In your work – whether with young people or with older adults – do you find all too often that the people that you work with are frustrated by services that are fragmented across different sectors or various ages or diverse sub-groups or policies formulated at multiple levels or organizations that work towards the same goal but in conflicting ways?

How can we mobilize to claim more integrated services for all citizens from the cradle to the grave and at every stage in between?  How can we go beyond initial co-operation to fruitful collaboration and effective coordination?

These questions were raised within an insightful case study that was presented — at the first meeting of the new LLLP working group on the Wider Benefits of Learning held on 25 September – by Dr Mihaela Ionescu.  She drew on her experience as Program Director at the International Step by Step Association, and especially on the INTESYS project’s integrated approach to services around early childhood education and care that now runs pilot initiatives in Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia with close attention paid to how a shared program plays out differently in these four contexts.

The lens of early childhood offers useful insights and entry points into lifelong learning. The working group on the Wider Benefits of Learning represents an integration of perspectives between the LLLP and the Learning for Well-being Foundation (L4WB-F).  The following meeting will take place next year and will focus on intergenerational learning, drawing on the L4WB project Children as Actors Transforming Society or CATS for short.  Do join us!