Lifelong Learning Platform
LLLP
The Lifelong Learning Platform brings together over 40 European civil society networks to promote lifelong learning from early childhood to old age, integrating formal, non-formal and informal education.
Lobbying Activity
Meeting with Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and Deutsche Industrie- und Handelskammer and
28 Jan 2026 · Stakeholder dialogue on establishing the Erasmus+ programme for the period 2028-2034
Response to A strategic vision for sport in Europe: reinforcing the European sport model
5 Dec 2025
The current framing of the European Sport Model does not adequately capture how the majority of sports are organised on the ground and how Europeans engage with physical activity. It does not see or recognise the diversity of local, regional and national organisations providing space to the European citizens for their sport and physical activities. Crucially, it does not stress enough sports and physical activities as essential learning environments or as endeavours conducive to societal cohesion, inclusion, well-being and skills development, and as unique learning environments for people of all ages. The Lifelong Learning Platform, the EU umbrella NGO for education and training, holds that sports, physical education and physical activities are formidable - yet underestimated, underserved and certainly underfunded - learning spaces. Whether competitive sport or recreational physical activity, citizens who engage in group activities develop key competences and soft skills that are crucial to ones own personal development. Problem-solving skills, communication skills, critical thinking, intercultural competences and many more of the most-needed soft skills are discovered, developed and practiced during sport and physical activity. On top of this, sports make people bond. There exists an overwhelming amount of empirical evidence that places sports and physical activity at the top of the charts of learning environments when it comes to the inclusion of migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and third country nationals in our societies. The informal social interactions that sport and physical activities form are immensely beneficial to cognitive and learning processes. According to the latest Eurobarometer on sport and physical activities (2022), only 38% of Europeans engage in physical activities at least once a week. But the vast majority of those that do, they do it outside of competitive sports. The survey reveals that among those interviewed, those aged 15 to 24 are more likely to exercise or play sports regularly (54%). This percentage decreases with age: from 42% among those aged 25 to 39, to 32% among those aged 40 to 54, and down to 21% among those aged 55 and over. It is therefore essential that the European Sport Model better targets adults (i.e. the population segment that is anagraphically outside of elite competitions) and focuses its efforts - including investment efforts - on grassroots sports and on the support of local providers. As such, a European Sport Model that serves its citizens should focus on reinforcing sports at the local level, even outside of the Olympic Committee and federated sports structures. It should do so broadly: by investing in the local level, strengthening the continuous professional development of coaches and trainers, safeguarding existing infrastructure and building new ones, with the whole spectrum of physical activities in mind - from bike lanes to parks and from local centres to open-air, freely accessible facilities. To conclude, and as things stand today, the current description of the European Sport Model is too narrow and focuses mostly on elite, organised transnational competitions rather than on the diverse reality of how most physical activity is carried by European citizens. We believe a stronger focus on sport participation, on its learning potential, and on the grassroots level in general would benefit the organisations providing daily sport and recreational physical activities and as well all European citizens.
Read full response21 Nov 2025
The Lifelong Learning Platform - European Civil Society for Education is the largest representative of civil society in education and training at the EU level. The membership of LLLPlatform accounts for 45 EU networks which represents each beneficiaries of all actions/calls/initiatives of the Erasmus+ Programme. Moreover, LLLPlatform coordinates together with the European Youth Forum the Erasmus+ Coalition, which rejoins 88 EU networks covering beneficiaries of the Erasmus+ programme from all the main sectors: education, training, youth, and sports. Attached you can find two merged documents, the first representing LLLPlatform's Reaction on the new Erasmus+ proposal, while the second representing the Erasmus+ Coalition position on the proposal for the new Erasmus+ programme post-2027. The documents contain an assessment of what is appreciated from the new proposal, which includes the focus on Inclusion across the specific chapter, and the budget size proposal (though further suggestions are made on how this can be improved). Beyond this analysis, the main messages of civil society that can be found in the documents capture our demands across the negotiation period to ensure that the next Erasmus+ matches the ambitions of the EU and the needs of the beneficiaries. You can see below a list of the main demands with further explanations for them available in the attached documents: - Increase the Erasmus+ programme budget by five times. - Make the specific objectives more holistic, concise and easy to be implemented by beneficiaries, while enlarging their focus towards the development of transversal competences and their validation. - Include clear references to structural support allocated to civil society cooperation and EU networks support. Strengthen references to policy development under Pillar 2. - Include earmarking for each sector in education and training, as well as for youth and sports, in the new programme and or a minimum percentage per sector. - Provide a full article explaining in detail the ESC related actions in the next Erasmus+ programme. - Pilot the Erasmus+ Talent Scholarships and consider their inclusion in the regulation only after thorough evaluation. - Include Europe on the Move targets in the Budget expenditure tracking and performance framework. - Return to a dedicated ESF+ budget line or ensure that the 14% social spending target is focused solely on ESF+ and not spread across multiple funds. - Re-establish the Erasmus+ Programme Committee in the regulation and ensure participation is expanded to the civil society networks representing the beneficiaries. As numerous references to education and training are made across a broader range of proposals for regulations in this new MFF, some calls are made in connection with such programmes as well. Nevertheless, the beneficiaries from the education and training sector need more clarity on the links between funding, as well clearer references on the impact that other funding programmes will have on the development of key competences for lifelong learning.
Read full responseResponse to Strategy on Intergenerational Fairness
10 Nov 2025
From LLLP's perspective, there are two main aspects that the intergenerational fairness Strategy should focus on : the value of intergenerational learning and the promotion of learning for senior citizens. Lifelong learning is often metaphorically described as learning from cradle to grave. However, policies and funding often put an emphasis on education for young people. In a context of an ageing Europe, there is an untapped potential to increase lifelong learning and that is by enhancing learning among senior citizens (50 yo +). The EU Pillar of Social Rights defines a right to education for all (entitlement) and equality of rights is enshrined in EU Treaties (TEU, Article 3).
Read full responseMeeting with Victor Negrescu (Member of the European Parliament) and Transport and Environment (European Federation for Transport and Environment) and
5 Nov 2025 · Union of skills in motion addressing the EU's workforce challenges
Meeting with Sabrina Repp (Member of the European Parliament)
8 Oct 2025 · Culture
Lifelong Learning Platform urges granular EU education targets
8 Sept 2025
Message — The organization calls for a stronger budget linked to social rights and more granular targets for green and citizenship skills. They advocate for a holistic lifelong learning approach that includes non-formal learning and senior education.123
Why — Linking the EU budget to social rights ensures stable long-term funding for their member networks.4
Impact — Disadvantaged Europeans lose out if a lack of granular targets deepens existing social cohesion gaps.5
Lifelong Learning Platform urges binding agreement on EU civil dialogue
5 Sept 2025
Message — The organization calls for a binding agreement on civil dialogue and a comprehensive protection system for activists. They also want systematic civic space impact assessments and simplified, increased funding for advocacy.123
Why — This would secure more financial resources for their advocacy work and simplify administrative hurdles.4
Impact — National authorities seeking to limit civic activities would face stronger EU-level intervention and monitoring.5
Response to Mid-Term Review: Social Economy Action Plan
16 Jul 2025
The Social Economy Action Plan (SEAP) is a very welcome policy initiative, which is highly relevant for the Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP) and its network given that it embeds a strong educational component. For its mid-term review, we aim with this contribution to assess whether some of the key actions/initiatives that were listed in the Communication have been implemented, or, alternatively, if, perhaps information on implementation might be missing. In this paper, we will look more closely into the listed actions that are education-focus and their state-of-play, then we provide examples of projects and initiatives on SE education and we conclude with a set of recommendations.
