Is there an emerging consensus?
What is the quality of education? What are the most important aspects of quality and how can they be measured?
These questions have been raised for a long time and are still widely debated. The current understanding of education quality has considerably benefitted from the conceptual work undertaken through national and international initiatives to assess learning achievement. These provide valuable feedback to policy-makers on the competencies mastered by pupils and youths, and the factors which explain these. But there is also a growing awareness of the importance of values and behaviours, although these are more difficult to measure.  
To address these concerns, IIEP organized (on 15 December 2011) a Strategic Debate on “Defining and measuring the quality of education: Is there an emerging consensus?” The topic was approached from the point of view of two cross-national surveys: the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ)*.
Assessing the creativity of students
“Students’ capacity to extrapolate from what they know and apply this creatively in novel situations is more important than what the students know”, said Andreas Schleicher, Head of the Indicators and Analysis Division at the Directorate for Education, OECD, and in charge of PISA. This concept is reflected in current developments taking place in workplaces in many countries, which increasingly require non-routine interactive skills. When comparing the results obtained in different countries, PISA’s experience has shown that “education systems can creatively combine the equity and quality agenda in education”, Schleicher said. Contrary to conventional wisdom, countries can be both high-average performers in PISA while demonstrating low individual and institutional variance in students’ achievement. Finally, Schleicher emphasized that investment in education is not the only determining factor for quality, since good and consistent implementation of educational policy is also very important.
The importance of cross-national cooperation
When reviewing the experience of SACMEQ, Mioko Saito, Head a.i of the IIEP Equity, Access and Quality Unit (technically supporting the SACMEQ implementation in collaboration with SACMEQ Coordinating Centre), explained how the notion of educational quality has significantly evolved in the southern and eastern African region and became a priority over the past decades. Since 1995, SACMEQ has, on a regular basis, initiated cross-national assessments on the quality of education, and each member country has benefited considerably from this cooperation. It helped them embracing new assessment areas (such as HIV and AIDS knowledge) and units of analysis (teachers, as well as pupils) to produce evidence on what pupils and teachers know and master, said Saito. She concluded by stressing that SACMEQ also has a major capacity development mission and is concerned with having research results bear on policy decisions.  
The debate following the presentations focused on the crucial role of the media in stimulating public debate on the results of cross-national tests such as PISA and SACMEQ. It was also emphasized that more collaboration among the different cross-national mechanisms for the assessment of learner achievement would be beneficial. If more items were shared among the networks, more light could be shed on the international comparability of educational outcomes.
View or review the presentations and the debate. Click here to launch the video.
Download the presentations: Andreas Schleicher, Mioko Saito.
* PISA assesses the acquisition of key competencies for adult life of 15-year-olds in mathematics, reading, and science in OECD countries. SACMEQ focuses on achievements of Grade 6 pupils. Created in 1995, SACMEQ is a network of 15 southern and eastern African ministries of education: Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania (Mainland), Tanzania (Zanzibar), Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
Links: IIEP activities of quality of education, PISA website, SACMEQ website.

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 to an extensive academic peer review procedure.
The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, together with its partners in this publication, MENON and the Study Centre on Peoples and Cultures of the Portuguese Catholic University (CEPCEP), hopes that discussions on the NOI research papers will help to shed light on a reform agenda that is of the greatest urgency in our continuing and lifelong learning systems.
Preface
Lifelong learning, is and will remain for many more years, the single major challenge for the future posed to our learning systems and to the education public policy. Notwithstanding the fact of the matter is that educational systems, generally speaking, have been unable to design and adopt a large-scale model of lifelong learning as efficient, and productive, as the traditional factory-inspired schools of the industrial age. It is not without irony that while we cultivate a vigorous discourse geared at the foundations of a knowledge/learning-driven society for the 21st century our education infrastructure remains stuck to ideas and is built out of concepts that date back to the 19th century.
