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The Lifelong Learning Platform’s General Assembly (GA) for 2023 took place at the University of Girona in Spain on 27 and 28 June. The annual General Assembly is one of the key moments where the members, the Secretariat and the Steering Committee meet and update each other on their activities and collectively discuss the general direction and priorities of the organisation. Main highlights of the General Assembly As outlined in LLLP’s statutes and internal rules, the rotation system entails that three members of the Steering Committee were due to end their mandate this year; therefore the GA was tasked with electing these new representatives alongside a new President. LLLP’s membership welcomed Elisa Gambardella (SOLIDAR Foundation) as the new President, Caridad Alarcón Sánchez (OBESSU), Matteo Vespa (European Students’ Union), the re-election of Jon Harding (EfVET) and Piotr Sadowski (Volonteurope) as new representatives of the Steering Committee. We take this opportunity to thank the outgoing members for their commitment and dedication Tamara Gojkovic (YEU), Martina Darmanin (ESU), and Giuseppina Tucci (OBESSU). In addition to the election of new representatives, the GA approved the candidacy of Eurochild, and the Federation for European Education (FEDE) to become members of LLLP, which makes the network grow even stronger and diverse. The General Assembly offered members an opportunity to voice their opinion on how and in which ways LLLP can improve as a representative organisation through the discussion of this year’s Membership Survey and a new Advocacy Strategy to strengthen collaboration among the membership and with external stakeholders. We are ready to deploy all our resources to face the upcoming transition year between the European Year of Skills and the EU Parliament Elections. This year’s GA was a statement on LLLP’s commitment to keep advocating for a lifelong learning approach to education through the active participation of its members, and by showcasing their diversity and voices.

The Lifelong Learning Platform’s General Assembly (GA) for 2023 took place at the University of Girona in Spain on 27 and 28 June.   The annual General Assembly is one of the key moments where the members, the Secretariat and the Steering Committee meet and update each other on their activities and collectively discuss the general direction and priorities of the organisation. Main highlights of the General Assembly As outlined in LLLP’s statutes and internal rules, the rotation system entails that three members of the Steering Committee were due to end their mandate this year; therefore the GA was tasked with electing these new representatives alongside a new President. LLLP’s membership welcomed Elisa Gambardella (SOLIDAR Foundation) as the new President, Caridad Alarcón Sánchez (OBESSU) , Matteo Vespa (European Students’ Union) , the re-election of Jon Harding (EfVET) and Piotr Sadowski (Volonteurope) as new representatives of the Steering Committee.   We take this opportunity to thank the outgoing members for their commitment and dedication Tamara Gojkovic (YEU), Martina Darmanin (ESU), and Giuseppina Tucci (OBESSU).   In addition to the election of new representatives, the GA approved the candidacy of Eurochild , and the Federation for European Education (FEDE) to become members of LLLP, which makes the network grow even stronger and diverse. The General Assembly offered members an opportunity to voice their opinion on how and in which ways LLLP can improve as a representative organisation through the discussion of this year’s Membership Survey and a new Advocacy Strategy to strengthen collaboration among the membership and with external stakeholders. We are ready to deploy all our resources to face the upcoming transition year between the European Year of Skills and the EU Parliament Elections. This year’s GA was a statement on LLLP’s commitment to keep advocating for a lifelong learning approach to education through the active participation of its members, and by showcasing their diversity and voices.

The COYV project seeks to encourage youth multipliers, young people, and especially first time-voters, to actively take part in voting for the European Elections 2024. By organising trainings geared towards increasing youth voting participation rates, and developing an informal alliance of youth organisations, the project seeks to create a link between European initiatives, European civic education and voting.   These online courses are part of the activities of the project ‘Co-operation Youth vote: Enabling future active European citizens’, with the aim to offer a space for training in the preparation of the 2024 European Parliament election campaigns. Within its activities for capacity building and training, COYV partners have developed two online courses that are framed in: European Civic Education and Communication and Online dissemination. What will you get from this experience? from the Online Crash Course 1 – European Civic Education – debate for the future of Europe! – Register here: Join the first Online Crash Course – Youth Vote You will strengthen tools and skills in European Civic education; You will strengthen skills, capacities and tools for the debate in relation to the European Union, its impact on daily life and the upcoming European Parliament elections; You will gain tools to carry out events and processes to attract, train and guide young people, particularly early voters and young people who have refrained from participating in other electoral processes or young people who still feel insecure about participating from the Online Crash Course 2 – Build your own digital campaign Register here: Summer Training – Create your own Digital Campaign! Get an overview of the online platforms and the logic behind running digital campaigns from the perspective of young people and youth organisations,  Find out how to navigate the given opportunities and collect first ideas and creative, funny, interesting examples that we can learn from, Take the first steps towards successfully communicating, disseminating and leading digital campaigns on your own in connection to the European elections in 2024 All participants will receive a Youth Pass certificate . Register now! Applications will be open until the maximum number of participants is reached. When you register you will be notified by email to which group you were assigned and the access link to the session.

