The LLL-HUB is a project funded with the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme under Key Activity 1 “Policy cooperation and innovation” and coordinated by the LLLPlatform. Engaging 10 partners from 8 EU countries with various backgrounds, it lasted for two years, from December 2013 to March 2016. The LLL-HUB: what is it? The LLL-HUB aimed to create a feeling of shared responsibility on EU lifelong learning strategies through a multilateral network and ownership among relevant stakeholders (Europe 2020 headline targets, ET2020, European Semester Country-Specific Recommend­ations…). This was achieved by fostering national and transnational public spaces for debates and mutual policy learning, involving the grassroots level in a genuine reflection with decision-makers on the design and implementation of coherent and comprehensive lifelong learning strategies. The LLL-HUB: how did it happen? A research phase (LLL-LABs) and a seminar (LLL-FORUM) tookplace in the different partner countries, involving key LLL experts and policy-makers. The project had three transversal objectives: Foster a shared meaning of lifelong learning Enable a cross-sectorial, multi-stakeholders cooperation Structure the first transnational policy learning based on a genuine research and dialogue at regio­n­al/­national level on EU LLL strategies They were invited to gather for transnational policy learning and the elaboration of key political messages in real bottom-up democratic settings. This last step, the LLL-AGORA, an international expert conference, took place in Mechelen, Belgium, on 7-8 March 2016. Three organisations received the LLL-HUB Awards at this occasion to celebrate their efforts in making lifelong learning a reality in their territories. The LLL-HUB: Outcomes Key project results areComparative Report on the implementation of Lifelong Learning in Europe compiled by the LLLPlatform which includes a set of policy recommendations to policy makers and which is based on theNational/Regional States of Play from 7 partner countries. The LLLPlatform also produced an EU Handbook and Glossary which guided the partners through the initial research phase of the project and which has been recently updated. Methodological Guidelines on the implementation of the LLL-HUB Methodology have been produced in order sum up the project methodology and invite other countries and regions to join the LLL-HUB by implementing what has proven a very successful three-step approach. Comparative Report and Policy Recommendations National States of Play: Belgium, Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, Turkey EU Handbook and Glossary Methodological Guidelines Visit our website: www.lll-hub.eu.

InnoVal (Innovative Assessment Methods for Validation) aims to address the urgent need to offer valid and reliable assessment methods that allow all learners to have a chance at validation with a special focus on disadvantaged groups such as migrants, long-term unemployed, and those who have had an adverse experience with formal education including with school-based assessments. The 2012 Council Recommendation gave a strong political impulse to the goal of having national validation arrangements in all countries by 2018. Yet, according to the CEDEFOP 2014 Validation Inventory Report, EU countries still greatly diverge in terms of mechanisms in place. In order to ensure the validity and reliability of assessment procedures, and to avoid additional costs, many educational institutions prefer to use standardised tests. The use of alternative methods such as portfolios, declarative methods and simulations, is on the increase but remains limited. The partners believe that the use of standardised tests hinders learners’ take up in validation and represents one of the strongest obstacles to their development in Europe. Validation systems often target adults who have had a bad experience with formal education and formal assessment methods. This may leadthem to not complete their secondary education and not participate in any further formal education. Yet, they have acquired many skills and competences in non-formal and informal learning environments that they would validateif the assessment method did not bring them back to their bad past experience with formal education. InnoVal aims to foster a change in practices related to the assessment of non-formal and informal learning across Europe and across sectors. InnoVal is highly innovative as it brings together VET and HE providers who are advanced either in the use of innovative assessment methods, in building links with the labour market and/or in dealing with disadvantaged groups; research bodies who can provide the evidence with a EU perspective and European networks which can ensure policy impact and broad dissemination and exploitation of results. InnoVal covers 6 countries (BE-FL, FR, FI, EL, PT, DE) and well beyond. The potential transferability of the case studies and of the innovative methods will be included in all of the project’s outputs. The partners will engage various target groups from the start of the project (Ministries in charge of Validation, EU, NQF Agencies, EU networks, etc.) in order to ensure a broad impact.