Read full responseResponse to European Democracy Shield
26 May 2025
The Lifelong Learning Platform holds that citizenship education is key to support learners to become active, informed and engaged citizens. Democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights are founding values of the European Union and they underspin EUs achievements in fostering peace, prosperity, individual wellbeing, social cohesion, and stability. The essence of democracy is that citizens can freely express their views and participate in democratic life, choose their political representatives, and have a say in their future. However, without a sound commitment to strengthening civic space and the role of civil society organisations, as well as a strong understanding of the role of education systems in promoting those values, cherishing democracy will become more difficult every day. We believe that the Democracy Shield must be an opportunity for the EU to secure, safeguard and promote its critical democratic infrastructure, including its rule of law institutions, fundamental rights and civil society, at the national and EU levels; strengthen citizens societal and democratic resilience and empowerment; ensure consistency between the EUs external commitment to democracy, rule of law and promotion of civic space and its policies to protect and promote them within the Union. The Democracy Shield should also include legislative proposals where necessary, and build synergies with the upcoming European Strategy for civil society. When it comes to its educating dimension, it is essential that the EU upscales its efforts to promote global citizenship education and civic education at all levels and in all spheres of learning (formal, non-formal and informal learning environments). On top of this, we propose that the EU establishes a European plan for establishing Community Lifelong Learning Centers; these centres, should be based on community-based learning and service-learning, should promote partnerships between education providers, communities and civil society actors, including volunteer-involving organisations, and should bolster democratic and citizenship competences. In attachment you will find an expanded version of such claims, developed in cooperation with Civil Society Europe, of which LLLP is a member.
Read full responseMeeting with Olga Panagopoulou (Cabinet of Commissioner Piotr Serafin) and European Environmental Bureau and
4 Mar 2025 · Presentation of the views of Civil Society Europe on the issue of funding of NGOs, following the concerns raised in the EP CONT Committee in the context of the annual discharge procedure.
Meeting with Victor Negrescu (Member of the European Parliament)
16 Dec 2024 · Intergroup on the Future of Education and Skills
Meeting with Gelu Calacean (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen)
10 Dec 2024 · European Civil Society for Education
Meeting with Sabrina Repp (Member of the European Parliament)
17 Oct 2024 · EU education policy
Meeting with Victor Negrescu (Member of the European Parliament)
11 Jul 2024 · Education related matters
Response to Attractive and sustainable careers in higher education
5 Feb 2024
The Lifelong Learning Platform - European Civil Society for Education - represents 44 EU-wide networks in education and training. Over 2024, LLLP focuses its Annual Theme on the educator profession, touching on the existent higher education careers. A crucial need to boost the attractiveness of careers and ensure their sustainability is investment. Currently, the staff involved in higher education is insufficiently valued and the funding that goes in the education and training sector is experiencing a downward trend. The only positive outlook for investment was represented by the National Recovery and Resilience Plans which, nevertheless, focused on hard infrastructure investments rather than investment in personnel. Wages must reflect better the different staff in higher education, but the attractiveness of the profession does not resume to this. Even more important is an assurance that all staff in higher education is covered by this Council Recommendation and not just researchers or professors. The wider variety of staff members makes the learning journey a success for different learners and each must enjoy adequate working conditions, support for career progression, and support for development. To this end, sufficient support personnel must be hired, so that they can cover learners needs (administrative/psychological/pedagogical/extracurricular support) and so that researchers and professors are not overwhelmed with tasks outside of their purview. Sufficient and adequate resources (financial and time) must be provided at EU, national and institutional level for additional training to all staff in higher education. Cutting-edge innovation in higher education requires further training for the professionals while the ever-changing student body and the different societal challenges existent require a constant adaptation to learners needs. Besides ensuring that all staff must have access and time to engage in such training, there is a need to ensure that academics working in higher education are up-to-date with innovative pedagogies. Besides training for them, specialised educators can be hired in education and training institutions to support them with in-class teaching. Time must also be allocated fairly for staff to be involved in a balanced manner in both teaching and research. The current pressures related to tenure intensify periods of research, which create a danger of burnout while also risk over-creation of research results without sufficient time for them to be developed adequately. This needs to be better balanced to improve the attractiveness of performing research for higher education. Lastly, valorisation for the profession stems frequently from ownership and responsibility. It is crucial to work together with the staff in higher education on curricular development, on decision-making in the higher education institution, but also to ensure that the work that higher education institutions perform is connected to the local/regional context in which they operate and that the staff can connect their work with the world outside of the institution. This also means a smoother transfer between academic research and local and regional policymaking, valuing the social contribution that the higher education institutions and, implicitly, the staff is making. This requires targeted resources to different regions, to avoid pooling such resources towards only a small amount of higher education institutions. It is important for the staff to have opportunities for work across all the EU, applying research in different geographic contexts, rather than be obliged to seek employment in a limited number of higher education institutions which are found in urbanised areas. LLLPLatform links to this response its 2022 Position Paper on Investment in Education and Training due to the importance that adequate resources ensure that the profession can be attractive and sustainable.
Read full responseResponse to European Quality Assurance and Recognition System
5 Feb 2024
The Lifelong Learning Platform - European Civil Society for Education - represents 44 EU-wide networks in education and training. The membership of LLLP, from beyond the higher education sector as well, have been frequently using the European Quality Assurance and Recognition System and the existing standards. To this end, it is encouraging to see a new set of guidelines being launched, adapting the types of standards to the needs of the organisations and ensuring the proper environment to facilitate recognition. Hence, any quality assurance exercise must capture a student-centred learning perspective, ensuring the capacity of learners to choose teaching methods and assessment formats, but also to review the performance of their education institutions on this point. It is important to ensure that quality assurance covers the range of support systems that learners need, and that quality is defined according to the needs of learners. Therefore, targeted support for learners, especially those with special needs, with a migrant background, from a disadvantaged socio-economic background, from families that never attended higher education, and other vulnerable groups should be part of quality assurance considerations. Such support can come in the form of scholarships and grants, physical accessibility and an accessible online space, antidiscrimination policies, psychological support, as well as extracurricular acitivites embedded in the learning environments. Overall, the burdening nature of quality assurance must expand the metrics for measurement to wellbeing and student participation, as the purpose of quality education is to facilitate this as well. As this Proposal for a Council Recommendation will inform the work on the Joint European Degree, it must also consider an element of internationalisation of learning. International programmes should connect learners with the regional/local community in which they are welcomed, and the aspects of internationalisation must be evaluated based on these merits. The academic work must not occur in a vacuum and disconnected from the unique geographic context in which learners are welcomed. LLLPlatform draws attention also to the fact that, in the absence of such quality assurance and recognition systems in other sectors of learning, the European Quality Assurance and Recognition System is frequently used by non-higher education institutions as well. Therefore, provisions should be considered on how to make this adaptable to the needs of adult learning providers, non-formal learning providers, vocational education and training centres, and so on and so forth. Careful consideration must be provided to the different statuses that organisations have in terms of resources, so that the administrative burden of quality assurance and recognition does not become a needless gatekeeper for various learning organisations and for ensuring quality assurance in various non-traditional/flexible learning pathways. This would contribute to the recognition of flexible learning pathways as well, which is important in this context. The new guidance for EQAR must allow for this flexibility and must consider also how to incorporate the impact of Micro-Credentials or Individual Learning Accounts as well in the recognition process. Lastly, LLLPlatform will be attaching to this response its 2021 Position Paper on Rethinking Assessments: Prioritising Learners Wellbeing. The reason is that any exercise in quality assurance must be open to a wider variety of assessment, one that is done for learning and not just an assessment of learning. Formative assessment, involvement of learners in assessment, ipsative assessments must all be hallmarks of a high quality education and training environment.
