In 2022, the second edition of the LLLab took place in Nice, France under the patronage of the French Presidency to the Council of the EU and hosted by the City of Nice at the University Cote d’Azur. The Lifelong Learning Lab (LLLab) is a new initiative by the Lifelong Learning Platform which aims at bringing together different stakeholders in the field of education and training from across Europe and beyond to discuss and learn from one another how to further cooperation in education in the EUThis report gives an overview of the main points of discussion that took place at the event.

2021 has marked the second year of COVID-19 pandemic for the world, but lifelong learning goes on! In our yearly publication, we look back at the activities, achievements and emotions of this past year. How are education and training systems in Europe recovering from the pandemic? What policy measures have been put in place, and how has LLLP tried to influence them? What scenarios for cooperation within and outside the network? We explore these and many more questions in our new publication, summing up a very dense year for both policy and learners.

While the value of quality education and training is strongly acknowledged across EU Member States, it remains the case that public expenditure has failed to recover to pre-financial crisis levels at the EU level. It has, in most cases, decreased steadily and then stagnated at low levels in recent years. This paper tracks the extent to which public expenditure on education and training has changed over time and puts forth the case for a marked increase in levels of public expenditure as a necessary policy tool for addressing the economic and social fallout of Covid-19.

Education is a lifelong empowerment process, which should help citizens in their intra and interpersonal understanding, achieving personal development and becoming emphatic individuals. The UNESCO has possibly summarised it best as “learning to be” – to enable individuals to develop to their fullest potential psycho-socially, effectively as well as physically, for an all-round “complete person.” This and much more in the full report of the meeting held on

The second meeting of the Lifelong Learning Interest Group tried to answer the following questions. How to effectively foster active citizenship and encourage participation in democratic processes through education? How should we transform our educational system to ensure “schools” become democratic institutions? How to tackle radicalisation? What are the ways to strengthen teacher? trainer competences in teaching and assessing civic and social competences? What is the role of non-formal (adult) education and partnerships with civil society?

EAEA and the Lifelong Learning Platform have initiated an Interest Group on Lifelong Learning together with Members of the European Parliament. Hosted by MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen (Finland, EPP), the group brings together civil society representatives and MEPs to discuss various key issues connected to lifelong learning. The first meeting took place in Brussels on 16th of April 2015.

Education provides us with a key site to nurture and support wellbeing, which is an important prerequisite for the learning process. Research has identified that inducing positive emotions within education acts to enlarge cognitive perspectives while simultaneously enhancing the capacity of individuals to attend to more information, make richer interpretations, and experience higher levels of creativity and productivity. Simply put, those who feel better tend to learn better. his is why assessment methods should align better with the wellbeing of learners, to provide a safer learning environment.

This study looks at the education policy challenges which arise in respect of the validation of non-formal and informal learning in Europe focusing on persons with low levels of formal qualification. It builds upon a study (see Gaylor, Schöpf, & Severing, 2015 for the Summary in German) on the recognition of non-formal and informal learning that was conducted within the scope of a Bertelsmann Stiftung project entitled “Continuing training for all”. The object of investigation was the current nature of such procedures in eight European countries. In the continuation of this work, which is based upon the examples of good practice identified in the study, possible courses of action are developed which are directed towards decision makers in the European Union and its member states at a policymaking, economic and societal level. This European publication is co-edited by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the Lifelong Learning Platform.

Eager to know what beneficiaries of Erasmus+ think of the programme? The LLLPlatform runs an annual review of the Erasmus+ programme implementation and shares its results with policy-makers to enhance the application process and the content of the programme. This survey is conducted by the LLLPlatform to evaluate how EU networks have experienced the past round of applications of the Erasmus+ programme: what do you think of Erasmus+? Are you satisfied with its new features? What problems did you encounter? What suggestions for improvement would you make? This publication explores the results of the Survey 2018! Results are mostly in line with the major issues of the programme, and there is room for improvement…

The Lifelong Learning Platform is happy to announce that our Activity Report for the year 2016 is finally out! “2016 has been a year full of challenges and opportunities for the Lifelong Learning Platform, its members and Europe at large. In spite of a challenging European and international context, Brexit , increased radicalisation, fear, populism and horrifying acts of terrorism, we remain convinced of the power education has to reverse worrying trends and rebuild our European identity. In these troublesome times, access and quality to learning opportunities for all can bring optimism back into political discourse and gather citizens with a hopeful vision of the future”.

The Annual Conference 2018 took place on 5-6 July in Vienna, Austria. This year’s topic is “Lifelong Learning Culture: A partnership for rethinking education”. The conference saw one hundred participants debate the role of education and culture in building lifelong learning societies: from active citizenship to intercultural dialogue, to validation and to learning environments, the conference opened up pathways for civil society organisations to operate in. The event closed with specific recommendations to improve the European education systems.

The LLLP Annual Conference 2019 took place on 19-20 June in Brussels, the capital of Europe. This year’s topic is “Learning democracy, values and participation: the added value of lifelong learning”. The conference saw stakeholders and participants from all sectors debate the role of education in building lifelong learning societies: from active citizenship to common values, to global citizenship education to learning environments, the conference opened up pathways for civil society organisations to operate in. The event closed with specific recommendations to improve the European education systems.