion to get familiar with good practices through a gallery walk as well as take part in a knowledge café. Registrations end on 6 June.

AFS: a century of service // 8 November, Paris (France)

AFS Intercultural Programs – the EFIL (European Federation of Intercultural Learning) “mother” organisation – will celebrate its 100^th anniversary with a Global Intercultural Education symposium called “Learning to Live Together – from Ideas to Actions” which will be held on 8 November in UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The symposium participants, as former Presidents, Nobel Peace Prize and Director General of UNESCO will discuss solutions in the work of developing global citizenship education. Registrations and more information onAFS website.

FREREF 12^th European University of Regions and Territories for Lifelong Learning // 11-13 November, Istanbul (Turkey)
The European Foundation of Regions for Research in Education and Training (FREREF) will hold on 11-13 November in Istanbul, Turkey a session on “Implementing Lifelong Learning in Territories: a new dynamics”. There is a gap between what is taking place and what should be in practice to support LLL in all its forms, experiences and contributions to social integration and citizenship. Examples of innovating practices are numerous; but which dynamics for implementing lifelong learning in territories? The session will study that dynamism of actors, pathways and accompaniment of transitions.  Registrations start on 12 June. More information can be requested to FREREF staff.

SOLIDAR calls for solidarity: floods in Serbia and Bosnia
Due to the declared state of emergency in Serbia and Bosnia after 120 years of heaviest rains and floods, SOLIDAR members, ASB and IDC call for solidarity and donation for the thousands of evacuated persons living without clean water and electricity. You can donate online here.

ThinkYoung 7^th Entrepreneurship Summer School, // 21-25 July, Brussels (Belgium)
ThinkYoung will organise the 7^th edition of its Entrepreneurship Summer School in Brussels from 21^st to 25^th July. This event will gather more than 100 young people from all around the world and 12 entrepreneurs of different fields for 5 days of interactive sessions and a debate at European Parliament with MEPs (more information on the website) This week will be an opportunity for young people to meet successful professionals and receive advice. Registrations end on 30 May.

OBESSU welcomes new staff member!
Estel Buch is the new project officer at OBESSU, the Organising Bureau of School Student Unions. You can contact her at estel@obessu.org

/// INSTITUTIONAL NEWS ///

Education, Youth, Culture and Sport (EYCS) Council : conclusions
On 20 and 21 May, the EYCS council took place in Brussels under the supervision of the Greek presidency of the Council of the EU. The ministers discussed the role of education and training in the review of the Europe 2020 strategy and adopted several Conclusions: the conclusions on  effective teacher education notably emphasize the crucial importance for them to develop digital skills; the conclusions on the development of language competenciesacknowledge the role played by non-formal and informal learning in acquiring language skills; the conclusions on quality assurance supporting education and training insist on the need to work towards a coherent learning outcomes approaches; and the conclusions on youth entrepreneurship to foster social inclusion recommend to embed entrepreneurship education at an early age. Read the press release.

Launch of U-Multirank : an innovative higher education institutions ranking system
On 13 May, the Commission officially launched a new system of global ranking for higher education institutions: U-Multirank. According to Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, U-Multirank is an innovative system as it takes into consideration new criteria (beyond research excellence) including students’ viewpoint to assess over 850 higher education institutions in the world. U-Multirank is therefore meant to assess institutions’ global performance and can also provide a ranking in several academic fields. More details on the European Commission press release and the U-Multirank press release.

UNESCO’s Global EFA Monitoring meeting: focusing on lifelong learning
From 12 to 14 May, the annual Global EFA (Education for All) Meeting (GEM)was held in Oman. The different participants – UNESCO representatives, United Nations, agencies, teaching professions, civil society… – assessed progress of goals comprised in the Global EFA Monitoring Report and called for including lifelong learning and quality education as an objective for the United Nations’ Post-2015 development agenda. In view of the World Education Forum 2015, they acknowledged lifelong learning as a driving force for social progress and achieving democracy, and agreed on a communication and advocacy strategy to move this agenda forward.

/// RESEARCH & INNOVATION ///

Eurydice report: information gaps holding back higher education modernisation
In its study published on 22 May “Modernisation of Higher Education in Europe: access, retention and employability”, Eurydice shows that European countries collect too little data in the higher education field but that they also do not use them, hindering the sector’s modernization regarding Europe 2020 objectives (access, retention and employability). For instance, only eight countries decided to set targets in the area of access (inclusion of disadvantaged students) but do not properly analyse the information collected to fulfill their goals. Read the full report and the Commission press release. See also the European Commission’sAgenda for Modernisation of Higher Education.

Open Education Europa : latest research on digital literacies and e-competence
The European Commission portal Open Education Europa has just issued new eLearning papers entitled Digital Literacies and eCompetence. This research deals with the importance of digital literacy (ability to access digital media and ICT and use them in a clever way) for being confident in the use of digital media for everyday life (work, learning and leisure) and recalls that in the European Union, there are still 20% of individuals who have never used Internet (Eurostat 2013). To go further, see the full research.

Share your resources on Consumer Classroom, the EU consumer education website!
Consumer Classroom is a collaborative website for teachers from across the EU. It provides high quality resources and interactive tools to equip 12 – 18 year olds with the practical consumer skills they need. If you have interesting pedagogical resources and you want to share them, Consumer Classroom helps you reaching an unexpected European visibility! All European languages are accepted as well as a wide range of topics, from consumer rights to sustainable consumption, financial literacy, health education, media literacy, etc. Sign-up on Consumer Classroom, activate your account from your mailbox, go back on the website and click on “My tools” > “My resources” > “Upload a resource”.

/// PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS ///

Public Consultation on Europe 2020
In the framework of the revision of the Europe 2020 strategy, a consultation has been launched by the Commission to collect stakeholders’ views on the lessons learned from the early years of the Europe 2020 strategy and on the elements to be taken into account in its further development, in order to build the post-crisis growth strategy of the EU. Read soon EUCIS-LLL contribution to the consultation. Deadline 31 October 2014.

/// AGENDA ///

2 June 2014 // EUCIS-LLL General Assembly
3 June 2014 // EUCIS-LLL Annual Conference “Turning targets into action”