LLLP is a partner in the two-year Erasmus+ KA2 project “Job Bridge” (2018-2020), involving eight partners from seven EU countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Spain). The project kicked off in Paris, France on February 12-13th 2019. It aims to improve the recognition and the validation of volunteers’ experiences and competences in a way that it could also be valued towards employers. It addresses labour market needs for workers with certified transversal skills as well as the needs of educational providers dealing with volunteers (adult education centers and voluntary-based organisations) to assess their volunteers’ competences and to support their learning paths. There is still a lack of feasible and easy-to-use instruments for validating informal learning in volunteering. Job Bridge will develop a fully-fledged user-centred approach for validating non-formal and informal learning processes in volunteering activities, including well-proven and web-based documentation, both for learners and those supervising them (the “facilitators”). Job Bridge will bridge informal, non-formal and formal learning by integrating social, personal and organisational competences in a system, which can be linked to existing validation and certification instruments such as EQF, ECVET, ECTS and/or EUROPASS. It will enable volunteering organisations to assess and evidence the competence development of their volunteers, according to a tailor-made reference system. Our Objectives Better understanding of the skills acquired in volunteering activities by collecting examples of tools and competence frameworks in use in the different partner countries Identify life skills developed in volunteering and how they can be connected to existing frameworks (literature review) Develop a competence matrix that is adapted to a volunteering context Develop and test a user-friendly tool for facilitators to assess the competences of their volunteers, build a learning plan and deliver a certificate at the end of the process Raise awareness of employers about the skills developed as part of voluntary activities Website: https://job-bridge.eu Coordinator: BUPNET, which an adult education provider based in Germany. Partners: La ligue de l’enseignement (France), Catro (Bulgaria), Lifelong Learning Platform (EU / Belgium), CCUM – Conferenza dei Collegi Universitari di Merito (Italy), Cámara Oficial de Comercio, Industria y Servicios de Cáceres (Spain), Volunteering Matters (United Kingdom), Blinc (Germany)

The LLLPlatform is partner in the two-year Erasmus+ KA2 project “IN-QUAL: Imprinting quality to entrepreneurship education”, involving seven partners from six European countries. The project aims to develop the methodology and tools to support the implementation of quality assurance mechanisms within training and work-based learning pathways for entrepreneurship education providers. The actions of the project will be directed to strengthening the entrepreneurial education offer towards more qualitative standards (inspired by the EQAVET system), boosting the transparency and of VET education providers and improving the quality assurance skills of educators and mentors. Our objectives Over the last few decades, the idea of infusing entrepreneurship into education has spurred great enthusiasm in light of the myriad of positive effects stated to result from it: from economic growth and job creation all the way to individual growth, increased school engagement and improved equality. EU policies have shown equal interest in entrepreneurship and recently produced a competence framework (EntreComp) to build consensus around a common understanding of the topic. In light of this and of the EQAVET framework, the project seeks to improve the quality assurance in entrepreneurship education and enhance the training offers for VET providers in this sector. These goals will be achieved through the joint efforts of all organisations involved in the consortium, as well as third parties and stakeholders, through the development of specific tools addressing the needs of the entrepreneurship providers. To this end, the project seeks to develop the following results: A baseline report to highlight difficulties and successes in implementing quality assurance in entrepreneurship education so far, as well as collect relevant data; A common reference framework developed to help future Quality Managers in entrepreneurship education to understand, plan and implement the quality assurance strategy in their organisation; among other resources, the reference framework will include a glossary, practices for an effective engagement of providers and staff as a whole and a strategy to reach out to the right stakeholders; Guidelines aiming at providing the right adaptation of the EQAVET standards and tools to entrepreneurship education; A description of the Quality Manager’s main competences and required skills, as well as training contents; Recommendations for the implementation of the whole system. Newsletters: Newsletter 1, Newsletter 2, Newsletter 3, Newsletter 4 Coordinator: Instituto Pedro Nunes – Portugal Partners: Eurocrea Merchant – Italy; IDEC – Greece; BDF – Netherlands; Effebi Association – Italy; LLLPlatform – Belgium; Civic Computing – UK

