All posts by Andrea Lapegna

EUROLTA

From the network - 28th September 2023

EUROLTA (European Certificate in Language Teaching to Adults) is an internationally recognized teacher training program to train you to teach languages to adults using up–to-date methodologies.

The EUROLTA certificate is developed, issued and recognised by the ICC, a network of leading institutions of adult education in Europe and around the world.

Who is EUROLTA for?

  • those who wish to enter the profession of language teaching and gain a recognized teaching qualification.
  • those who have only little language teaching experience and feel they need to upgrade their teaching skills.
  • those who have some years of teaching experience and want to exchange ideas with colleagues from many countries in order to update their views on teaching and learning.

What does EUROLTA consist of?

EUROLTA online is a part- time course of 120 hours, consisting of 80 hours live synchronous sessions with a tutor and 40 hours self-study for extra reading, lesson planning and the writing of assignments.

What makes EUROLTA different from other teaching qualifications?

  • EUROLTA is open to teachers of all languages.
  • EUROLTA is practical and flexible.
  • EUROLTA is learner-centred based on reflection on one´s own teaching practice. 

New round of EUROLTA Online starts on

21st October 2023!

Find out more about EUROLTA:

https://icc-languages.eu/eurolta/

Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU – Priorities revealed

News - 16th June 2023

The president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, presents the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, just presented the main priorities for the upcoming Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, due to assume on 1 July 2023. The four priorities are: promoting the reindustrialisation of Europe, moving towards ecological transition, consolidating the social pillar and strengthening European unity.

From the starting points of the financial and inflation crisis, the war in Ukraine and the upcoming European elections, we can expect the Spanish Presidency to be fully rooted in the most topical themes for Europe.

The well-being of citizens also gained prominence: “wages, jobs, gender equality and the freedom they will have in the future,” said Sánchez, who pledged to guide the Spanish Presidency with “the main concerns and demands of our fellow citizens” in mind.

To the greatest regret, nothing explicit was mentioned on education and training but we can expect lifelong learning to gain prominence as an integral part of the third priority – consolidating the European Pillar of Social Rights.

The Spanish Presidency is also expected to call for an appropriate revision of the multi annual financial framework from 2021 to 2027 and for a reform of fiscal rules that will allow Member States to keep public finances sound while adequately financing public services and green transitions as well as the digital transformation. LLLP has long demanded such a reform, with the objective to disentangle public investment in education and training from deficit/GPD calculations.

LLLP, EAEA and ETF advocate for a stronger involvement of CSOs in skills strategies

Events News - 30th May 2023

On 23 May, LLLP joined forces with the European Association for the Education of Adults and with the European Training Foundation to pave the way for tighter cooperation when it comes to skills development and civil society. In an engaging event with partners and institutional representatives, the three organisations sought to promote policy dialogue and partnerships between governments and civil society organisations active in the skills development sector across EU Member States and ETF partners countries. The event took place under the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and in the context of the European Year of Skills.   

Kicking-off with a panel of Members of the European Parliament, of the EESC, of the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU and officials from the European Commission, this event was the perfect hub to start highlighting the contribution of civil society in the sector of education and training. Speakers and participants alike agreed that, while chronically underfunded, civil society remains a crucial contributor both to national skills strategy and to the overall development of national agendas. While different landscapes call for different solutions, as highlighted by the OECD keynote, the state of affairs of an inclusive policy dialogue in lifelong learning calls for the involvement of civil society organisations in all steps of lifelong learning policies, from design to implementation and review. 

This was a very welcomed first step in a more structured cooperation between ETF and EU civil society organisations, with the aim to underline the latter’s contribution to European policies and their irreplaceable role in bridging policies and citizens. 

NEW – LLLP Reaction to the European Year of Skills

News Skills - 16th May 2023

Eight months ago, President’s von der Leyen announced that 2023 will be the European Year of Skills (EYS). On 9 May, the momentous Europe Day, the starting signal was given for a year in which the EU institutions will focus on skills development across the Union. The Lifelong Learning Platform welcomes this initiative but draws attention to the need to uphold the values of the EU and take decisive action to achieve lifelong learning for the personal and professional development and participation of all in society. The following shortcomings suggest that more needs to be done to achieve this:

  • Only 54% of adults aged 16-74 have basic digital skills
  • Only 10.8% of people aged 25-64 engaged in training
  • Sustainability learning lacks a structural approach across education and training systems
  • Almost 10% of pupils were qualified as early leavers
  • Almost 23% of learners underachieve in literacy, mathematics and science

These occur as the climate crisis, the unpredictability of disruptive technology, the commodification of education, the lowering participation in democratic processes, the attacks on civil society threaten the societal fabric. While lifelong learning is a necessity in the face of such challenges, the finalised EYS resolution as well as the Trilogue negotiations narrowed the Year’s focus to labour market needs. Choosing to provide ICT specialists and green sector experts that can support businesses to adapt to the twin transitions represents a small part of what learners and societies need right now to tackle the wide diversity of challenges.