The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, just presented the main priorities for the upcoming Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, due to assume on 1 July 2023. The four priorities are: promoting the reindustrialisation of Europe, moving towards ecological transition, consolidating the social pillar and strengthening European unity. From the starting points of the financial and inflation crisis, the war in Ukraine and the upcoming European elections, we can expect the Spanish Presidency to be fully rooted in the most topical themes for Europe. The well-being of citizens also gained prominence: “wages, jobs, gender equality and the freedom they will have in the future,” said Sánchez, who pledged to guide the Spanish Presidency with “the main concerns and demands of our fellow citizens” in mind. To the greatest regret, nothing explicit was mentioned on education and training but we can expect lifelong learning to gain prominence as an integral part of the third priority – consolidating the European Pillar of Social Rights. The Spanish Presidency is also expected to call for an appropriate revision of the multi annual financial framework from 2021 to 2027 and for a reform of fiscal rules that will allow Member States to keep public finances sound while adequately financing public services and green transitions as well as the digital transformation. LLLP has long demanded such a reform, with the objective to disentangle public investment in education and training from deficit/GPD calculations.

The validation of non-formal and informal learning is a key issue for the LLLPlatform. Coherence in lifelong learning strategies means building bridges between formal, non-formal and informal learning. This focus on flexible learning pathways has led in the past years to an increased attention towards validation and recognition of learning that takes place outside formal systems. On 20 December 2012 the Council of the EU adopted a Recommendation on Validation of non-formal and informal learning for an increased cooperation between the EU and Member States with the goal to have national validation arrangements in all countries by 2018. The LLLPlatform decided to set up a Validation Task Force in July 2013 in order to follow up on the Recommendation implementation and work both on political and practical proposals regarding the validation of non-formal and informal learning. The task force works as a space for cross-fertilisation and exchange of expertise, meets two times a year, and gather also external stakeholders.

The Europe 2030 Working Group aims to share practices and expertise on key transversal issues linked to the Europe 2030 Agenda. It seeks to build a common voice on issues related to the ET2030 and European policies on lifelong learning in general; it adopts common positions, fosters the capacity building of LLLP and contributes to events organised by the LLLPlatform or its partners. The Working Group meets twice a year and helps focus the advocacy and policy efforts of the LLLPlatorm.