Specific LEArning Disorders no more! LEAD! project wants to identify and defeat the barriers that students with Specific Learning Disabilities meet at school when they start writing and reading. EUROPE 2020 Strategy wants to reduce ESL to less than 10 % around EUROPE, and, according to EUROSTAT (Disability statistics – access to education and training), 1 out of 4 people in EUROPE who faces basic activity difficulties, leaves the school prematurely. According to EPALE (JULY 2017) there were around 35.67 million students with such disabilities, 13.88 million coming from primary school and 21.700.000 from secondary school. LEAD! wants to empower and support students (9-14 years old) in developing the right competences about the adaptive technologies and their use thanks to the support of an innovative platform, MY SKILLS. The learning material will be validated according to the European Guidelines Of The Validation Of Non-formal And Informal Learning (CEDEFOP) and, at the end of the learning path, students will have the chance to get the European Adaptive Tool Licence. The direct target group of the project is represented by students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SLD) with age range 9-14 years old. The indirect target group is instead composed by teachers, headmasters, tutors and trainers and all the school and no school staff dealing with students with Specific Learning Disorders. In pointing out the this target group, families have to be considered as indirect beneficiaries of the project due to the fact that they will exploit project results with their children. LEAD! wants to promote forefront knowledge regarding the adaptive technologies (and their use) and create the European Adaptive Tool Licence targeting students with SLD (age 9-14). Students with SEN (Specific Educational Needs), which include students with Learning Specific Disorders, indeed have a higher probability to leave school prematurely compared to those students without disabilities (Early School Leaving and Learners with Disabilities and/or Special Educational Needs, European Agency for special needs and inclusive education, 2017). To reach its objective, LEAD! will develop and adapt to distant learning a training course targeting the adaptive technologies which it will adapted to MY SKILLS platform. At the end of the learning path, students can award the European Adapting Tool Licence which it will support them to acquire the necessary learning competences and, on the other side, it will be the quality label that it will certify to the teachers that the students are able to use the adaptive tools and technologies. Website: https://www.myskillslead.eu/

Together with 9 other partners, the LLLPlatform wasinvolved in the Capacity-Building for the Lifelong Learning Programme (CB4LLP) project. Over two years (December 2012-October 2014), the project aimed to facilitate the exploitation of Lifelong Learning Programme projects’ results creating and promoting new Capacity Building methodologies and practical tools for sectoral, regional, national and European stakeholders. International research and evidence shows that those responsible for development strategies, either at local, regional or national level, tend to be relatively isolated, often relying on their personal abilities and contacts, lacking of a solid background of information on methodologies, tools and good practices emerging form Lifelong Learning Programme and related initiatives. This is even more true when considering the extremely weak degree of cooperation among decision makers and actors from public administration, which is unfortunately also reflected by an extremely weak cooperation among different fields of education, such as VET, higher and non formal education. The project aims at overcoming these barriers and promoting cooperation and synergies among different players sharing methodologies, tools and good practices with a wide audience, primarily with decision makers, public administrators and educational providers, and thus contribute the integration of LLL results and tools within capacity building processes. The Platform organised capacity-building workshops, providing its expertise on the EU level and disseminating the project outcomes to a broad array of stakeholders. The first CB4LLP workshop The LLLPlatform organised its first CB4LLP workshop in the framework of its Europe 2020 Working Group, held approximately twice a year and gathering all interested member organisations of the Platform. The Platform worked as a space for knowledge exchange between its member networks and uses their expertise to discuss and feed in EU policy-making. The Working Group Europe 2020 is an illustration of this peer learning and builds a common voice on issues related to ET2020 and Europe 2020, but is also a place to foster capacity-building among the Platform members. It was therefore the ideal settings to present the CB4LLP project and to involve as many member organisations as possible in the capacity-building process. Second CB4LLP workshop A second CB4LLP workshop was organised in December 2013 during the Lifelong Learning Week annually held by the LLLPlatform, also targeting its members that had the occasion to attend the first workshop or not. CB Ambassadors were also there to assist the Secretariat. After the first workshop, the Platform reflected on how it could provide guidance to its members on how to use successful existing LLP projects outcomes to improve their own project idea. During this second workshop, the LLLPlatform used the example of a pilot project the Platform wants to launch on validation of non-formal and informal learning. It showed how it has compiled the most interesting projects covering this area in LLP databases (ADAM, EVE…) in a grid of analysis comprising several criteria, such as innovative aspects, potential partners or transferable products. This grid is supposed to be a capacity-building tool