Innovation and creativity in this field are disappointing in spite of a general feeling that enormous externalities – social, cultural, economic and citizenship wise – could be derived from a strong lifelong learning put in place. The difficulties to move from a (mass)-production led to a (individualised)-demand driven paradigm are conceptually challenging and of complex implementation. This is especially true in times of fiscal crisis and lean public budgets that tend to favour ‘more of the same’ models that have already “proven” their efficient ways of tackling masses of students packaged into classrooms and provided with an “assembly line type” of educational provision. Hence, the fundamental challenge that lies before us consists in ‘imagineering’ demand oriented networks that are capable of: (i) personalising learning preferences and (ii) warranting economies of scale that may drive down unit costs to the level that is considered manageable by decision-makers.
Another known caveat remains with the lack of sufficient research-based evidence on ‘what works’ in lifelong learning. Reforms are only too often piecemeal, short-term, fragmented and seldom undergo evaluative research processes that are independent at their roots. Under the present uncertainties and ever-growing issues, learning from past successes and failures, and benchmarking our experience against that of others becomes so much more important. Moreover, evidence based structural reform – and sustainable innovation – puts a high premium on vision, stewardship, strategy, motivation and leadership, at both political and institutional levels.
The New Opportunities Initiative (NOI) is a portuguese flagship programme to recognise and accredit prior learning (RPL, APL) and to endow low-skilled adults with upper secondary qualifications, which is defined as the minimum entry threshold to the exercise of a full citizenship in a knowledge-rich society. NOI’s major achievement has been its ability to attract the least-skilled adults to embark in a system of informal and non-formal skills recognition, accreditation and certification, with complements of formal learning, to achieve academic and/or vocational certification. A record enrolment of about one half of the targeted adult population of roughly 3.7 million low-skilled in barely 5 years of implementation is a fact to be duly recognised and lies beyond dispute.
This book gives an account of the robust research efforts deployed at the independent evaluation of NOI. Written on a solid foundation of empirical evidence, this publication encompasses seven papers which were submitted to an extensive peer review procedure inspired by best practices in academic refereeing. The peer reviews were done initially at a distance by senior referees with solid scientific backgrounds and extensive international experience in the domain under appraisal; the process then continued with a face to face seminar where each peer reviewer examined three papers in depth and all experts were invited to act as discussants of each paper; the procedure was concluded by a second round of individual reviews whenever the paper had undergone serious change.
Research Director and Editor: Roberto Carneiro
Publishers: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning -MENON Network- Centro de Estudos dos Povos e Culturas de Expressão Portuguesa, Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Year of publication: 2011. No. of pages: 384. Size: 167 mm x 237 mm. ISBN: 978-972-9045-29-5. Download Accreditation of prior learning as a lever for lifelong learning: lessons learnt from the New Opportunities Initiative, Portugal.

A report in the Sida Studies series. A critical review of international development initiatives and policy recommendations as to adult education and lifelong learning. The present gap between the North and the South could be overcome and a great potential for poverty reduction and for social and human development could be realised, given that current initiatives are reorientated. Different local experiences around the world are illustrated. The report is a revision of the report Lifelong Learning, New Education Division Documents No. 14, published in May 2003, (2726en). This report is also available in Spanish: Aprendizaje a lo Largo de Todo la Vida (2726es). Download Lifelong Learning in the South Critical Issues and Opportunities for Adult Education.
Lifelong Learning in the South Critical Issues and Opportunities for Adult Education, ROSA MARÍA TORRES.
Preface
This is a revised version of a study on the status and current trends in Adult Basic Education in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean: Lifelong Learning, A new momentum and a new opportunity for Adult Basic Learning and Education (ABLE) in the South (New Education Division Documents No. 14), commissioned by Sida’s Education Division, and published by Sida’s Department for Democracy and Social Development, May 2003, in both English and Spanish.
The study included: a literature review of nearly 1000 documents in several languages, in print, video, audio, and on the web; an electronic survey with nearly 100 key respondents throughout the world (see list of respondents in Annex 10); personal interviews and a few field visits in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean; a five-week (23 May–30 June, 2002) bilingual (English-Spanish) on-line forum on the topic, with over 300 participants from all over the world2; and a collection of “inspiring experiences”, most of them mentioned by survey respondents and a few of them described in Appendix 1 “A mosaic of experiences”.
