In this position paper, the Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP) investigates the importance of key competences development which learners need to adapt to any future societal challenge. The aim of the Position Paper was to consider what learners require to boost their resilience considering the ever-changing world, but also the impact of recent crises such as COVID-19, Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, the climate crisis and the rampant digitalisation of societies. The Paper draws terminologically from the 2018 Council Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning and on the Joint Research Centres’ various competence frameworks. The aim is to focus on the fact that learners do not need only skills, but also knowledge and attitudes if they are to thrive in a sustainable way, while also to promote those transversal competences that very frequently are neglected due to the difficulties of measuring their development.
The Paper provides a series of recommendations for system-level, provider-level and learner-level changes that can usher a new approach to competence development. The main elements refer to the need for a whole-of-government approach that also includes all education and training stakeholders in the decision making and implementation processes of policies, but also to acknowledging the diversity of learning providers and the competences that learners require to be active participants in their learning journey.