following the spirit of the second phase of the CB4LLP project to accompany the target group in building successful projects without reinventing the wheel. The LLL-P with this new tool aims to provide consultancy services to its members and potentially stakeholders outside the network. The tool will be applied to EUCIS-LLL members that have answered questionnaires and further developed before the 3rd workshop (aimed to assess end-users satisfaction). First CB4LLP Fair Together with EfVET, the Platform organised its Capacity-Building Fair during the Lifelong Learning Week in December 2013. The idea of organising Lifelong Learning Weeks aims to raise awareness on Lifelong Learning (LLL) in Europe and to put forward the need to adopt a holistic approach at all levels of decision-making, implementation and evaluation. This is necessary if we want the EU to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy as set in the Europe 2020 strategy. This year, the Week had a particular focus on the upcomingEuropean Elections of Spring 2014. At this occasion, the Platform launched its Manifesto for the European elections and many events took place in order to provide ideas on how to modernise education and training systems in Europe. The event is taking place at the European Parliament, which is highly strategic to organise theCB Fair in parallel and give visibility to the CB4LLP project. Second CB4LLP Fair The Platform organised a 2nd Capacity-Building Fair during its Erasmus+ training session on 5 March. The session was aimed at informing stakeholders (50 participants) in Brussels on the opportunities of the new EU funding programme and presenting the CB4LLP method was very much complementary to encourage them to build innovative projects building on LLP initiatives. Third CB4LLP Fair Another CB Fair was organised on 30 June 2014 in the Platform’snew premises to raise awareness of various civil society stakeholders on the advantages of the CB4LLP method. Many participants signed up as capacity-builders on the project website and had the occasion to discover the final CB4LLP guidebook. Coordinator: Centro Studi “Cultura Sviluppo”- CSCS Duration: 01.11.2012-31.10.2014 Partners: Coopération Bancaire pour l’Europe GEIE, BE; EUCIS-LL, BE; Central Denmark EU Office, DK; EfVE, BE; European Minds, SE; Lapplands Gymnasium, SE; ΣΥΝΔΕΣΜΟΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ ΒΙΩΣΙΜΗ ΑΝΑΠΤΥΞΗ ΤΩΝ ΠΟΛΕΩΝ, GR; Asset Τεχνολογική ΕΠΕ, GR; University of Sarajevo, School of Economics and Business, BA.

The LLLPlatform is partner in the two-year Erasmus+ KA2 project “Open Your Eyes: Fake News for Dummies” involving seven partners from six European countries, which seeks to improve the digital literacy of adult learners by providing them with tools to identify fake news and fight the spread of disinformation online. After compiling a database of best practices, the partners trained adult educators by delivering “Check IT Out” Labs to willing adult learners. The data and initiatives collected are available on the project website, together with policy recommendations. In the New Media Age, we are constantly surrounded by all kinds of information, from political issues to advertisements and marketing, which gets to us with no filter other than our own capacity to critically assess the validity of the received information. Biased information appears to be particularly difficult to decode for the less media-literate demographics; while the rates of digital literacy have proved to disregard age or educational level, the project targets specifically adult learners and educators, in the hopes of improving their digital skills, raising awareness of the concept of fake news and providing the tools to combat it. The project intends to deliver two main outputs: “Check IT Out” Database: after thorough comparative research, the partners compile a collection of scientific data, best practices and initiatives that enables users to develop a critical approach to news consumption and hopefully trigger their critical sense towards this issue. Research is conducted in a selection of European countries interested by phenomena such as separatism and rising disinformation, particularly around the time of national and European elections, and allows future users to design individual strategies to confront disinformation based on what worked best in other countries. “Check IT Out” Labs: held by especially-trained adult educators and based on the previously developed database, the Labs target groups of 10+ adult learners in partner countries with the objective of developing their critical and digital skills, bringing them closer to the concept of fake news and ultimately spreading awareness about the topic within their network. The developed Handbook for Adult Educators includes 3 modules: Module 1 - Common understanding of Media Literacy in the EU context, Module 2 - Conceptualising disinformation and Module 3 -How to tackle disinformation: tools and methodologies. Coordinator: Nikanor – Bulgaria Partners: OpenEurope – Spain; UPI – Slovenia; ADR Nord-Est – Romania; EU DisinfoLab – Belgium; LLLPlatform – Belgium; DLearn – Italy Website:http://www.openyoureyes.info/