The INSCOOL II project’s final conference, held in Brussels on May 17, opened with setting a common definition and understanding of ‘inclusion’ in education. The British Council (Poland) – the project coordinator – outlined that inclusion is about welcoming and supporting the participation of learners in all their diversity and exceptionalities. Inclusion in education is a deep and complicated matter – an ongoing process which requires everyone’s dedication and active collaboration. The conference’s keynote speaker – Dr. Chandrika Devarakonda – delved deeper into the essence of inclusion by touching upon the concept of invisible diversity. As the project’s face to face courses and MOOC similarly try to capture, diversity is engrained well beyond what meets the eye. Every individual is diverse precisely because they are ‘individual’. Inclusion is relevant to all societies, in all contexts, and is a precondition for a thriving society, as where there is no inclusion there are no healthy individuals. Dr. Devarakonda closed her speech by raising the following thought-provoking questions, inviting participants to continue the reflection beyond the conference: what is the difference between including everyone and not excluding anyone? Do we see inclusion and diversity as a barrier or as an enabler? Essentially, to improve inclusion within schools there is a need for defined strategies for implementation, as well as more funding – which must be used effectively. These strategies must be co-developed with the diversity of students as well as educators bodies and through national discussions. These processes can support the development of common definitions of inclusion in education. Anna Maria Giannopoulou – Directorate General for Education –mentioned the lack, and consequent need for, implementation of inclusive strategies. Panagiotis Chatzimichail – Organising Bureau of School Student Unions – agreed on the gaps in implementation, and added a second need: funding, and, more specifically, targeted funding . Indeed, while policies are proposed, the implementation of such policies fail to materialise oftentimes because of inadequate funding. However, where there is funding, key contributors to inclusive school environments, such as having a safe and comfortable learning space, are overlooked. Hence, to promote inclusive education together with the co-creation of policies with the main stakeholders, there needs to be more – and especially – targeted funding underpinned by effective policy implementation .   Another key point raised during the fishbowl discussion was the diversity not only among the student body, but among the teacher body, too. Ekaterina Efimenko – European Trade Union Committee for Education – highlighted how, at the policy level, having different backgrounds must be understood as an advantage, not as a barrier. Only once this mindshift happens, can inclusion truly take place in the school setting. Anders Lindholm – Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union – added to the discussion the need for country-by-country needs analysis. Given every country differs from another, countries should individually assess where the investment is most needed to support inclusive education, taking also into account differences within countries and their regions. Lastly, as Sogol Noorani – EURYDICE – pointed out, inclusion must be looked at through a bigger lens: national policies must address intersectionality and look at specific needs. Not only do we need to establish a common understanding of the term ‘Special Educational Needs’ (SEN); we also need to look beyond ‘SEN’ and have inclusive education policies that target everyone, including minorities which are rarely acknowledged in national policies. The conference’s workshops focused on three main areas for inclusive education: (1) policies supporting inclusion; (2) online training support; and (3) training needs of teachers and school educators. Policies and strategies need to address teachers’ needs on training, as well as provide flexibility, including time and space to work with the curriculum. A fundamental aspect not to overlook is teacher well-being, support, and financial recognition, including for training and extra working hours. For the online support, the INSCOOL II’s MOOC was highlighted, and questions and answers on how it worked were held. It was concluded that the MOOC is a useful tool for teachers and the whole educational staff to improve their approaches to and methodologies on inclusive education, and develop new ones. Lastly, in the third workshop, an important training need for teachers emerged: how to comprehend the diversity of student bodies and truly accommodate their students’ needs. Teachers and educational staff need to be supported, and the school and overall community should work as a whole, to advocate for and implement inclusive education.   The INSCOOL II conference was an important moment where open discussions were encouraged and key points were raised pertaining to the definition of inclusion and policy actions to take for inclusive education. The bottom line is that every student should have access to quality education, and that an education which fails to be inclusive is a low quality one. Everyone’s efforts are needed for this to happen. Indeed, the INSCOOL II project advocates for a Whole-School Approach, where inclusive education is the responsibility of the whole (school) community. Help us build a Community of Practice of student teachers, teachers, school heads who want to see more inclusive practices within the school education, by joining the Facebook page , and enrolling in the MOOC . The INSCOOL II project journey does not stop here. Stay in tune with the project’s website to have a read through the policy recommendations, coming out in a month!

LLLP is involved in the Devisus project in which it supports the communication actions. The project gathers social and solidarity economy stakeholders from France, Belgium and Italy. It is a small scale partnership Erasmus+ project which aims at building a common vision on the needs of SSE staff (including CSOs) for acquiring or developing their competences in measuring their organisational social impact (or utility). The preliminary work done in the project one-year implementation will support partners’ application to a bigger scale Erasmus+ project in 2024. Want to hear about the results of a year of fruitful exchanges? Or to know more how are education and training stakeholders and civil society also part of the social economy? Are you interested in how to better measure the social impact of your organisation? On 13 June, the project will hold its final event in Brussels (only in French language). More information here (FR). The draft programme of the event will soon be available. In the meantime, registrations are already open here .

For 2023, LLLP’s General Assembly will take place on Tuesday 27 June and Wednesday 28 June 2023 in the University of Girona, Spain. This year’s edition will be held back to back with the Lifelong Learning Lab.   The annual General Assembly performs as one of the key moments in which members, the Secretariat and the Steering Committee can meet and collectively discuss the general direction and priorities of the organisation.   As outlined in our statutes and internal rules, the rotation system entails that three members of the Steering Committee are due to end their mandate this year; the GA will thus be tasked with electing these new representatives. Given the current President will also see her mandate come to an end, the GA will also elect a new President!   Alongside the election of new representatives, the GA will also offer members an opportunity to voice their opinion on how and in what ways LLLP might improve as a representative organisation. To this end, the GA will be called to discuss a number of strategic issues, and especially on a new advocacy strategy – which should enter into force next year. Other topics include the renewed EU education stakeholders forum, to take place in November. The GA will also decide upon new membership applications. Interested in becoming a member? Check out how to apply . If you require any further information on the GA and on administrative issues, do not hesitate to contact the LLLP at administration@lllplatform.eu

