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The European Commission has opened a public consultation on the “Recommendation on Promoting social inclusion and shared values through formal and non-formal learning”. The online questionnaire will gauge public opinion on the importance of equipping young people with shared values and how education and non-formal learning can help achieve this aim in view of creating more socially cohesive societies. The results of the public consultation will be used together with the other data and research evidence, as well as ET 2020 mutual learning outcomes (in particular the work undertaken by the ET 2020 Working Group on the follow-up of the Paris Declaration ). Deadline: 11 August 2017.

Do you have a great idea for an innovative European Project on tackling challenges related to the professional development of teachers and trainers? Does it align with the recent EU communication on “School Development and Excellent Teaching for a Great Start in Life” ? Whether it is in higher education, school or vocational education and training, adult education, youth or sports, get ready to develop your Erasmus+ project proposal and benefit from EU funding. Let’s shape the Teachers and Trainers of Tomorrow! Pin down Thursday 30 November and Friday 1 December 2017 in your calendar! You will get a unique insight into the Commission’s new priority on professional development in the 2018 Erasmus+ programmes and meet European partners for your project idea. Build your European consortium for the upcoming calls for proposals related to the professional development of teachers and trainers:Erasmus+ Key Action 2: Innovation and Good Practices Erasmus+ Key Action 3: Policy reforms Erasmus+ Sport How does it work? Find European partners for your next project on tackling skills challenges! Do you want to submit a proposal as a project leader? Please fill in the form by 15 September 2017. This form should only be completed by potential project promoters who have a clear project idea and who are willing to act as a project leader under Erasmus+ KA2, KA3 or Sport calls. You will be notified in the second half of September 2017 whether your project idea has been selected to participate in the project development workshop*, and by the end of September we will distribute the best project ideas among potential partners. Interested partners will be able to sign up for the project development workshop until October 23rd, and project leaders will select themselves the best partners for their project. An e-confirmation of participation will be sent later in October. To warm up, you can participate in an afternoon seminar and cocktail reception on Thursday 30 November . During the evening networking cocktail you will have the opportunity to exchange your views with experts on education and policy officers of the European Commission, as well as to network with potential partners. Please note that the ReSET group does not cover travel or accommodation expenses. On Friday 1 December , project leaders will prepare and lead their own workshop, presenting their ideas in roundtables with the partners that they will have selected beforehand. Still unsure about what will happen? Check out last year’s PDW in our presentation video! This event is a co-organisation of the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the EU , EARLALL , the Liaison agency Flanders-Europe (vleva) , the West-Finland European Office , South Denmark European Office , Central Denmark EU Office , and the Lifelong Learning Platform . Both the cocktail reception and the workshops will take place in Brussels. Get ideas for your project! The knowledge, skills and attitudes of each of Europe’s 6 million teachers are of great importance. The quality of their teaching has a direct effect upon learners’ attainment.The demands made on teachers, school leaders, and teacher educators are increasing and changing. They are called on to play a key role in modernising education. To do that, they need to develop their own competences. Initial education and continuous professional development of the highest quality, and access to support throughout their careers are both essential. Read more about what the Commission has been doing so far (as well as the advice of Cedefop for VET teachers ) Topic The main topic of the PDW will be professional development of teachers and trainers in all educational sectors (early childhood education, school education, VET, higher education, adult education) and training. Sub-topics Strengthening the profile of the teaching profession and making their career more attractive Diversity and inclusion in the classroom and promoting citizenship and common fundamental values Promotion of high-quality and innovative teaching in all educational sectors and training Strengthening distributed leadership at school and teacher leadership for learning …any other fitting into the priorities! Questions? Contact the ReSET PDW Task Force – pdwtaskforce@gmail.com   Karen Vandersickel – Liaison agency Flanders-Europe karen.vandersickel@vleva.eu Hanne De Roo – Liaison Agency Flanders-Europe hanne.deroo@vleva.eu Ulrike Conrad – Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the EU ulrike.conrad@bruessel.bwl.de Jugatx Ortiz – EARLALL earlall@earlall.eu Anne-Maria Mäkelä – West Finland European Office anne-maria.makela@westfinland.be Julie Sand Jørgensen – Central Denmark EU Office jsj@centraldenmark.eu Henriette Hansen – South Denmark European Office hha@southdenmark.be Ulla-Alexandra Mattl – Lifelong Learning Platform ulla-alexandra.mattl@lllplatform.eu

The priorities of the Estonian presidency build on the European Council’s strategic agenda and common goals formulated by the member states and the EU institutions in the Rome declaration on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaties. The Estonian presidency will focus on preserving the common values of prosperity, security, peace and stability in Europe. It will seek to maintain Europe’s unity through practical decisions. During the next 6 months, the presidency will focus on four key areas: an open and innovative European economy a safe and secure Europe a digital Europe and free movement of data an inclusive and sustainable Europe Find out more in the full programme