COMANITY is a 2-year (2017-2019) Erasmus+ KA3 ‘Support for Policy Reform’ – social inclusion action coordinated by Arcola Research (UK), involving 9 European partners from the UK, Italy, Spain, Greece and Belgium over two years (2017-2019). The consortium aims to develop a community-based ‘inclusive learning ecosystem’ for marginalised and vulnerable young people by creating the conditions in which ‘hard to reach’ youth can apply their skills, talents and creativity in participation activities that improve their communities, through the “Community Animateur” programme. The project’s vision is based on a stark observation: that the youth system is failing disadvantaged and marginalised young people. Increasing demand for youth services, reflecting high youth unemployment, increasing NEET rates and growing social exclusion are set against significant cuts in social and welfare services as a result of the ‘economic crisis’. This has led to a reduction in the level and quality of service supply, and a lack of credibility in mainstream institutions. One way of addressing this problem is for youth services to increase their intake of volunteers, particularly from excluded communities. However, due to lack of time, money, motivation and trust, marginalised young people are less likely to volunteer. What’s more, many youth workers and current volunteers lack the necessary skills to engage with marginalized youth. The Comanity project wants to fill this gap by creating a new role for youth work: the “Community Animateur”. The programme aims at recruiting and training young people from marginalised communities to carry out this role, as well as existing youth workers. These new actors will represent a new and crucial point of mediation and integration. The objective is therefore dual: getting youth services to become more engaging towards disadvantaged youth; getting marginalised youth to become more engaged in youth work. This will help to provide a credible and trusted source of support to help hard to reach young people realise their potential and play an active role in improving their communities. Main outputs: Competence Framework: identifies the key competences needed to develop the Community Animateur role and provides an assessment tool for youth workers and volunteers Technical Platform and Learning Village: combines OER resources with user-generated knowledge to support and maximise learning Training programme: combines self-directed learning on-line with collaborative learning involving the COMANITY team Evaluation toolkit: uses a “Theory of change” approach and embeds evaluation in the project throughout its life cycle Transferability and Replication toolkit: provides a clear guide to how the programme and tools can be accessed and autonomously used after the end of the project, based on the pilot test Coordinator: Arcola Research – UK Partners: Universidad Internacional de la Rioja (UNIR) – Spain; Comune di Perugia – Italy; Ke.th.E.A. – Greece; Borgorete – Italy; LLLPlatform – Belgium; Docklands Outreach – UK; Mind2Innovate – Greece; Documenta – Spain

LLLP is a partner in the two-year Erasmus+ KA3 Social Inclusion project “INSCOOL” for “Inclusive schools” (2019-2021), involving seven partners from five EU countries (Greece, United Kingdom, Poland, Belgium and Spain). The project kicked off in London, UK on February 18-20th 2019. It aims to embed inclusive education principles in schools management in Europe by favouring the emergence of a community of leaders standing for inclusion, consisting of heads of schools, teachers and students. Inclusive Schools reached school communities (school leaders, teachers, professors, students, parents, school advisors, school psychologists), policy-makers and public authorities staff (ministries, local authorities), institutions and organisations of educational focus on a local and European level. Schools everywhere deal with ways to embrace diversity as society itself is becoming more diverse every day. The vision of the Inclusive Schools project is to gradually reshape school culture into an inclusive school ethos by fostering long-term inclusion strategies in schools around Europe and engaging school communities in concrete action plans and collaborations that promote equality and value diversity. More specifically key project activities include: Developing tools for Screening Diversity and Strategy development Creating educational manuals, training trainers at local and international level Setting up an Inclusive Schools certification scheme Delivering social inclusion workshops in 61 schools in Europe. It also included an innovative communication and raising awareness campaign reaching school communities around Europe and a detailed plan to open dialogue channels between the school community and policy-makers on the issue of inclusion in schools. The Inclusive Schools team has worked on a set of tools to facilitate the inclusion process of the school community and give incentives to school staff and students to adopt the methodology and adapt accordingly. Some of the developed tools are: Education Pack Education Pack in German Education Pack in Italian Education Pack in Romanian Education Pack In Serbian Inclusive Post Card Inclusive Poster Inclusive Week Guidelines Inclusive Week Template Action Plan Guidelines Action Plan Template Week Activities Pack Educational kit Everybody else is taken Educational kit Hello Salaam Policy Recommendation Policy Paper Coordinator: British Council (Greece) Partners: Lifelong Learning Platform (EU / Belgium), Obessu – organizing bureau of European school student unions (EU / Belgium), Scotdec – Scottish Development Education Centre (United Kingdom), Asamblea de cooperacion por la paz (Spain), Stowarzyszenie Ekspedycja w glab kultury (Poland), Institouto Ekpedeftikis Politikis (Greece)

