Adult Learning Conference

Aim To explore and showcase the contribution that adult education and training can make to the Lisbon Goal of making the European Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs, and social cohesion.

Rationale
In an expanding and ageing Europe new jobs will be filled by adults; no state can wait for its young people to grow up in order to become competitive and it is the adult workforce, current and potential that will make Lisbon a reality. This is why adult skills are so important both for work but also in the interests of social cohesion.

This conference will:
Explore the issues of demography that make adult learning important and what they vindicate for the development of learning strategies
Explore the relationship between skills for work and skills for active citizenship and community roles, bringing together policies for employment and social inclusion
Identify and promote examples of good practice within and outside the workplace that illustrate effective adult learning and skills development
Explore the role that the new generation of mobility programmes can play in showing good practice across Europe in this area

Audience
European and British policy makers and senior practitioners willing to share practice and wishing to seek models of linkage between different forms of adult learning across vocational and non-vocational areas.