Read the full reaction here

Register for the Lifelong Learning Lab 2023

Annual conferences News - 27th March 2023

The 2023 edition of the Lifelong Learning Lab is here!

It is a pleasure for us to announce that the new LLLAB will be held at the Universitat de Girona in Spain, on 26-27 June 2023. Education stakeholders from European and Spanish contexts will come together during two days to stir the new generation of cooperation in education and training through a wide range of topics, ranging from EU cooperation in education and training, to EU decision-making processes, and from civil society engagement to national contexts.

This event will take the form of a training from civil society to civil society, to learn together how education stakeholders can shape European and national policies in the sector. Don’t miss out on this unique event, check out the details and sign up now!

LLLP announces its 2023 General Assembly

Annual conferences News - 27th March 2023

For 2023, LLLP’s General Assembly will take place on Tuesday 27 June and Wednesday 28 June 2023 in the University of Girona, Spain. This year’s edition will be held back to back with the Lifelong Learning Lab. 

The annual General Assembly performs as one of the key moments in which members, the Secretariat and the Steering Committee can meet and collectively discuss the general direction and priorities of the organisation. 

As outlined in our statutes and internal rules, the rotation system entails that three members of the Steering Committee are due to end their mandate this year; the GA will thus be tasked with electing these new representatives. Given the current President will also see her mandate come to an end, the GA will also elect a new President! 

Alongside the election of new representatives, the GA will also offer members an opportunity to voice their opinion on how and in what ways LLLP might improve as a representative organisation. To this end, the GA will be called to discuss a number of strategic issues, and especially on a new advocacy strategy – which should enter into force next year. Other topics include the renewed EU education stakeholders forum, to take place in November.

The GA will also decide upon new membership applications. Interested in becoming a member? Check out how to apply.

If you require any further information on the GA and on administrative issues, do not hesitate to contact the LLLP at administration@lllplatform.eu

LLLP General Assembly in 2022

ALL DIGITAL launches the ALL DIGITAL Weeks 2023 campaign: Enhance your digital skills!

Digital learning From the network - 3rd March 2023

Brussels, 21 February 2023 – For the 14th year in a row, in 2023, ALL DIGITAL, the European association representing networks of digital competence centres and stakeholders, will run the ALL DIGITAL Weeks, the annual digital inclusion and empowerment campaign involving centres, libraries, community centres, schools and other venues across Europe – which over time helped almost 1.5 million people to get online for the first time or enhance their digital skills.

In 2023 the campaign will be supported by the European Commission will take place over 3 weeks from 17 April until 7 May. It will involve international and national partners, and participating organisations in different European countries.

ALL DIGITAL Weeks 2023 will strongly contribute to the promotion of the European Year of Skills, launched by the European Commission. Its actions will be underpinned under the motto ’’Enhance your digital skills’’ which is a call to action for all European citizens and every individual living in Europe to learn new skills, both basic and advanced, to be able to face digital transformation with confidence. The campaign will also support the implementation of specific actions of the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-27 of the European Commission.

The three weeks of the campaign will focus on specific core themes under which all the training and events will be organised at international and national level across Europe. It will cover Digital Skills for “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion’’ encompassing issues such as, migration, democratisation, gender gap, ethnicity; DigComp and Digital Skills Certifications, Digital media literacy and culture, Cybersecurity and safer internet, Digital Skills for Environment and Sustainability, Digital Skills for specific sectors.

The international launch event of the campaign will be organised in Brussels on the 19th of April 2023, involving policymakers, digital education stakeholders and ALL DIGITAL members.

Since the campaign aims at showing the need of empowering all European citizens with the digital tools and skills they need in their studies, jobs, and for social inclusion, we invite digital competence centres, VET providers, lifelong learning organisations, youth organisations, schools, libraries, social enterprises and anyone else interested, to get involved by organising relevant online and offline events, and training within ALL DIGITAL Weeks and by uploading them on the map of events.