Increasing the participation of adults in lifelong learning activities up to 15% has been set by the European Union as a target in the frame of its Education and Training Strategy. However, discrepancies remain between EU Member States and regions. European lifelong learning and non-vocational adult education strategies are not sufficiently integrated, especially at the regional level, which limits the policy potential to respond to current structural challenges such as rising unemployment, socio-economic instability, social exclusion and the effects of COVID-19. The COMORELP project (“Collaborative Monitoring of REgional Lifelong learning Policies”) built on the existing collaboration framework among key regional actors in Europe, with the view to expanding the partnership and developing a transnational interregional Policy Lab (the COMORELP Policy Lab Platform). The Policy Lab included educational and training organisations and networks and aimed to assist and encourage transnational exchange of know-how in the design development and evaluation of lifelong learning initiatives/approaches integrated within Lifelong Guidance (LLG). It focused on the role of Lifelong Learning (LLL) to support regional education and training policies that are aimed at socially inclusive economic development with a particular attention to disadvantaged adult groups. The project capitalised on the results of previous initiatives and EU Projects, developing a coherent conceptual and operational framework. Concrete objectives:   To conduct a longitudinal review of LLL policies in each participating region, including a multi-stakeholder self-assessment exercise; To review and synthesise existing contributions on regional lifelong learning and “Learning Regions” approaches to develop a new context-sensitive comparison/benchmarking platform/tool; To pilot a data collection approach to feed and validate the system among the pilot Partner Regions; To organise regional and European inter-regional Round Tables to exchange and reflect upon practices in the field of Lifelong Learning and lay the foundations for inter-regional cooperation and common LLLpolicies; To promote participation of new regions in the COMORELP Policy Lab Platform and to develop a sustainability action plan. To draw lessons from the process, both in terms of quality assurance and in terms of policy recommendations. The target groups of COMORELP were practitioners, education and training providers and employment centres, as well as policy makers (regional and local administrations). Through the networking exercise, all the lifelong learning (non-formal and informal learning providers, social partners, NGOs, cultural institutions, professional associations, etc) within each region will be identified and invited to participate in the Policy Lab. The expected results, impact and longer-term benefits were to increase participants’ awareness of regional lifelong learning policies and increase their capacity to make comparisons to rebuild or reorganise their own policies by detecting deficiencies or gaining alternative perspective from other contributors such as stakeholders, other regions or policy makers. Existing data collected on the platform will be the starting point for further developments and extensions by the participants. The COMORELP Policy Lab Platform aims to evolve after the end of the project and build a broader community of users, coming from all other European and Third countries, stakeholders and regional bodies not originally involved in the project. The main deliverables of the project can be found below: Read the Report on Distance and Online Learning Practices: The report was developed jointly by all regional partners to explore the dimensions of the rapid global transition to distance and online learning during the pandemic, an extraordinary evolution in our education systems. The report derives essential conclusions from participating European regions: Malopolska (Poland), Emilia-Romagna (Italy), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (France), Wales (UK) and Istanbul (Türkiye). The report presents insights that underscore the need for targeted interventions and puts forth recommendations to harness the potential of digital lifelong learning while mitigating challenges. Read the Regional Reports: The Reports explore in depth the state of play in the participating European regions acting as a compendium of regional LLL policies, and especially the innovative changes made recently and the trends for the future. The regional reports were fed by the work of each partner in the regions including meeting with stakeholders, the Round Tables and the implementation of the self-assessment methodology making use of the COMORELP benchmarking tool. Explore the COMORELP benchmarking tool: This tool can also be found in the project’s website and it is currently available in English and Polish. The self-assessment tool aims to support policy makers and stakeholders to determine the current stage of development of lifelong learning policies in their own region. By engaging with stakeholders and organising regional roundtable discussions, regional LLL laboratories can be established. In the COMORELP project the approach to benchmarking does not have a competitive sense: benchmarking primarily serves as an opportunity for mutual learning, sharing best practices, and inspiring one another through comparisons between regions. Policy recommendations : The report exploits the lessons learnt throughout the COMORELP project, both in terms of lifelong learning policies shortcomings and improvement opportunities, and in terms of measures suggested to base future regional lifelong learning policies on better access to evidence and participatory monitoring of results. The Recommendations are the result of interaction within the regional Policy Labs that took place in 5 European regions in the first project phase, and of the EU policy labs events that took place later and that aimed to connect regional stakeholders at EU level. The EU policy labs took place during LLLP’s Lifelong Learning week 2022 in Brussels in March 2023 and the online final conference in May 2023. Explore all Resources in the project’s new website hosted by the Jagiellonian University, it features the different publications developed by the partnership as well as the practical tool for inter-regional comparison and learning or ‘ COMORELP benchmarking tool ’.