Read full responseResponse to Joint European degree
5 Feb 2024
The Lifelong Learning Platform - European Civil Society for Education - represents 44 EU-wide networks in education and training. The prospect of a Joint European Degree is welcomed for encouraging cooperation among education and training stakeholders in Europe, promoting learning mobility and contributing to general innovation in teaching and learning. It is important to acknowledge that the Degree depends on other EU initiatives, such as the Council Recommendation on promoting automatic mutual recognition of qualifications and learning periods abroad, European Quality Assurance and Recognition System, Proposal for a Council Recommendation Europe on the Move, Council Recommendation on the validation of non-formal and informal learning. Therefore, it is important for any Communication to give impetus to the adequate monitoring, guiding and implementing of these initiatives. LLLPlatform encourages classifying the Joint European Degree as a label, which each university can apply for by meeting a set of standards. This set needs to be clearly defined by the EU, to aid Member States in committing to the initiatives implementation. Member States ownership is key for the initiatives sustainability. Nevertheless, currently, cuts to the higher education sector are experienced everywhere in Europe, as well as further reducing funding to the Erasmus Mundus initiative. The Communication must clarify how it will leverage the qualities of the Erasmus Mundus initiative, while not making it superfluous. It must acknowledge the ambition of such a degree with the concomitant reduced funding at EU and national level. Funding must be committed, tied to a process through which Member States are incentivised to take gradual ownership of the programme and ensure its sustainability. LLLPlatform warns against the risks of elitism and inequity that Joint European Degrees could cause. Though the initiative will greatly support European Universities Alliances, it should not be solely targeted to them. Each higher education institution should have access to and support for such a degree. Limiting academic options to a select group of advantaged and well-financed higher education institutions risks restricting access to learning for those most disadvantaged learners and can contribute to pooling such institutions towards few urban areas. LLLPlatform recalls that the proposal must be conducive to achieving the European Commissions own Harnessing Talents ambitions, ensuring that each region is sufficiently attractive to avoid brain drain and support social cohesion. Careful consideration must be given to avoiding a two-track Europe for higher education participation, but also to ensuring that third-country nationals, who experience barriers in terms of recognition of qualifications, access to visas and other administrative burdens, are not disadvantaged. Lastly, LLLPlatform welcomes this initiative as a process to promote lifelong learning and the participation of all education and training stakeholders in curricular development associated with such degrees. The degrees would be available for a diverse range of learners, and must allow their perspectives into decisions related to assessment, learning objectives, curricula, and the like which make-up the Degrees structure. Partnerships that facilitate a component of traineeships/practical training to the Degrees would require the engagement of external partners and non-conventional learning providers in the development of the Degree. Educators and practitioners with experience on innovative teaching should be included. The Degrees must recognise the flexible learning pathways existent in society, and the requirement to find bridges between this initiative, micro-credentials, individual learning accounts, and other similar avenues of lifelong learning. To support a truly holistic learning environment, LLLPlatform attaches to its response its 2019 Position Paper on 21st Century Learning Environments.
Read full responseResponse to Communication on maximising the potential of talent mobility as part of the European Year of Skills
29 Sept 2023
To ensure a meaningful and successful inclusion of all newcomers, any action must consider the needs, talents, skills, desires and mindset of individual learners (including their backgrounds), ensuring learning is accessible at all stages of life, and where all actors are actively involved. Therefore, the EU should promote well-evidenced, harmonised, and effective measures for recognising all forms of learning (formal, non-formal, and informal). There remain significant difficulties in recognition of qualifications and the validation of skills across the EU and the new Europass, though helping, insufficiently supports third-countries nationals. EU funds must support existing mechanisms and instruments for overcoming barriers to recognition of prior learning, and contribute to funding new instruments in national contexts. Newcomers competences and qualifications should be acknowledged and recognised with proper validation mechanisms. Individuals lacking skills should benefit from lifelong learning programmes, as stated in the Reception Conditions Directive. Due to different curricula, lack of documents and interruptions in learning processes, many migrants do not see their skills, competences and prior knowledge recognised in the labour market of host countries. The European Year of Skills work on recognition is an opportunity to reassess and improve recognition of foreign certificates and qualifications. The challenges with implementing CR on Validation of Non-Formal and Informal Learning and the the review of CR on Upskilling Pathways show a structural problem with validation and recognition. An increased cooperation among Member States, European Commission and Cedefop expert groups is needed to ensure that validation mechanisms (e.g. the EU Skills Profile Tool, Cedefops European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning) are adequately implemented. Moreover, the EU Talent Pool must not only address labour shortages. Short-term solutions place newcomers at risk of removal from workplace and destination country once labour market needs change, damaging social cohesion. A well-designed EU Talent Pool would better forecast labour market needs and the requirements for inclusion in European societies with regard to competence acquisition. The Talent Pool is an impetus for the development of validation and recognition policies for previous qualifications and for competences acquired in informal and non-formal learning. The Talent Pool must involve all stakeholders, including civil society organisations, in its development, subsequent monitoring and review policies, to ensure that third-country nationals thrive on their learning path in welcoming countries. This initiative must build on ongoing or previous initiatives such as the Blue Card/Marie-Curie Framework/Erasmus Mundus in particular focusing on lessons learned. It must address administrative barriers that hinder inclusiveness. The Talent Pool should be opened broadly, highlighting peoples right to migrate. Talent Pool pre-defined criteria should not favour an imbalance focused on high skills, since this discrimination causes brain drain for third countries and would be dependent on particularities of validating and defining high skills. The screening process should be used after third-country nationals joined the Pool and aim at validating and recognising competences, providing guidance on procedures required from third-country nationals, assessing migrants needs for support, mentorship, and guidance. Both national and third-party validators should be involved, but there is a need to provide adequate guidance on how to jointly implement the programme. The validation and recognition of competences should be expanded to include competences obtained in informal and non-formal learning environments. Employers vetting must consider the type of training that they provide to employees and the conditions through which lifelong learning is included in their work.
