Population ageing will continue with accelerating pace in the next decades. Today half of the population is 40 years old or above while in 2060 half of the population will be aged 48 years or above. These trends require some considerable societal adaptations regarding work, family life and social protection. Many European practices, as well as research, show that intergenerational learning can be a strong boost for improving learning take up and attainment as well as a sense of solidarity. It is about learning together and learning from each other, and therefore it is an effective way to address a number of issues such as building active communities, promoting citizenship and addressing inequality. For instance, family learning should be integrated in educational institutions’ strategies to raise young learners’ attainment and to narrow the gap between the lowest and highest achievers. The potential in Europe is huge – being active, healthy and participative well into old age is a realistic prospect for a very large number of citizens. Yet, at the same time, only a small minority of people spend their retirement years on active engagement in continuous labour market participation and community life through voluntary activities and active leisure.

On 31 March, EUCIS-LLL hosted a policy debate on “Intergenerational Learning for Inclusive Societies“, at the University Foundation in Brussels, which aimed at sharing practices and views on how and why the intergenerational dimension should be mainstreamed in lifelong learning strategies.

Read the Synthesis Report here…