Last week, two milestone events under the Belgian Presidency of the European Council took place in Belgium, but while coated with good intentions, it was a missed opportunity to build coherence in our policies in lifelong learning. The Belgian Presidency has put social rights and lifelong learning at the core of its agenda, and rightly so given the current social and economic context. Two events took place back-to-back to signal the political intention to keep on building a social Europe that protects its citizens and offers development opportunities for all: the High-level conference on the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR), and the Conference on Lifelong Learning. The first event, on 14-15 April, promised to take stock of the action plan around the EPSR and to reiterate the commitment; it concluded with the adoption of a declaration on the future of social Europe, dubbed “La Hulpe Declaration”, from the town next to Brussels where the conference was held. Unfortunately, this declaration seems to fall short of the commitment undertaken when the EPSR was launched. It would have been important here to see the right to lifelong learning and the need to ensure a lifelong learning mindset as going beyond “widespread labour shortages and skills mismatches” in EU Member States; indeed, lifelong learning is not a quick fix to long-term issues and it serves first and foremost learners, providing opportunities for personal development to citizens before adapting to labour market needs. Moreover, this approach signals another missed opportunity to look at a wider population age beyond the merely working-force age; the Pillar of Social Rights was a wide political commitment that was specifically designed to support rights which all Europeans hold. Learning should be ensured for its intrinsic value, instead of instrumentalising social rights for economic purposes solely. Though it is clear that skills required by the labour market of the future will inevitably enrich other aspects of one’s life, they cannot encompass the entire diversity of competences needed to thrive in society. La Hulpe Declaration is a great opportunity to strengthen social dialogue but unfortunately a missed one to bring in the civil dialogue and wider social actors (such as civil society) onboard. Its narrow focus on learning and training for workers fails to address what in our understanding should have been the right holistic approach to the implementation of social rights such as the one on lifelong learning. In fact, none of the education and training stakeholders were invited. Following the La Hulpe Summit, the Belgian Presidency convened a conference on lifelong learning in Brussels on 17-18 April. This flagship conference explored in more detail the core of lifelong learning, addressing why some people thrive in this dynamic landscape, while others are harder to reach. In a constantly changing world, lifelong learning gives individuals the power to thrive in this dynamic landscape, while enhancing our economies and societies at the same time. During this conference, education and training stakeholders (including LLLP and its members) got to speak to reinforce one message: that we must place learners at the centre of all education activities. As LLLP General-Secretary Raffaela Kihrer explained in the panel discussion, structural inequalities prevent an inclusive lifelong learning culture for some groups - especially older people. This is where the challenge of coherence intervenes: as civil society and wider stakeholders were ignored from the La Hulpe conference, partnership was championed at the lifelong learning conference but without going beyond higher and adult education institutions. LLLP General-Secretary warned against making learning pathways flexible for the labour market, instead of for the learner, capturing the general feeling of a conference that seemed ready to adapt the learning offer for those already benefiting from learning, without providing sufficient consideration on facilitating the right to learn for those most disadvantaged in society. Both events showed a very narrow understanding of lifelong learning, confined to being the sparring partner of the labour market that for various reasons is putting extra pressure on our education and training systems. Though the social function of education and training, at large, should not be confused with one of the specific by-products, that is to make the economy advance, even less shall be such a short term view that forgets about the long term value it brings to the society. Disconnecting lifelong learning policies from economic concerns is an endeavour that we, as civil society organisations, shall not fail to bring forward at any given occasion. Strengthening civil dialogue in this regard will help going beyond purely economic oriented policies in education and training and maintain the humanistic vision we all aspire for.