Brikena Xhomaqi, Director of the Lifelong Learning Platform, participated as Member of the Jury in the ceremony for the Eurodesk Awards 2017. The ceremony awarded the following projects: EURODESK NETWORK PRIZE WINNER: IMAGINE: Migrant Journeys, System andGeneration Association, Turkey= Marita, as board member replacing Reinhard, gave the Awards EURODESK MOBILITY AWARENESS PRIZE WINNER: International Blind Dates, Regional Youth Info Centre Rijeka, Croatia= Safi Sabuni, as jury member, gave the Awards EURODESK ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP PRIZE WINNER: Green Agent – Eurodesk Verbania, Italy= Michail, as jury member, gave the Awards EURODESK SOLIDARITY ACTIONS PRIZE WINNER: Breaking Stereotypes, Association Co-Efficient, Budapest, Hungary= Brikena, as jury member, gave the Awards

The Lifelong Learning Annual Conference was held on May 31 and June 1 in Tallinn, Estonia. The event focused on the innovations that the digital world has brought to education, and whether these are contributing (or not) to reducing inequalities all over Europe. The Conference took at the crossroads between the Maltese and Estonian Presidencies of the Council of the EU. Because Malta’s main axis of reflection during its Presidency is Inclusive education and Estonia will focus on Digital Education, the LLLPlatform hopes that the topic chosen will serve each one’s purposes, smoothly linking them together. What’s more, this topic also reflects the European Union Agenda, namely the launch of the Digital Skills for Jobs Coalition under the New Skills Agenda for Europe adopted in 2016. On the first day, participants gathered at the Teachers’ House in Old Town Tallinn, to seize a piece of history in the main squadre of the city centre. Here interventions from the Maltese and the Estonian representations gave guests and intriguing overview of the respective programmes with the regards to the EU Council Presidencies. The keynote speech from Dr Mart Laanpere managed to capture everyone’s attention on how technology can serve educational systems. A cocktail reception ended the afternoon. DSC_0688 On the next day, participants visited Tallinn University. Keynote speeches were given by EU officials, fostering the understanding of EU actions on the main topics of discussion. When the break-out sessions started, everyone could choose an interactive, dynamic way of learning about the core question of the conference “is digitalisation of education reducing inequalities?”. Next to the Digital Fair, the Digital FishBowl was possibly the most interesting and surprising part of the whole event. The active participation of all guests came as fuel to the debate, when different perspectives lifted the discussion to a comprehensive new level. Here is the digital #FishBowl: a new perspective for Lifelong Learning #LLLPAC17 pic.twitter.com/FjosIqrDHX — LLLPlatform (@lllplatform) June 1, 2017 The Annual Conference was a rewarding moment where we all had the chance to share common points of view and learn from new perspectives. We lived many profitable and joyful moments, so please find here all the photos from those two days, as well as all the presentations of the speakers and the inspiring video from Professor Policastro. The LLLP Team would like to warmly thank all participants for coming to our Annual Conference, for their unmatchable interest in our activities and for the wholehearted commitment to the values of the Platform.

The Lifelong Learning General Assembly was held in Tallin on 2 June 2017. The Platform is growing very fast and its importance with it. However, a lot of work is ahead of us to save education & training from austerity measures undertaken at different levels in Europe. We have a big challenge ahead to make the Erasmus+ Programme even greater. During the General Assembly, the future of the Platform was discussed and, with it, both the new structure of the Steering Committee and the membership situation in the organisation. Following the elections, the LLLP is happy to announce that it has now 3 new Steering Committee members, 2 new members and one membership status change. You find below the details: Steering Committee o Outgoing Andras Szucs (EDEN) Daniele Di Mitri (OBESSU) Brian Jurczik-Arnold (EEE-YFU) resigned o Remaining David López (SOLIDAR) Gina Ebner (EAEA) Eszter Salamon (EPA) Mare Oje (EUROCLIO) Jean-Marie Dujardin (EUCEN) o New Giuseppina Tucci (OBESSU) Joanna Pankowska (AEGEE) Luis Costa (EfVET) reelected New members o EVBB – European Association of Institutes for Vocational Training o ATEE – European Association of Teachers’ Education Status change o The World Organisation of Scout Movement (WOSM) is now officially a full member of the LLLP Congratulations to all new members of the Platform and Steering Committee for joining the LLLP family. We look forward to work and raise our voice together. A big thank you goes to outgoing Steering Committee members who have been supporting the work of the platform in the last three years. Thank you Andras, Daniele and Brian for your commitment and hard work.