Read full responseMeeting with Ilana Cicurel (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)
6 Jun 2023 · Implementation of the CERV programme - Meeting with the Project and Policy Coordinator of the Lifelong Learning Platform
Response to Boosting European learning mobility for all
28 Apr 2023
As the representative of European Civil Society working in education and training, LLLP and its various members engaged in the provision of learning mobilities in all levels and sectors of education and training, welcome the work of the European Commission in preparing a new Learning Mobility Framework. Please find below some main claims of civil society with regards to the framework while in attachment they are further detailed in our Statement on Learning Mobility for All. LEARNING MOBILITY TARGETS -Expanding targets to all education and training sectors, achieving a lifelong learning dimension and boosting quality learning mobility. -Any Council Recommendation must state specific commitments to set targets by the next programming period clearly referencing a participatory multi-stakeholder co-creation process -Learners demand real learning mobilities, as virtual exchanges must not be counted towards mobility indicators. We advise against the term virtual mobility as it does not represent the physical movement of learners LEARNING MOBILITY PROCESS -Research shows that together with financial and linguistic barriers, targeted information addressing the concerns of different target groups is needed as well as whole-institution approaches to surmount those barriers -More and better public investment can ensure learners from different backgrounds have equal access to information and financial support matching their needs -Enhancing support environments through increased funding for individuals and more support to strengthen the structures of learning providers and mobility facilitators ensuring quality and inclusion -Ensuring the availability of support services is paramount for facilitating successful mobilities. Learners experience different needs, while access to housing, health care, leisure, accessible learning conditions, access to scholarships becomes ever more difficult as a mobile learner. There needs to be sufficient resources and incentives to maintain such services in order to ensure that learning mobility is tailored to the specificity of the beneficiaries -Cross-sectoral cooperation should be highlighted in any upcoming recommendation, solidifying cooperation between educational institutions, civil society, policy makers and nonprofit organisations experts in learning mobility -Virtual exchanges should only be an added value to physical mobility -Greening does not equal defunding learning mobility, which means that the transformation of learning mobility must be done through holistic evaluations of programmes and infrastructure -No mobility programme is complete without recognition and validation, which requires funding for their development and/or improvement, making such systems easy to navigate -Clear guidelines for Member States must be provided to work with subnational levels to improve administrative support, create adequate structures to support mobility and promote cross-border mobilities. Subnational funding can complement EU and national funding MONITORING LEARNING MOBILITY -Quantitative and Qualitative indicators are a must for the Council Recommendation, giving Member States clear guidelines for monitoring all learning mobility across the EU -Support a cross-sectoral monitoring process, where mobilities across different sectors and EU funding programmes are counted as well as national, regional and local mobility schemes. Support capacity building of sub-national entities in data management, standardising and raising the quality of data collection across Member States. -Ensure data transparency in collection, availability, analysis and use in decision-making. LLLP argues for streamlining of mobility data in the European Semester, ensuring that EU recommendations on funding for learning also target mobilities -Public funding from all levels is key to effectively operationalise the monitoring process and develop a quality monitoring process and develop a quality monitoring system.
Read full responseMeeting with Victor Negrescu (Member of the European Parliament) and EUMANS and Foundation on European Citizens’ Rights, Involvement and Trust
22 Mar 2023 · Citizenship education
Response to 2023 Strategic Foresight Report
7 Mar 2023
Achieving sustainability and a just transition hinges upon peoples participation in this process, guaranteeing their needs and requirements are considered, while creating a socialisation process for their constant participation in decisionmaking. Like this, people can live in harmony with each other and the environment. To this end, a lifelong learning culture must be fostered so people are supported in changing their mindset and adapting their paradigms with regards to how they relate to the world around them. Therefore, education and training becomes a sector in need of prioritisation. See below some recommendations from the Lifelong Learning Platform, which are further expanded in the attached Position Paper. -Education is a human right for all throughout life and, therefore, we call on Member States to put in place lifelong learning entitlements providing all citizens with learning opportunities for both personal and professional development. Thus ensuring all learners acquire knowledge, skills and competences needed to promote sustainable development at all ages and at any time in their life -Only policy coherence can make sustainability a priority mainstreamed globally and across Europe. Europe is a key player but cannot be successful in its actions unless its internal policies are coherent and aligned with the international agenda (SDGs) -Incorporate Sustainable Development in education and training policies and programmes such as the European Education Area, Digital Education Action Plan, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal target 4.7 among others. This means mainstreaming it also in Erasmus+, ESF+, Horizon Europe and creating synergies between programmes -Top up EU funding by adequate public funding from Member States for learning for sustainability, acknowledging that more financial resources need to be made available to ensure the reforming of the learning process to facilitate the changes mentioned above. This includes public funding allocated to all learning environments, be them formal, informal and non-formal -Make lifelong learning the primary guiding principle for policies related to education and training, as learning does not only have transformative potential at one level or within one sector of education, but across all forms (formal, non-formal and informal) and all levels (from early childhood to adulthood and into old age) -Promote a green mindset in skills, education and training programmes, beyond the labour market, as an important area of citizenship competence. This should be accompanied by further support for learning aimed at promoting climate and environmental literacy, sustainable lifestyles and understanding human-nature interdependencies -Provide long-term support and training for educators across all sectors in adopting pedagogical approaches suited to sustainable development education, including active, participatory, deliberative and learner-centred methods. Learners should be viewed as active agents of change rather than passive recipients of pre-defined knowledge -Provide continued support for developing the learning to learn competence across all sectors including further research into learning motivation and the practical implementation of GreenComp and LifeComp frameworks. -Promote cooperation between different learning sectors and generations of learners (family and intergenerational learning) to foster a long-term holistic view on learner development and thus lay the ground for more innovative and inclusive approaches to teaching and learning -Promote equitable, inclusive, and fair societies by generating processes for citizen participation that imply shared decisionmaking and an assumption of responsibilities for global sustainability. Civic education needs to be mainstreamed through all education from early ages to later on in adult life. Recognising the role and value of civil society in creating democractic spaces for all and especially the most vulnerable is essential.