This revised version is based upon the same material and findings – the difference between the versions lies in the focus, structure and presentation. Many of the details relating to the literature review and the survey are not included in this revised version and the Appendices differ. A few modifications have been introduced in the text, including the mention of some recent developments and a few additional references in the final bibliography.
This shorter version is adapted for the readers who wish to focus on the arguments, issues and proposals brought forward. The issues brought into focus in this edited version are above all: the elaboration and discussion of some key concepts related to education and to the overall Lifelong Learning framework, critical issues related to the state of the art and trends of learning and basic education in the South, the roles and performance of international agencies and international co-operation, and the widening gap between the North and the South mediated by such international players and co-operation.
Executive Summary - Conceptual framework
Lifelong Learning is activated today as the key organizing principle for education and training systems, and for the building of the “knowledge society” of the 21st century. There is an overall shift in focus from education to learning and from lifelong education to lifelong learning.
This study focuses on adult basic learning needs and adult basic education in the South, within a systemic and holistic approach to education and learning, and with a Human Development perspective. Literacy is viewed as part of basic education, not in isolation, and basic education is understood in a broad sense, far beyond literacy and numeracy. Learning is emphasized over education as the key organizing category and within a lifelong learning framework. Broadly defined, this paper deals with the issue of Basic Learning Needs of Adults for Human Development in the South.
We introduce the notion of Adult Basic Learning and Education (ABLE) – as different from Adult Basic Education (ABE) – to stress the importance of learning both within and beyond educational provision: learning in the family, in the community, at work, with friends, learning through the mass media, libraries, traditional and modern technologies, learning by observing, by doing, by working, by teaching, by participating.
The term “adult” is used here as an all-embracing category that includes youth, adults, and the elderly, thus stressing the meaning and value of lifelong learning, across the life span. We maintain that all people, irrespective of age, gender and of the country and zone where they live, have a right to learn and to continue learning and must thus be considered learners and part of the “learning-age population” for basic education/training/learning purposes.
The term South is preferred to that of “developing countries”, while acknowledging the many problems of these and other designations (i.e. “Third World”, “low- and middle-income countries”, “periphery”, “aidreceiving countries”, “partner countries”, etc.). The very notion of “development” is today blurred and distant in most countries labeled such by the international community, in a world context where poverty and inequality continue to grow.3 We keep the term “developing” as a reminder that the goal continues to be (social, economic, human) development and progress, and that education continues to be, more than ever, decisive for such progress.
Download Lifelong Learning in the South Critical Issues and Opportunities for Adult Education.

New York, 19 December 2011 — Today the United Nations General Assembly in New York adopted the declaration on human rights education and training as prepared by the Platform for Human Rights Education and Training A/HRC/WG.9/1/CRP.1/REV.2. Download the declaration on human rights education and training.
Proposed draft declaration on human rights education and training as prepared by the Platform for Human Rights Education and Training, A/HRC/WG.9/1/CRP.1/REV.2.
[The General Assembly]
PP1 Reaffirming the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations for the promotion and encouragement of respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion,
PP2 Reaffirming that every individual and every organ of society shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,
PP3 Reaffirming that everyone has the right to education, and that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity, and enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society and promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace, security, and the promotion of development and human rights,
PP4 Reaffirming that States are duty-bound, as stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and in other human rights instruments, to ensure that education is aimed at strengthening the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,
PP5 Acknowledging the fundamental importance of human rights education and training in contributing to the promotion, protection and effective realization of all human rights,
PP6 Reaffirming the call of the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna in 1993 on all States and institutions to include human rights, humanitarian law, democracy and rule of law in the curricula of all learning institutions, and stating that human rights education should include peace, democracy, development and social justice, as set forth in international and regional human rights instruments, in order to achieve common understanding and awareness with a view to strengthening universal commitment to human rights,
PP7 Recalling the 2005 World Summit Outcome, in which Heads of State and Government supported the promotion of human rights education and learning at all levels, including through the implementation of the World Programme for Human Rights Education, and encouraged all States to develop initiatives in this regard,
PP8 Motivated by the desire to send a strong signal to the international community to strengthen all efforts in human rights education and training through a collective commitment by all stakeholders,
Declares:
ARTICLE 1
(1) Human rights education and training is essential for the promotion of universal respect for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, in accordance with the principles of universality, indivisibility and interdependence of human rights.