As part of a larger vision towards a European Education Area, the EU is supporting Member States in improving their education and training systems, responding to the need of life-long-learning based on innovation-driven approaches towards education and training. Investing in skills, competences and knowledge is essential to boost Europe’s resilience, competitiveness, employability and to overcome skills mismatches. The Council of the EU calls upon all member states to “foster the acquisition of competences in sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), taking into account their link to the arts, creativity and innovation and motivating more young people, especially girls and young women, to engage in STEM careers”. In line with the mentioned EU initiatives and policies, CHOICE (01/2020 – 12/2022) aims to develop and test an innovative and collaborative approach to STE(A)M education, complementing existing initiatives to support the reform of school curricula . CHOICE promotes the joint action of 9 organisations (non-profit, business, education institutions, advocacy network) across 5 European countries who will carry out a cross-disciplinary, bottom-up process leading to the production of innovative open educational resources (OERs) providing real-world examples regarding the implementation of STE(A)M approaches into teaching. The OERs will be collected in a MOOC, accompanied by a good practice tool providing guidelines on the implementation of the proposed activities. The project will directly involve teachers and students and role models representing companies and HEIs in the creation of n ew resources promoting STE(A)M approaches to STEM education , thus ensuring that the OERs respond to current skill challenges in higher education and labour market. The consultation of policy-makers and stakeholders in the round-tables leading to policy recommendations supporting the shift from STEM to STE(A)M education to reform school curricula, will be key to mainstream of the CHOICE action. Project Results EU and National Reports on STEM education National reports gathering findings on local and regional initiatives connected to the reform of STEM education, best practices, students’ attitudes and teachers’ approaches at local and EU level. Available in: Italy ; Spain ; Cyprus ; Greece ; And the European report. State-of-the-art study The State-of-the-Art study is a cross-country comparative analysis of the findings across the involved countries, thus providing a comprehensive overview and conclusions. Available in: English ; Italian ; Spanish ; Greek ; French Framework for Reforming Curricula The framework indicates the areas in need of improvement within the current state of STEM curricula and educational approaches. Available in: English; Italian; Greek; Spanish ; French Reflective Practice Case Study Compendium This is a collection of case-studies discussed during the reflective groups with experts from companies, Higher Education Institutions and local authorities conducted in 4 countries. The groups identified a set of issues at university, labor-market and policy level demonstrating the need to adopt a STE(A)M approach. Available in: English; Italian; Spanish; Greek; French   Working Guidelines The working guidelines will guide partners in the delivery of the design & development workshops at local level involving students and teachers. Available in: English; Italian; Greek; Spanish; French Policy Recommendations The policy recommendations aim to support the reform of the school curricula by making the shift from STEM teaching in silos to a more interdisciplinary and practice-oriented approach of STE(A)M education, as proposed in the CHOICE MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on STE(A)M education , and integrating this innovative digital-based instrument into school curricula. Available in: English CHOICE @SCHOOL Good Practice Tool This document intends to guide schools, directors and teachers in integrating the CHOICE approaches and tools to their curricula and STEM teaching practices, especially in applying the CHOICE MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) on STE(A)M education. It considers the experiences and lessons learnt from the piloting implemented in partner countries as well as challenges and opportunities arising from the application STE(A)M education in partner schools. Available in: English For more information about the project, visit the website www.euchoice.eu .