Read full responseResponse to European Year of Skills 2023
13 Dec 2022
As a representative of the European Civil Society in Education, LLLP welcomes the initiative to make 2023 the European Year of Skills while regretting a missed opportunity for a European Year of Lifelong Learning. Current challenges require a focus on all ages and types of learners providing them with support to adapt and re-envision the society. However, this focus cannot be limited to reskilling & upskilling for the momentary needs of an ever-volatile labour market. Lifelong learning's goal is ensuring individuals' holistic development, equipping hem with all tools to thrive in all facets of their life, of which labour market participation is only a part. The Year of Skills is the opportunity to provide renewed attention to key and transversal competences that enbale all learners to exert their universal right to education & training, while equitably participating in learning at all life stages in a wide-variety of contexts for personal and professional development. Learning should not be conflated with labour market participation while any sector-specific competences acquired must always be backed by a wider toolkit for each learner which would include critical thinking, learning to learn, citizenship, collaboration, systems thinking, problem-solving competences among other cognitive, physical, socio-emotional and meta-cognitive competences which are key competences for lifelong learning. Such an approach requires adequate public investment and funding in learning. The Year of Skills serves as the opportunity to discuss the goals behind investment in learning and its format, as the aim should be to ensure that all learners have access to a learning offer in informal, non-formal and formal contexts that would aid them to holistically develop. This implies that any investment in learning must not create divisions that lead to learners from more advantaged socio-economic backgrounds, with a history of participation in learning in their family or that have already engaged in learning from reaping benefits while those most disadvantaged are further left behind. The Year serves as the momentous opportunity to enact the European Pillar of Social Rights' 1st principle, with investment targeted at those most in need. Moreover, though a multitude of education stakeholders must be involved in the financing of education and training, it is important to not diminish the responsibility of national authorities from funding it, taking advantage of the Year to discuss the fact that investment must not usher the marketisation of learning and must not be aimed at the most economically efficient decisions, but rather that it must effectively ensure the development of transversal competences nurtured in a participatory and co-creative learning environment. The Year of Skills can be succesful only inasmuch as it engages all education stakeholders and initiatives take into account the view of practitioners and learners. To this end, LLLP considers it crucial for permanent channels of communication with civil society to be ensured for the following year. The European Commission can resort to existing stakeholders and social partners civil dialogue, to boosting the Strategic Dialogue process over 2023, to developing Stakeholder Fora connected to the flagship events of 2023, but also to new processes akin to civil dialogue to ensure that the civil society can have a say in policy and decision-making in education & training considering their expertise on the ground, their capacity to express learners' needs and their close connection with national authorities responsible for implementing education & training recommendations. This approach should be consolidated with adequate investment associated with the Year of Skills initiative per se as civil society stakeholders require financial support as well in order to participate in structured consultations and collaborations on the topic. More information on LLLP's position is in the attached document.
Read full responseMeeting with João Albuquerque (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)
2 Dec 2022 · European Year of Skills
Meeting with Anouk Faber (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)
10 Nov 2022 · Meeting on the European Year of Skills
Response to Enabling factors for digital education
16 Sept 2022
1. There is a need for investment in infrastructure, digital devices and educational software but mainstreaming digital access is insufficient, as equal access to technology doesn't automatically imply equal learning opportunities. If the needed level of learners' media maturity isn't achieved before introducing digital tools, they risk developing addictive behaviours, data breaches and unhealthy user patterns. Without a holistic and age-adequate approach to building media literacy such risks are more prevalent. That is how technology can be an empowerment tool for the privileged, instead of an opportunity for all. LLLP calls for acknowledging lagging digital literacy as a common challenge in education and training in Europe.
a. People with higher levels of education use the Internet more for personal development opportunities, whereas the less educated seem to be more aware of its entertainment aspects. The central issue is that more privileged individuals also have more access to another set of “enabling conditions” – competences, attitudes and motivation, which are a prerequisite for meaningful digital participation and ensuring that the world of information translates into the world of knowledge.
2. When considering the provision of high-speed connectivity, digital technology solutions and digital content tailored to learning needs, LLLP draws attention to the global phenomenon of digital merchandising. Large companies such as Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple and Microsoft, are imposing their standards in education, by introducing school equipment and teaching practices.
a. LLLP calls for future investment in technologies accompanied by investment in people and widening access to lifelong learning opportunities. Such investment should include training that empowers teachers to use both analogue and digital approach to provide digital education.
b. LLLP calls for the systematic use of free software solutions while insisting on the public financial incentivising for the production of such digital solutions.
3. LLLP fully supports the initiative’s aim to develop, monitor and evaluate institutional digitalisation strategies, with respect to equity and inclusion, but highlights the need to ensure the inclusion of all education stakeholders (educators, learners, civil society) in policymaking for developing and monitoring the strategies.
a. LLLP further emphasises that enabling factors for digital education do not only refer to digitalisation of education but primarily on building students’ media literacy. Such maturity implies that one is capable of using digital technology for learning, work and civil participation while avoiding safety and well-being risks tied to digital technology usage.
b. There is a lack of support and preparation that educators receive on the efficient use of technology and learning from others, including their students, coupled with an increasing administrative workload. LLLP calls for investing in one of the most important professions - a multi-modal, multilayered, initial and continuous professional development of teachers and other educators (including parents) is imperative to support any innovation in education! Moreover, it is crucial to ensure that they have clear allotted times to participate in training, without increasing their workload and damaging their wellbeing.
4. The digital divide persists even if all Internet services are available free of charge unless low achievement in basic skills in Europe is tackled first. Therefore, in addition to assisting formal education actors to become lifelong education providers, investing in the capacity of nonformal education providers provides a substantial added value. They can better reach low-skilled adults, school drop-outs, senior people, the socio-economically disadvantaged and certain vulnerable groups, to ensure provisions for people’s right to learning opportunities throughout life and active ageing.
Read full responseResponse to Improving the provision of digital skills in education and training
15 Sept 2022
1. The initiative’s ambitious structural aims of equipping learners with age-adequate digital skills, require adopting a lifelong learning approach, expanding the perspective to non-formal and informal learning
a. Provide digital skills in age-adequate manner, considering that mastering basic transversal skills, such as numeracy, critical thinking and social communication skills, is a fundamental prerequisite for the acquisition of digital skills and competences.
2. Digital solutions can feed into lifelong learning strategies, contributing to decreasing the achievement and opportunity gaps. Also, lifelong learning holds the key to a successful societal response to the likely disruption caused by digitization in the workplace and in society more widely. However, it all depends on how digital technology is introduced and used in learning environments.
a. To achieve enhanced learning experiences and outcomes of learning, the system must conform to learners’ needs, placing them at the centre.
b. The Council Recommendation should conceptualise and understand digital education as essential for social cohesion besides labour market opportunities; thus viewing and treating digital education as a means to fulfilling individuals’ needs first and foremost. Much of EU’s narrative of education for the Twin Transitions is focused on employability. Evidence suggests that the most effective way to advance education's instrumental value is to fund it for its intrinsic value - as a public good.
c. It is not digital technology that creates social change, people do! Therefore, future investment in technologies has to be accompanied by investment in people and widening access to lifelong learning opportunities.
3. The commercialisation of education is expanding, bringing risks which EU policies must tackle.
a. LLLP calls for ensuring the pedagogical freedom of educators and careful consideration of data security and privacy concerns. Some possible ways to balance out the digital space and ensure fairer outcomes for all would be to incentivise free digital resources and the interoperability of hardware and software, as well as encourage analogue resources for teaching digital skills, when applicable.
b. LLLP calls for matching the security needs associated with any digital tool/approach that is to be included in education and training.
c. LLLP calls for awareness around the growth and uptake of EdTech solutions in public education systems. EdTech is often portrayed a solution to classroom equity, however, EdTech perceives no difference between access to learning and achievement in learning. EdTech’s subscription and data rental are not educational models but ones which serve commercial interests above educational ones.
d. If there are going to be public-private partnerships with EdTech companies, evidence of the tools' long-term effectiveness must be required, as well as engagements with child safeguarding. Research is needed for evidence-based practices in how EdTech is designed and used.