(2) Therefore, everyone has the right to seek and to have access to human rights education and training.
(3) The effective enjoyment of all human rights, in particular the right to education, and access to information, enables access to human rights education and training.
ARTICLE 2
(1) Human rights education and training comprises all educational, training, information, awareness-raising and learning activities aimed at promoting universal respect for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and thus contributing, with knowledge, skills and understanding and developing their attitudes and behaviours, to empower them to contribute to the building and promotion of a universal culture of human rights.
(2) Human rights education and training encompasses education:
(a) About human rights, which includes providing knowledge and understanding of human rights norms and principles, the values which underpin them, and mechanisms for their protection;
(b) Through human rights, which includes learning and teaching in a way that respects the rights of both educators and learners;
(c) For human rights, which includes empowering persons to enjoy and exercise their rights and to respect and uphold the rights of others.
ARTICLE 3
(1) Human rights education and training is a lifelong process that concerns all ages.
(2) Human rights education and training concerns all parts of society, all levels, including preschool, primary, secondary and higher education, taking into account academic freedom where applicable, and all forms of education, training and learning, whether in a public or private, formal, informal or non-formal setting. It includes inter alia vocational training, particularly the training of trainers, teachers and State officials, continuing education, popular education, and public information and awareness activities.
(3) Human rights education and training should use languages and methods suited to target groups, taking into account their specific needs and conditions.
ARTICLE 4
Human rights education and training should be based on the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant treaties and instruments, with a view to:
(a) Raising awareness, understanding, and acceptance of universal human rights standards and principles, as well as guarantees at the international, regional and national levels for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms;
(b) Developing a universal culture of human rights, in which everyone is aware of their own rights and responsibilities in respect of the rights of others, and promoting the development of the individual as a responsible member of a free, peaceful, pluralist and inclusive society;
(c) Pursuing the effective realization of all human rights and promoting tolerance, non-discrimination and equality;
(d) Ensuring equal opportunities for all, through access to quality human rights education and training, without any discrimination;
(e) Contributing to the prevention of human rights violations and abuses and to the combating and eradication of all forms of discrimination, racism, stereotyping, incitement to hatred, and the harmful attitudes and prejudices that underlie them.
ARTICLE 5
(1) Human rights education and training, whether provided by public or private actors, should be based on the principles of equality, human dignity, inclusion and non-discrimination, particularly equality between girls and boys and between women and men.
persons, and should take into account the particular challenges and barriers faced by, and the needs and expectations of, individuals belonging to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, including persons with disabilities, in order to promote empowerment and human development and to contribute to the elimination of the causes of exclusion or marginalization, as well as enable everyone to exercise all their rights.
(3) Human rights education and training should embrace and enrich, as well as draw inspiration from, the diversity of civilizations, religions, cultures and traditions of different countries, as it is reflected in the universality of human rights.
(4) Human rights education and training should take into account different economic, social and cultural circumstances, while promoting local initiatives in order to encourage ownership of the common goal of the fulfillment of all human rights for all.
ARTICLE 6
(1) Human rights education and training should capitalize on, and make use of new information and communication technologies, as well as the media, to promote all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
(2) The arts should be encouraged as a means of training and raising awareness in the field of human rights.
ARTICLE 7
(1) States, and where applicable relevant governmental authorities, have the primary responsibility to promote and ensure human rights education and training, developed and implemented in a spirit of participation, inclusion, and responsibility.