Belgium: Lifelong Learning Platform partners up with the Chair of the CULT committee in the European Parliament MEP Kammerevert for Erasmus+ The Chair of CULT committee and the Lifelong Learning Platform confirmed their commitment to Erasmus+ widening access to all and more funding during their meeting on June 7. The European Civil Society for Education with its over 40 member organisations representing the biggest beneficiairies of the Erasmus+ programme got together to discuss the current mid-term evaluation and its future. The importance of the programme was stressed out and as such the need to widen access to all learners and not exclusively to students in higher education. This requires additional funding to respond to the increasing demand. The LLLPlatform welcomes such commitment and intends to work closely with the Member of the European Parliament to ask for better and increased funding for the European flagship project. Following the launch of the European Commission recommendation on the European Pillar of Social Rights which states in its first key principle that everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning, supports our commitment to make this happen. We will work together in the coming months to best support the European Commission, Programme Committee and Members States in the preparation of the discussions on the future of the programme expected for beginning of 2018. To help us represent the views of civil society please take 10 minutes to fill out our Erasmus+ Annual Implementation Survey. For more read our statement on the White Paper “The Future of Europe is a Learning Europe” and reaction to the European Pillar of Social Rights “Education and lifelong learning priority action for the European of Social Rights”. Follow us on twitter and share your views by using the hashtags: #Erasmusx10 #EplusFuture BRUSSELS, JUNE 7, 2017 – EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, MEMBERS’ BAR

The Lifelong Learning Platform is happy to announce that it will be holding its 2017 General Assembly on the 2nd of June. The G.A. will follow the annual conference and will take place in Tallinn University. Members will gather to discuss the general direction of the LLLP, and will also proceed to the election of three new Steering Committee members, together with the welcoming of new members in the LLLP family. Would you like to become a member? Follow these steps and let us know!

The LLLPlatform will be holding its 7th Lifelong Learning Week (LLLWeek) on 20-24 November 2017 in Brussels. This year, the LLLWeek will be in cooperation with the 2nd edition of the Vocational Skills Week. For the second year in a row, the LLLWeek will be run in partnership with the European Youth Forum and, for the very first time, with Telecentre Europe / European Schoolnet in the frame of the i-Linc Project. The LLLPlatform is also proud to announce that the LLLWeek2017 will be supported by the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU. It will also enjoy the support of the LLL Interest Group and the Youth Intergroup. The LLLWeek has over time become a milestone in the European education agenda, thanks to the support of civil society actors and of Members of the European Parliament, bringing together learners and educators, field workers and policy-makers, thinkers and political representatives and give them the opportunity to discuss today’s greatest educational challenges. The main topic of the week will be Education in a Digital world, the Platform’s theme of the year, envisaging the subject under 3 sub-topics which also govern the LLLAwards2017: Education and Democracy Education and Social Inclusion Education and Innovative Pedagogy Cooperation with the European Vocational Skills Week The European Commission is organising a Second European Vocational Skills Week, to take place on 20 to 24 November 2017. Building on the success of the first Week in 2016, the Commission will continue to encourage us all to “Discover Your Talent” by focusing on excellent VET for quality careers. 2017 will see a particular focus on mobility, the importance of skills in sectors, and VET-business partnerships, through meetings in Brussels and national opening events in Member States. The Commission is looking for many events and activities across Europe from September to December 2017 to be associated with the Week, and placed on a central electronic map. In addition, a focused communications campaign will highlight all that’s going on to promote the central message. Join the European Commission in 2017 and “Discover Your Talent“! Read more about the LLLWeek…

The Lifelong Learning Platform is happy to announce that our Activity Report for the year 2016 is finally out! 2016 has been an intense, challenging and yet joyful year. The LLLP is proud of its achievements, and here are some special highlights: Capacity building and peer learning LLLWeek LLLAwards Lifelong Learning Interest Group Project Development Workshop 2016 Projects Innoval LLL-Hub GREAT …and much more! Explore the report from the wizard below, or download the complete report in PDF here.