4. Co-creation, participation and involvement of various stakeholders is crucial for the successful provision of digital skills, hence, the whole-school approach involving learners, educators, school leaders, parents, civil society among others must be promoted.
5. The usage and teaching of digital technologies in the classroom must be clarified
a. Learners must be guided towards innovative practices of knowledge creation, through merging social, mental, physical, digital, virtual and mobile spaces of learning, by learning how to learn, as opposed to the outdated idea of knowledge acquisition. Inquiry-, game- and project-based learning, phenomenon-based learning, collaborative learning and flipped classroom learning, for example, lead to more reflective and participatory learning processes.
b. They shouldn't be limited to technical skill acquisition in informatics classes just as informatics classes shouldn't be the sole avenue to develop digital skills
Read full responseMeeting with Mariya Gabriel (Commissioner)
3 Feb 2022 · European Year of Youth
Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner) and
14 Jan 2022 · Education, skills and training, Vocational Education and Training (VET) and the Green Transition, and Adult Learning
Meeting with Anouk Faber (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)
18 May 2021 · Meeting on the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan.
Response to Education for environmental sustainability
11 May 2021
- The proposal should aim at ensuring policy coherence and building synergies across EU policies and flagship programmes. It should outline mechanisms to support Member States in integrating sustainable development into education policies at all levels.
- Education and lifelong learning are key enablers for the achievement of the SDGs. Education when improved on its own terms and as an end in itself can successfully contribute to sustainable development across all dimensions at once.
- LLLP has been long advocating to make lifelong learning the primary guiding principle for all policies related to education and training, as learning does not only have transformative potential at one level or within one sector of education, but across all forms, all levels and all ages.
- LLLP acknowledges the importance of green skills required for the green transition but calls to look beyond the labour market towards the promotion of a green mindset in skills, education, and training programmes as an important area of citizenship competence. The promotion of a holistic green mindset should be accompanied by further support for learning aimed at promoting climate and environmental literacy, sustainable lifestyles and understanding of human-nature interdependencies.
- Current and future educators require the adequate support in order to adopt and implement pedagogical approaches suited to sustainable development education, including active, participatory, deliberative and learner-centred methods which are based on viewing learners as active agents of change rather than passive recipients of pre-defined knowledge.
- This topic cannot be solely addressed as a separate subject but needs to be integrated transversally. We encourage the EU to support the development of a whole-school approach, already highlighted in different Council Recommendations, that allows for a holistic integration of environmental, climate change, and/or sustainability education across the curriculum and beyond.
- We also call the EC to use their unique position to provide common principles and a shared language on sustainability to Member States to support the mainstreaming and integration of sustainable development in education policies, programmes and curriculas. Reaching this shared language can only be achieved through effective and meaningful cooperation with all education and training stakeholders and beyond.
- LLLP hopes to see concrete tools, platforms, working groups, peer learning activities and structured dialogue to achieve the EC's goals.
- Providing a fertile ground for cooperation and exchange between formal, non formal and informal sectors of education will be key to unlocking the innovation required to tackle the environmental and societal challenges we are currently facing.
- We would also like to bring attention to the importance of promoting cooperation between different learning sectors and generations of learners (family and intergenerational learning).
- Cooperation with civil society is also another key component, the proposal should recognise the role of civil society as a valuable partner in the transformation of education systems.
- Ensuring adequate, long-term funding at both European, national, regional and local level, including through the EU Multiannual Financial Framework, NextGenerationEU and Recovery and Resilience Facility, is necessary in order to unlock the full potential of sustainable development education across all learning sectors.
- If the EU is to achieve their climate-related goals more attention should be paid to the adult education sector in its multiple forms: continuing Higher Education, work-based learning, vocational training, non-formal adult education.
- LLLP calls the Commission to give more attention to building closer and more operational synergies between funding programmes and instruments so that innovation in learning is not lost to siloed-thinking and bureaucracy.
Read full responseMeeting with Themis Christophidou (Director-General Education, Youth, Sport and Culture)
11 May 2021 · Exchange of view on the European Education Area
Response to Individual Learning Accounts – A possibility to empower individuals to undertake training
20 Apr 2021
The Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP) - European civil society for education - acknowledges the role of upskilling and reskilling and for matching the offer and demand in terms of skills in the labour market, but strongly calls for a fierce inclusive approach in the design of Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs).
Ensuring everyone has access to quality lifelong learning (LLL) opportunities is a right set out as the first principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR). We deem LLL entitlements to be a way to turn this principle into a reality as highlighted in the EPSR Action Plan: the Commission’s (EC) proposal for ILAs can be an important initiative in this context, provided certain conditions are met.
LLLP believes that ILAs must be a truly universal right available to all adult learners (including young adults under 30). However, we understand the EC has delineated the scope of ILAs based on the employment status alone and “working age individuals”. LLLP though agrees with the ILO’s report on the Future of Work, which calls for the recognition of a universal entitlement to Lifelong Learning. Education is a universal right and a public good, which is why we stress the importance of preventing ILAs from only benefiting those who have an employment related status, but also the smaller share of adults who are most likely to be already well integrated in the economy. Therefore, we strongly encourage the EC to look at other segments of the population who could benefit from such a scheme.
LLLP believes that ILAs should be geared towards closing existing labour market skills gap and social gaps too. An overwhelming majority of adults, i.e. 80%, do not engage in training due to a lack of motivation. The motivation of individuals often depends on being able to follow courses of their interest. It would be regretful if ILAs were not to consider a wider range of motivations of lifelong and lifewide learning i.e. out of work-based interest like in civic activities which can bring wider benefits to society taking many forms: from improving social inclusion, well-being, health of individuals, to contributing to the learning to learn aptitudes. This, in turn, can greatly contribute to the social mobility of individuals.
Furthermore, not-for-profit providers making up most adult learning centres and social economy actors, should have an equal footing for being certified as official ILA providers with private companies. Since education is a public good, it will be key to prevent any form of commercialisation of learning rights, monopolies in the offer and provisions, and capture by a limited number of providers with higher resources in unfair competition.
Information and Guidance plays a very important role in providing neutral guidance to individuals about learning opportunities (e.g. the European spread Cités des métiers model). It has the capability of supporting all individuals to benefit from learning opportunities by raising awareness, information campaigns, providing a one-stop shop for individuals to learn about their ILA rights will be essential.
The Keep in Pact project shows the importance of multi-stakeholder cooperation and partnerships in the field of lifelong career guidance but its insights would also apply to learning accounts. The ILAs Council Recommendation should envisage how to set up mechanisms for the cooperation and involvement of all relevant stakeholders in the design and implementation of ILA systems in the EU.
LLLP deems that the success of this initiative will depend on the quality of the education and training offered to citizens, and hence - overall - to the support given to education and training providers for providing that quality. This support can take the form of funding, assistance, counselling, capacity-building for the staff in the education and training providers (educators, guidance counsellors, validation practitioners, chiefs of establishments, etc).