The Lifelong Learning Platform, with the support of COMORELP project partners, is happy to invite you to the project’s final conference on “Inter-regional cooperation for better lifelong learning policies”. The COMORELP project is about “Collaborative Monitoring of REgional Lifelong learning Policies”. The European conference will take place in hybrid format, in person in Brussels and online on 10 May (full day). DRAFT AGENDA Location IN-PERSON: Mundo Madou, Av. des Arts 7/8, 1210 Brussels ONLINE: Zoom We highly recommend joining in person! A conference for whom? EU experts and stakeholders in cooperation, lifelong learning, education, training, evidence-based policies (EU institutions, EUNGOs, education and training representatives) Regional experts and stakeholders (regional authorities, education and training representations, regional associations) Anyone interested in education and lifelong learning at regional level We expect 80 participants in the conference (onsite). REGISTER Information about the event For three-years, the 7 partners – two universities, two companies, two EUNGOs and one regional labour office (from Poland, Turkey, Italy, UK, Belgium, and France) – have worked together on building guidelines for the analysis of regional lifelong learning policies, a benchmarking tool for regions to compare themselves, the setup of a EU policy lab, facilitating regional cooperation, and the elaboration of policy recommendations to increase inter-regional cooperation on lifelong learning policies. Now that the project is coming to its end, we would like to share the insightful project results as well as give space for EU and regional stakeholders to exchange on their education and training policies, their strengths and weaknesses, and how can monitoring and evaluation systems be improved. At the conference, we will learn about inspiring regional practices of lifelong learning policies from at least 5 European regions: Malopolska Region (PL), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region (FR), Emilia-Romagna Region (IT), Istanbul Region (TK) and Wales (UK). In those regions, Comorelp project partners have conducted a mix of desk research and consultations of experts and stakeholders. Partners organised regional workshops to analyse the lifelong learning policies over 14 dimensions (eg governance, cooperation, strategies, support for learning demand and supply, inclusion etc.) using a prototype of a Benchmarking tool. Months after testing it, this Benchmarking tool has been revised and its new updated version will be presented to the conference attendees. Following a day rich of exchanges and networking opportunities, we invite you to join the reception with drinks and fingerfood.

In the first EU Policy Lab webinar , there will be a presentation about the Malopolska lifelong learning partnership (MPKU) by Magdalena Tarnowska-Torbus from WUP – Labour office in Krakow, Region of Malopolska (Poland). The partnership was created in 2008 and involvesover 100 institutional stakeholders in cooperation and transforming the field of adult education within the region.In this webinar, you will hear about how it works and its achievements.The presentation will be followed by a short panel discussion with two other EU regions (Wallonia, Veneto) and an exchange of practices on the topic of partnerships between regional public authorities and stakeholders. Where and when? Online (Zoom) – 11-12h (CET timezone)

In the first EU Policy Lab webinar, there will be a presentation about the Malopolska lifelong learning partnership (MPKU) byMagdalena Tarnowska-Torbus from WUP – Labour office in Krakow, Region of Malopolska (Poland). The partnership was created in 2008 and involvesover 100 institutional stakeholders in cooperation and transforming the field of adult education within the region. In this webinar, you will hear about how it works and its achievements.The presentation will be followed by a short panel discussion with two other EU regions (Wallonia, Veneto) and an exchange of practices on the topic of partnerships between regional public authorities and stakeholders. Where and when? Online (Zoom) – 11-12h (CET timezone) Agenda 11:00 Welcome words and short introduction to the COMORELP project Pauline Boivin, Lifelong Learning Platform 11:05 Presentation of an inspiring regional practice: The Malopolska lifelong learning partnership (PL) Magdalena Tarnowska-Torbus from WUP – Labour office in Krakow, Region of Małopolska (Poland) 11:30 Panel discussion Barbara Worek, professor at the Institute of Sociology, Centre for Evaluation and Public Policy Analysis, Jagiellonian University (PL) Dott. Alessandro Agostinetti, Region Veneto (IT) Alain Demarez, Region Wallonia (BE) 11:50 Q&As with the audience 12:00 End of the webinar The EU Policy Lab initiative led by LLLP with the support of Comorelp project partners.