(2) States should create a safe and enabling environment for the engagement of civil society, the private sector, and other relevant stakeholders in human rights education and training, in which the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all, including of those engaged in the process, are fully protected.
(3) States should take steps, individually and through international assistance and cooperation, to ensure, to the maximum of their available resources, the progressive implementation of human rights education and training by appropriate means, including the adoption of legislative and administrative measures and policies.
(4) States and relevant governmental authorities should ensure adequate training in human rights and, where appropriate, international humanitarian law and international criminal law, of State officials, civil servants, judges, law enforcement officials, military personnel, as well as promote adequate training in human rights for teachers, trainers, and other educators and private personnel acting on behalf of the State.
ARTICLE 8
(l) States should develop or promote the development at the appropriate level of strategies and policies, and, where appropriate, action plans and programs to implement human rights education and training, such as through its integration in school and training curricula. In so doing, they should take into account the World Programme for Human Rights Education and specific national and local needs and priorities.
(2) The conception, implementation, evaluation and follow-up to such strategies, action plans, policies and programs should involve all relevant stakeholders, including the private sector, civil society and national human rights institutions, by promoting, where appropriate, multi-stakeholder initiatives.
ARTICLE 9
States should promote the establishment, development and strengthening of effective and independent national human rights institutions, according to the Paris Principles, recognizing that national human rights institutions can play an important, including, where necessary, a coordinating role, in promoting human rights education and training by, inter alia, raising awareness and mobilizing relevant public and private actors.
ARTICLE 10
(1) Various actors within society, inter alia, educational institutions, the media, families, local communities, civil society institutions, including non-governmental organizations, human rights defenders, the private sector, and other non-state actors have an important role to play in promoting and providing human rights education and training.
(2) Civil society institutions, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders are encouraged to ensure adequate human rights education and training for their staff and personnel.
ARTICLE 11
The United Nations, international and regional organizations should provide human rights education and training for their civilian personnel, and military and police personnel serving under their mandates.
ARTICLE 12
(1) International cooperation at all levels should support and reinforce national efforts, including where applicable at the local level, to implement human rights education and training.
(2) Complementary and coordinated efforts at the international, regional, national and local levels can contribute to more effective implementation of human rights education and training.
(3) Voluntary funding for projects and initiatives in the field of human rights education and training should be encouraged.
ARTICLE 13
(1) International and regional human rights mechanisms should, within their respective mandates, take into account human rights education and training in their work.
(2) States are encouraged to include, where appropriate, information on the measures that they have adopted in the field of human rights education and training in their reports to relevant human rights mechanisms.
ARTICLE 14
States should take appropriate measures to ensure the effective implementation of and follow-up to this Declaration and make the necessary resources available in this regard.
Download the declaration on human rights education and training.

ERASMUS MUNDUS, Clustering Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses and Attractiveness Projects. LOT 2: EMPLOYABILITY SURVEY RESULTS.
Enquête sur l'insertion professionnelle des étudiants Erasmus Mundus – rapport et recommandations, réalisée par MKW et le Céreq
Dans le cadre d'un appel d'offres, la Commission européenne a financé en 2010 et 2011 une enquête menée par MKW et le Céreq sur l'insertion professionnelle des étudiants en masters Erasmus Mundus. Les résultats, analyses et recommandations émanant de cette enquête sont désormais publiés. Téléchargez le rapport de l'enquête. Téléchargez les recommandations de l'enquête.
PRACTICAL GUIDELINES
The Erasmus Mundus programme (EM) aims to promote European higher education, to help improve and enhance the career prospects of students and to promote intercultural understanding through cooperation with third countries, in accordance with EU external policy objectives, in order to contribute to the sustainable development of third countries in the field of higher education. For this purpose the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency commissioned an in-depth quality assessment of Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses (EMMCs) and related projects to enhance its attractiveness, among which the present study on employability of Erasmus Mundus students and graduates.