The Lifelong Learning Platform (LLL-P) is an umbrella organisation that gathers 40 European organisations and networks active in the field of education, training and youth, based all over Europe and beyond. LLL-P aims to voice citizens’ concerns about lifelong learning. The Platform promotes a holistic vision of lifelong learning. If you are interested to embrace such an aim, you are welcome to express your interest in this new opening. The Lifelong Learning Platform is looking for a highly motivated dynamic team player, able to work within a multicultural environment and willing to be flexible but also able to stick to tight deadlines. The candidate should have a strong interest in education and lifelong learning. The position requires both technical and analytical skills, an eye for detail and motivation to look for solutions in a membership based organisation. Job description: Monitor EU policies in the field of education, skills and related areas; Research, write and develop reports and policy documents relating to the work of the organisation and its members; Produce high quality and persuasive content on relevant policy developments and contribute to the development of LLLP policy such as drafting position papers, policy briefings, information notes and other strategic documents; Contribute to developing and implementing advocacy action plans and strategies; Monitor research studies in the field to develop evidence-based advocacy; Produce high quality responses to consultation exercises from the EU institutions; Work with colleagues (Communication, Projects etc) to implement and evaluate multi-disciplinary strategies. Qualifications: Minimum 2 years experience in related jobs; A degree or relevant experience in at least one, preferably several of the following areas: Educational Sciences, Lifelong Learning, Political Sciences, European Studies or related fields; An excellent command of the English language (spoken and written); additional knowledge of one or more European languages is highly desirable; Excellent writing and editing skills; Transversal competences: Strong organisational skills and flexibility; Excellent interpersonal skills within a multinational context; Being action-oriented, self-motivated, responsible, creative and willing to take initiative; Proven ability to network and work appropriately with internal and external stakeholders; Having an eye for detail and knowing to keep to deadlines (even under pressure); Problem solving and strategic thinking. Highly valued: Knowledge of the European institutions and other target audiences related to education; Interest in lifelong learning and education policies; Experience of working or volunteering in/or with civil society, membership based organisations or the non-profit sector in general; Ability to translate complex political/policy issues into appropriate messages and understandable language. Terms and conditions: Position: Policy and Advocacy Officer Reports to: Director Capacity: Full-time (38hrs/week) Location: Rue de l’Industrie 10, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Duration: To be agreed Gross salary: Depending on experience (13.8 months/year). LLLP also provides meal vouchers & monthly local public transport as well as 5 extra legal holidays in addition to 20 regular holidays/year. Conditions to apply: Please submit your one-page cover letter and CV by email to vacancy@lllplatform.eu with the email subject LLLP Application for Policy and Advocacy Officer following the guidelines below: CV – We encourage interested candidates to attach their portfolio to the application or hyperlink their CV. Cover Letter – For the cover letter please specify 1. What you would bring to the organisation; 2. Give a few examples of your main achievements; 3. How you understand working for a membership-based organisation; 4. What you can bring to us and what we can bring to you. Recruitment Procedure and Information for applicants: Closing date: 21 May 2017 midnight CET. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Short Exercise dates for shortlisted candidates: 25 May 2017. The short exercise will comprise 3 questions to be answered in 1 hour. Interview dates: from 6 to 9 June 2017 Aimed start date: August-September 2017

The Lifelong Learning Platform welcomes the emphasis given to education and lifelong learning in the newly presented recommendation of the European Commission for a Pillar of Social Rights. After more than a year of negotiations, the Commission has put forward a set of applicable principles to scale up social inclusion and step up social progress. The Lifelong Learning Platform and its members have participated extensively in the consultations with EC officials and have communicated the needs of NGOs in terms of inclusiveness. Civil society organisations, national associations and trade unions alike have participated as well, claiming that a framework for social development would ensure equal opportunities throughout the whole continent. It is refreshing to see that – after common efforts – social rights and more generally social issues are back on the agenda of the Commission, after several years of sole focus on the economic perspectives for growth. The Pillar will comprise 20 principles, structured in three main chapters: Equal opportunities and access to labour market Fair working conditions Social protection and inclusion The Communication, published along, explains more in detail the rationale behind. The recommendation puts education and lifelong learning as the first of the 20 main points of action, under equal opportunities and access to the labour market: “Everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market.” This is a holistic definition that LLLP very much welcomes. Education is also covered in the point 11, and in particular the right to affordable and quality early childhood education and care. Finally, but equally importantly, the need for a social dialogue and involving workers and social partners in decision-making processes is mentioned in the point 8, among many other important points. We consider that “this Pillar steers the EC path back to a right-based approach, a fundamental turn in order to counter social exclusion and discrimination”, says David López, President of the Lifelong Learning Platform. “Education is the most powerful force for social change, and its role should not be confined to the access for individuals to the labour market”, David López added. However, we must not soften our commitment to improving social inclusion in Europe. The Pillar presents a number of questions, especially related to the enforceability of its principles. We would encourage the Commission to make them workable, thus preventing the Pillar to remain a void statement without practical outcomes. Also, we will insist on the importance of public investments as strengthening factors in education and lifelong learning, as well as in putting education front and central in the eyes of the decision-makers. Building on the positives, the Lifelong Learning Platform overall welcomes the proposal for the Pillar of Social Rights, and will continue stimulating the Commission to fight inequalities and push social progress. For our Europe shall be a social Europe, or shall not be at all. For more information see the Recommendation and the Communication.