The book gives an account of the research conducted in the independent evaluation of the New Opportunities Initiative (NOI), one of the largest Portuguese governmental programmes in recent decades to upgrade qualifications. The NOI demonstrates that the recognition of non-formal and informal learning is crucial in order to improve the competences needed in our societies today. This book reflects on the NOI and its potential for societies in Europe and the rest of the world.

The publication is based on a solid foundation of empirical evidence, encompassing seven papers subjected...

This book is an outcome of the Shanghai International Forum on Lifelong Learning co-organised by UNESCO, the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy and the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO. The Forum took place in Shanghai during the World Expo 2010, from 19 to 21 May.

The 24 papers collected here document the debates and discussions led by experts from across the world. The papers are grouped into five themes, recounting first how lifelong learning has evolved conceptually and then how policy has developed in its...

‘The recent development of lifelong learning policies in many UNESCO Member States has shown that there is a growing demand for the knowledge, skills and competences acquired by adults and young people over the course of their lives to be evaluated and accredited within different contexts: work, education, family life, community and society,’ says Arne Carlsen, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.

Alongside established systems for recognizing formal learning, some Member States have developed mechanisms to recognize and...

International Policy Dialogue: Challenges in Implementing Lifelong Learning for Adults

The informal sector is an important segment of the economies and the civil society of developing countries. But there is only limited information on the extent and type of programs in education and training within this sector. This volume documents studies sponsored by the UNESCO Institute for Education and the International Labour Office on education, training and skills-formation for decent work in the informal sector. It examines interesting cases of skills-transfer combining social and technical learning processes and draws lessons pertinent for the design and implementation of...

The Asian Region faces a huge task of meeting the right to education of 614 million illiterate adolescents and adults and over 60 million out-of-school children. Alone in South Asia there are 429 million adult illiterates and 50 million children of school going age who have had no schooling. The Fifth International Conference on Adult Education held in Hamburg (CONFINTEAV)2 in 1997 clearly stated that the global challenge of Education for All cannot be tackled without meeting the basic learning needs of adult women and men especially in developing countries.

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This book is an outcome of an international seminar organized by UIE in partnership with the Faculty of Education of the University of Hamburg in June 2002 entitled “Strengthening Democracy and Critical Citizenship through Lifelong Learning”. The papers selected reflect key issues addressed during the seminar and aim to highlight questions not often raised contributing to a deeper understanding of the relationship between democracy and education in the context of lifelong learning.

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This book contains a selection of papers presented during the Regional Conference of Lifelong Learning in Europe: Moving towards EFA Goals and the CONFINTEA V Agenda. This was the first conference held at the regional level which covered the three areas of lifelong learning, education for all and adult education.

Download: Lifelong Learning Discourses in Europe (PDF 1,23 MB)

This publication contains the major papers presented during the International Conference on Lifelong Learning: Global Perspectives in Education held in Beijing in July 2001. Almost 200 participants from government agencies, academic institutions, research organizations, multilateral agencies and non-governmental organizations from 40 countries shared their policies and practices on lifelong learning in their respective contexts.

Download: Integrating Lifelong Learning Perspectives (PDF 766 KB...

As UNESCO’s international reference centre for lifelong learning, UIE, over its thirty years of experience in this field, has initiated several research activities in this area and collaborated with a number of institutions and researchers all over the world. Building on these experiences in elucidating a conceptual framework of lifelong learning, the Institute has been reviewing, at the onset of the new millennium, existing lifelong learning perspectives as well as elaboration on new perspectives. The Institute has come to the conclusion that it can contribute to the emergence of a...