Erasmus Mundus, actually, can be regarded as an educational programme to meet the challenges arisen from dynamic and international oriented labour markets. In the framework of Europe 2020’s aim “to enhance the performance and international attractiveness of Europe's higher education institutions and raise the overall quality of […] education and training […], combining both excellence and equity”1 Erasmus Mundus can be seen as one important measure, providing high level education for mobile and high skilled students from all over the world in trans-national learning environments covering leading faculties of all academic disciplines offering European double, multiple or joint degrees. Simultaneously, the programme poses high requirements, comprising a highly selective quality recruitment procedure, a time-intensive curriculum, a multitude of educational systems and languages, which demands students’ adaptability.
The present Guidelines offer a means to explore, individually or collaboratively, the challenges Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses have to deal with in bringing their approved excellence in research and teaching in accordance with improving their students’ position on the labour market. Moreover, discovered examples of good practice can lead to practical recommendations of concrete measures how to provide students with prerequisites and resources that make them “employable”. The Practical Guidelines should thus enable Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses as well as universities willing to start a EM programme to reappraise existing course designs in order to develop intrinsic and selfcontained strategies enhancing employability.
Nevertheless, this publication is in no ways foreseen to outline a tailor-made approach to enhance employability, nor as an exhaustive “to-do-list”. Due to the high diversity of the Masters programmes, not every measure can be applied according to the same logic. Notwithstanding the remarkable level that many EMMCs already exhibit, they have been launched at disparate times and to different preconditions and some measures are still “under construction”. Future progress in the area of employability will therefore be exciting to be monitored and continuously updated.
To base the practical guidelines on a scientific point of view, the present document starts with introducing the undertaken quantitative and qualitative survey methods and its most important results. For each of the topics treated, the major findings are summarized and strengthened by a related graph or chart. Afterwards, every topic is illustrated by an example of good practice from one EMMC, which have been gathered during the qualitative interviews and the Erasmus Mundus Employability Workshop, identifying recommendable strategies and solutions. It has to be mentioned that this good practice neither depicts the entire scope of activities of each EMMC, nor is exhaustive for the whole topic. Therefore, each section ends with recommendations drawn from the entire sample of interviews. Finally, a section of general recommendations will conclude these guidelines.
Téléchargez le rapport de l'enquête. Téléchargez les recommandations de l'enquête.

La Red de Educación Continua de Latinoamérica y Europa (RECLA) celebra su XVII Encuentro Internacional los días 10, 11 y 12 de Octubre de 2012 en la Universidad Blas Pascal de Córdoba (Argentina).
El encuentro de lema "Educación continua de alto impacto. Un puente al desarrollo económico y social" pretende ser un foro de reunión de los centros de educación continua de las universidades de latinoamérica y Europa para intercambiar experiencias y buenas prácticas.

NIACE is a founder member of the Age Action Alliance, launched this month, a network of national and local agencies working together to celebrate the lives of older people and to improve the lives of the most marginalised.
The Age Action Alliance is committed to:
- engaging older people to find out what matters to them and act on it;
- working with Alliance partners to improve the lives of older people;
- building on what already works well; and
- developing realistic and measurable goals and demonstrating the difference it is making.
For many years, NIACE has worked to improve the quality, range and accessibility of learning for older people. For the last five years it has convened the National Older Learners Group, which brings together the national agencies with direct interests in older people's learning.
NIACE's paper Choice and Opportunity (published in 2010) also highlights how adult learning can contribute to all the five ‘ways to wellbeing', identified in the Government's 2010 Foresight report:
- Connect with other people.
- Be active in some form.
- Take notice of the world and be curious.
- Keep learning.
- Give to others.
Stephen McNair, NIACE Research Associate, said:
"The benefits of learning for older people, their communities and the public purse, are great and we welcome the growth in recent years of self-organised learning activities for older people, through organisations like the University of the Third Age and Learning for the Fourth Age. However, we badly need to stop the continuing decline in publicly funded courses for older people, where course closures and higher fees have led to a drop in the numbers of older people in learning."