The map of events will offer a great opportunity for digital education stakeholders, in particular grassroots organisations, to showcase the concrete impact local events, trainings, courses, lectures and conferences providing digital education support, have in enhancing the skills of teachers, students, employees, elderly people, migrants, and all groups impacted by the digital transformation. More information on how to put events on the map will be available at the end of February!

The Campaign

The ALL DIGITAL Weeks campaign is one of the major pan-European awareness raising campaigns on digital skills for inclusion, empowerment and employment. It is organised by ALL DIGITAL Network, and it has been running since 2010. Since then, the campaign has helped almost 1.5 million people to get online for the first time or enhance their digital skills.

The awareness raising campaign is run at digital competence centres, libraries, community centres, schools and other venues across Europe. Every year it helps more than 50,000 Europeans from 20+ European countries to learn and be inspired by what technology can do for them, focusing on the opportunities given by digital transformation and its effects. The campaign is co-funded by the European Commission (1)

For more information please contact Andrea Bedorin, Senior Communications Officer: andrea.bedorin@all-digital.org

(1) Disclaimer: Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

ESU’s contribution to the European Year of Skills

From the network - 22nd February 2023

The European Students’ Union (ESU) welcomes the proposal of the European
Commission to designate 2023 as the European Year of Skills (EYS), looking
forward to ensuring that the designation would not only increase momentum
for the importance of skills and skills sets in a fast-changing society, but would
also bring forward key developments in the sector, with a focus on the
essential role of education and training.

Read their suggestions and proposals to take students’ needs into account

The European Commission analyses the impact of European Quality Traineeships Framework

Investing in education News Youth - 7th February 2023

The European Commission has published an evaluation of the 2014 Quality Framework for Traineeships, with the aim of assessing its implementation and contribution across the EU and the overarching goal to strengthen the quality of traineeships.

Traineeships facilitate young pepole’s access to the labour market and play a great role for the majority of the young workforce. It is not by chance that 85% of the trainees surveyed for the evaluation said that traineeships helped them to learn things that are useful professionally in the early stages of their careers.

Read more and contribute here.

Swedish Presidency kicks off the year: here are its priorities for lifelong learning in 2023

News Skills - 2nd February 2023

The Presidency of the Council of the EU

The Presidency of the Council of the EU rotates every six months among EU Member States. During this six-month period, the presidency chairs meetings at every level in the Council, helping to ensure the continuity of the EU’s work in the Council. Since the Lisbon Treaties (2009), Member states holding the presidency work together closely in groups of three, called ‘trios’. For the first semester of the year, it will be Sweden is assuming the Presidency of the Council of the European Union at a time of historic challenges for the Member States and the Union as a whole. 

Swedish priorities

In cooperation with the other two Presidencies of the trio (France and Czechia, who hold the Presidency throughout 2022), Sweden defined its political priorities for Europe in a comprehensive programme. While the programme is strongly centred on three generic pillars (“security, resilience and prosperity”), it aims to bear provisions for lifelong learning as well. 

Twin Transitions

Sweden highlights the role of skills and in particular digital and green skills, to meet the goals of the Twin Transitions. The Presidency seeks to engage with the European Year of Skills and understand how both individuals and businesses can be equipped with the right skills. It is unfortunate; however, that education provisions are only linked with labour market participation and boosting the competitiveness of the European Union; in fact, in the programme, we read that “All citizens must be equipped for a rapidly changing labour market. Basic skills and lifelong learning are the building blocks that resolve skills supply challenges”.

Education and Youth

Sweden recognises the social dimension of education in its programme. “Education, continuing education and further education can help equip individuals, societies and businesses for the digital and green transitions and are important tools for achieving the objective of enhanced EU competitiveness and the right skills for the jobs of the future in the EU“. 

The follow-up to the European Year of Youth has also been highlighted as a priority, linking it with young people’s participation in political decision-making, which is deemed a tool that “enables better, more sustainable decisions”. 

What to expect?

The main feature of the Swedish Presidency will be the launch of the European Year of Skills. It is therefore only natural that a big part of the programme leans towards skills development. The Presidency is also expected to work on the European Education Area (EEA), for example regarding mutual recognition of qualifications as well as the first part of the process leading to the mid-term review of the EEA. Additionally, under the thrust of the European Commission, the Swedish Presidency will also see the launch of the Learning Lab on Investing in Quality Education and Training and will get to have a role in how this will go forward. Finally, the Presidency plans to begin considering both of the Council recommendations announced by the Commission on digitalisation in the area of education. 

Check out the Council’s calendar for the upcoming months.