More in attachment
Read full responseResponse to Micro-credentials
19 Mar 2021
Micro-credentials (MCs) are a potential tool that can boost lifelong learning policies by bringing more flexibility to the learning pathways and personalised learning thanks to the modular approach and portability of credits. This is likely to attract a larger and more diverse number of learners, such as adults, and in the employment context it can open up lifelong learning opportunities for continuous professional development. For this initiative, and others related to education and training (E&T), the first principle of the Pillar of Social Rights should be respected, protected and fulfilled for learners and educators alike to access quality education and training, in line with SDG4.
MCs could also pave the way for a more inclusive E&T offer and could be a relevant form of qualification in particular for learners who cannot access other types of qualifications, such as migrants and refugees. We regret seeing no mention of these disadvantaged groups in the Output of the Micro-credentials Higher Education Consultation Group and believe that this target group’s needs to access E&T in Europe through short courses like micro-credentials deserves to be fully explored and taken into account. Having said so, we are wary of the idea that micro-credential can be the solution to reducing socio-economic inequalities in education and training across the EU: micro-credentials should not replace full study programmes (thus full qualifications) and measures to ensure equal access to these still deserve attention and funding.
Besides, MCs could serve as a tool for the recognition and valorisation of all the knowledge, skills and competences acquired by learners outside the formal education system. In fact, we deem that MCs should be extended to non-formal education providers as well, i.e adult education centres, civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations (including youth organisations and volunteer-based organisations) as they also often provide learning opportunities and can also help develop and make progress on validation arrangements at national level. We wish to see these sectors, which have been overlooked in the Roadmap, be part of the future development of MCs. Furthermore, in the context of validation in non-formal education we think that care should be taken when approaching quality assurance standards as often these are far too rigid for non-formal education providers. We’d like to see QA standards moving towards learner-centred processes. Synergies between a European approach to MCs and the Council Recommendation on Validation of non-formal and informal education are clear to us, we hope they are made possible when defining European MCs.
We welcome that the Commission plans to set up European standards on MCs and a list of trusted providers with the involvement of E&T providers, social partners among others, but we think one stakeholder is missing: civil society or so called third sector. We believe that civil society organisations active in E&T should meaningfully be involved and consulted in the design and implementation of the European MCs approach. Civil society are often the most adequate organisations to voice up and take the learners’ and citizens’ views into consideration.
It is imperative from our perspective that the European framework embraces MCs not only fulfil employment and labour market needs but also take into account learners’ personal fulfilment. We reiterate that education is a public good and should be focused on the learners and their needs. Furthermore, there should be awareness of the risks of commercialisation of MCs and thus stringent conditions should apply to private providers. MCs could potentially disrupt the governance system in which education systems operate (particularly public institutions), thus guidance to Member States to develop a system which prioritises the public offer and has learners’ needs at the centre should be provided.
Read full responseResponse to European Child Guarantee
7 Oct 2020
The Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP) is an umbrella that gathers 42 European organisations active in the field of education, training and youth, coming from all over Europe and beyond. Currently, these networks represent more than 50 000 educational institutions and associations covering all sectors of formal, non-formal and informal learning. Their members reach out to several millions of beneficiaries. As the reference orgnisation for lifelong learning in Europe, LLLP wishes to submit its contribution based on the continuous and ongoing discussions within the EU Alliance for Investing in Children, of which it is part.
We particularly welcome the European Commission’s intention to launch the Child Guarantee in the form of a Council Recommendation with an implementation and monitoring framework. Notwithstanding many positive developments, the EU Alliance for Investing in Children calls the European Commission to commit to a right-based, integrated approach to tackle child poverty in the EU and broaden the scope of the Child Guarantee and the Council Recommendation by:
1. Proposing that the multiannual strategies are built around the three pillars of the 2013 Investing in Children Recommendation.
2. Incorporating parents’ access to resources (pillar 1) and children’s access to decision making (pillar 3) in the Child Guarantee Council Recommendation.
Please see the the attached document for full details.
As LLLP, we would like to stress the need for an integrated, transversal, and holistic approach to childhood and to the rights of the child, informed with the goal of a universal access to quality education and decent jobs. A lifelong learning and education-based approach, as mainstreamed in the European Pillar of Social Rights, remains today the most impacftul tool to ensure the inclusion of all children and, crucially, to prevent parents' poverty from impacting the early stage of their lives. It holds true, in fact, that early childhood education and care, education and care centres, caregivers, and operators are invaluable resources to ensure that all children enjoy their fundamental rights and lead fulfilling childhoods.
This is particularly important in the context of COVID-19 which is generating increased child and family poverty and social exclusion due to reduced working, rising unemployment, low levels of income support and rising prices. When it comes to children’s access to early childhood education and care and education, Member States should pay attention to the design of social policies that promote equality, access to decent jobs, education, and training, thus allowing parents to maintain their commitments whilst keeping a strong focus on the child’s best interests.
LLLP particularly welcomes the involvment of organised civil society in the design phases of the Child Guarantee. To this extent, it is important to ensure that multi-sectoral civil society is participating as a key actor in the implementation of the Child Guarantee at national level. Civil society has especially stepped in during the COVID19 crisis and often through limited resources it has supported children in most vulnerable situations while services where closed to continue their education or to be medically and emotionally supported. Its inclusion in the decision-making processes as well as in the implementation of the proposed measures remains of capital importance to support children and their families, and ultimately for the success of the Child Guarantee as a whole.
Read full responseResponse to Achieving the European Education Area
10 Aug 2020
The Lifelong Learning Platform – European civil society for Education welcomes the roadmap on the European Education Area and what is outlined in the roadmap, namely: The focus on “quality, inclusive and lifelong learning” and “the commitment to make quality and inclusive education and training available to all”. Therefore, the commitment to create a “culture for lifelong learning” is very much welcomed. The involvement and consultation of all stakeholders, including civil society and citizens. The importance that is given to the role of educators is essential but it should, of course, be done with learners at the centre. The intention to achieve an EEA that covers “all sectors and levels of education and training, and all modes of learning, addressing challenges in basic skills and inclusion for educational equity; teachers and trainers, including professional development and demographic aspects; digital and green transition and innovation; investment, and sustainable learning mobility”. The commitment to enhance cooperation among the Member States and among stakeholders in modernizing education systems and implementing the principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The key focus given to basic skills and competencies while continuing the work on advanced skills and competences. The move to a more sustainable and digital society and most importantly the focus on investment in education and training as a key part of the vision.
However, LLLP would like to stress key success factors for achieving the objectives:
- Investment in education at the national and EU levels is essential in order to meet the EEA objectives. Therefore, the EU should steer the discussion and show the example of a good investment in education by starting through robust EU funding programs. Education is and should remain a public good but it shouldn't stop at compulsory education and discriminate learners by their age.
- Equal importance should be given to formal, non-formal, and informal education settings. Each learning setting plays an important role in achieving lifelong learning therefore the EEA vision should focus take into consideration the complementary and richness of the existing diversity of the learning environments. (LLLP Position Paper 2019: 21st Century Learning Environments)
- Cross-sectoral cooperation in education and training is a must to achieve a culture of lifelong learning where different education providers can learn from each other and innovate together. Such ambition is missing in the current roadmap.
- Equal attention should be given to the twin transitions: green and digital. While there is an ambitious action plan for Digital Education, we believe a similar one for Green skills for Sustainable development education should be a key element of the new vision of the EEA.
- More structured and systematic participation and involvement of stakeholders in the co-design, implementation and evaluation of EU policies e.g. structured dialogue in the so-called “enabling framework”, yearly Learning / Education Forum, Co-creation exercises etc will be key to get on board the education and training providers. Such an ambitious agenda can only be achieved if the key stakeholders affected by it have full ownership and embrace its vision. Ensuring such involvement from the start will be key.
- The EEA should be innovative, forward-looking and inclusive. While building on the successes and lessons learned it should be critical of what has shown to be less successful. Therefore the monitoring tools and mechanisms should be modernized and relevant to 21st-century learning environments...
- For an inclusive EEA, the focus on vulnerable and marginalised learners and educators shall be more predominant. Studies have shown that the potential for increasing culture of lifelong learning is higher among disadvantaged groups...
Read more in the attached files.
Read full responseMeeting with Anouk Faber (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)
8 Apr 2020 · Videoconference meeting on Skills
Meeting with Catherine Sustek (Cabinet of Vice-President Margaritis Schinas)
10 Mar 2020 · Lifelong Learning
4 Sept 2019
The Lifelong Learning Platform - European Civil Society for Education represents the civil society sector in education and training at EU level. Its members range from the largest European students association (ESN, AEGEE, ESU), university networks (EUF, UNIMED, EURASHE), vocational and training centres (EFVET, EVBB, EVTA), digital learning stakeholders (ALL DIGITAL, DLEARN, EDEN), regional authorities networks (FREREF, EARALL) (discover LLLP members here). The coverage of its membership goes far beyond civil society as it involves education stakeholders in a broad perspective, including researchers, businesses, and public authorities. LLL-P’s knowledge builds upon fourteen years of experience and expertise in EU policies in education and training, lifelong learning and skill strategies. The network advocates for inclusive and innovative policy reforms in education while facilitating regular dialogue and cooperation with EU and national policy-makers.
For all these reasons, LLL-P praises the education pillar of the new strategy of the EIT post-2020. The new strategy is very much welcome by the European education sector, in particular for its focus on skill investment, capacity-building, lifelong learning as well as for promoting cross-sector cooperation through the knowledge triangle, foreseeing synergies between the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) with other educational programmes like Erasmus+ and addressing societal challenges through innovation. The strategy, its objectives and activities are clearly relevant for the members and partners of the platform.
However, by reading the new strategy and annex documents, LLL-P wonders how its network and activities could better benefit to and from the work of the EIT. If indeed, “education and training, talent and skills development are at the core of the EIT model” then, it seems important that all stakeholders, including beneficiaries when relevant, are fully informed and/or involved in the activities and partnerships to the aim of bringing a larger impact and better chances in achieving its objectives. Key stakeholders, such as LLL-P, its members and partners, can be better aware of those opportunities and have support in accessing them. That is why, LLL-P would like to see more clarifications and information on the role and involvement of “broader stakeholders” in benefiting and promoting the initiatives (1). It is also interested in learning more about the plans regarding synergy building with Erasmus+ and hope the strategy will foresee concrete actions in this regard.
Please find the complete answer to the consultation in attachment.
Read full responseMeeting with Rodrigo Ballester (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics)
24 May 2019 · Meet on education Summit in September
Response to Validation of non-formal and informal learning - Evaluation
13 Nov 2018
The Lifelong Learning Platform, European civil society for education and training, represents 43 member organisations and millions of providers and beneficiaries of VNFIL opportunities in the EU. LLLP is closely following the 2012 Council Recommendation implementation. It is welcoming the European Commission's agenda to follow up with a roadmap, an evaluation and a public consultation on the Recommendation, and support its continuing actions after 2018. The Platform promotes cross-sector cooperation in the field of education and training and can from its key position assess the importance of validation in building different forms of education together being them formal, non-formal and informal.
The Lifelong Learning Platform recalls and stresses that:
A follow-up is necessary to ensure that Member States jointly pursue the effort toward establishing efficient and integrated validation systems within a wider lifelong learning strategy. We call the EU to continue monitoring Member States’ achievement and pending challenges to instate their national arrangements for VNFIL, in the light of its increased or limited integration in the EQF and NQFs.
Validation is an essential part of EU adult education policies (flexible pathways, up- and re-skilling), which aim to ensure all skills are made visible and recognised and that not any individual potential is underused in the society and labour market. It is particularly needed for those who are left out of education, training or employment (e.g. neets). The evaluation should show how inclusive and effective national VFNIL systems are being developed by collecting all stakeholders’ (learner, practitioners, adult education centers…) feedback but also in rethinking the weakness of such Recommendation when it comes to integration of transversal skills, for example.
All learners must have a chance at validation by combining traditional with alternative assessment methods for validation using innovative, holistic and formative approaches providing varied support services (guidance, mentoring, counselling) while offering further training opportunities. This was a result of LLLP’s “InnoVal project” (http://inno-val.eu), which also led to a set of recommendations both for practitioners and policy-makers on how to make validation systems more accessible for disadvantaged groups (see attachment “Innoval Advocacy Report”). LLLP expects the evaluation can provide valuable insights on the diversity, scale, transferability and the innovativeness of implemented validation processes, including different assessment methods used depending on the providers, target groups, sectors, countries/regions.
Many learning outcomes, certifications and qualifications are not treated and recognised equally across education, training and employment sectors across and within countries. More cross-sector cooperation can improve trust between sectors. It would be relevant that the EC evaluation takes into the account the progress made by Member States on the recognition of VNFIL between sectors, for instance, on the validation of prior learning by higher education.
CSOs have extensive expertise and knowledge of VNFIL methods but often lack involvement at national, regional and local levels in the design and development of validation systems. Therefore, LLLP would like the EC to reflect the state of the art regarding CSOs role in contributing to the implementation of VNFIL and future recommendations on how to better involve them (for instance, through ESF funds).
In conclusion, the evaluation should include recommendations for Member States to make further progress in the next years, and concrete steps for EU institutions actions, such as through the instruments of the European Semester and country specific recommendations, as well as by ensuring that the successor of the ET2020 strategy set clear new measures and objectives to further implement the Recommendation.
Read full responseMeeting with Florentine Hopmeier (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen) and European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities and
22 Oct 2018 · Discussion on addressing social sector needs in the InvestEU Programme
Meeting with Themis Christophidou (Director-General Education, Youth, Sport and Culture) and Culture Action Europe
19 Jul 2018 · Building synergies between education and culture
Meeting with Julie Fionda (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen)
9 Jan 2018 · Lifelong learning
Meeting with Rodrigo Ballester (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics)
13 Dec 2016 · Inclusive education
Meeting with Aura Salla (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen)
18 Feb 2015 · Lifelong Learning