"Critically, we need closer working between agencies, to share resources and ideas, and especially to reach those who think learning is irrelevant, too expensive or too inaccessible. The Alliance is a key way to help this process."
Videos
The video clips on this page are in Windows Media Video format (wmv). If the videos do not start to play when you click on them, right-click and save them to your computer and then play them back through your usual media player. Video: Informal Adult Education in Care Settings. Extra link: 'Social value of adult learning for adult social care'.

L’AIU, en partenariat avec le Comité de coordination du British Council pour le Going Global 2012, coordonnera le débat sur l’internationalisation qui sera l’un des piliers de ce GG2012 (13-15 mars 2012, Londres, RU).
Présidant une séance intitulée ‘Internationalization of higher education: who benefits who is at risk?’ le 14 mars, la Secrétaire générale de l’AIU coordonnera aussi les discussions de six groupes de travail, lesquels adresseront une série de questions portant sur divers aspects de l’internationalisation de l’enseignement supérieur tels que:
- le concept en lui-même;
- les moteurs de l’internationalisation;
- le rôle de la mobilité étudiante dans les efforts d’internationalisation entrepris;
- l'internationalisation et la responsabilité de l’enseignement supérieur au niveau mondial;
- l’internationalisation en tant que catalyseur de réformes plus générales aux niveaux institutionnel et systémique;
- quelles pourraient être quelques unes des caractéristiques d’une université internationalisée.
Les présidents de ces groupes de travail rapporteront les résultats des échanges lors de la dernière séance plénière de la conférence le 15 mars. Les groupes de travail se réuniront deux fois lors de la conférence afin de préparer des réponses pratiques aux points précédemment mentionnés.
Cet évènement offre à l’AIU une occasion propice de présenter et faire avancer les délibérations de son Groupe international ad-hoc d’experts, qui eux aussi planchent sur la question de l’internationalisation puisque plusieurs membres de ce groupe prendront par au GG2012 et contribueront substantiellement aux discussions. Tous les participants du GG2012 auront, par ailleurs, l’opportunité de contribuer aux débats en tant qu’invités lors d’une réception offerte par le British Council le 14 mars. A cette occasion, ils seront invités à offrir leur point de vue sur les six questions mentionnées plus haut.
Going Global est en passe de devenir un rendez vous annuel apprécié et l’édition 2012 sera un jalon important dans la réflexion de l’AIU portant sur l’internationalisation.
Pour de plus amples informations au sujet des divers évènements relatifs à ces questions lors du GG2012, n’hésitez pas à visiter le site internet de la conférence. Pour accéder à la liste complète des questions qui seront abordées par les groupes de travail cliquez ici (en anglais seulement), et accédez également à une description détaillée (en anglais) du travail mené par le Groupe international ad-hoc d’experts coordonné par l’AIU. Les actions de l’AIU se poursuivent car l’Association prépare sa 14e Conférence Générale (27-30 Novembre, 2012) au cours de laquelle la question ‘Is globalization setting a new agenda for internationalization of higher education?’ occupera une place centrale au sein du programme et le fruit des efforts du Groupe international ad hoc d’experts y sera présenté et largement débattu. Pour plus d'information:r.hudson@iau-aiu.net.
Re-Thinking Internationalization
IAU, working in partnership with the British Council’s Going Global Steering Committee, is coordinating the debate on internationalization that forms a central part of this Going Global 2012 (GG2012) (13-15 March, 2012, London, UK).
Chairing a Plenary session entitled: ‘Internationalization of higher education: who benefits who is at risk?’ on March 14, the IAU Secretary General will coordinate the deliberations of six Working Groups which will each address a set of questions on various aspects of internationalization such as:
- the concept itself;
- what is driving internationalization;
- the role of student mobility in the internationalization efforts;
- the extent to which internationalization is conducted in ways that are mindful of higher education’s global responsibility;
- whether and how the process has acted as a catalyst for wider reforms at institutional and systemic levels;
- what may be some of the features of an internationalized university.
The Chairs of each these Working Groups will report back on the outcomes at the final substantive plenary of the conference on March 15. The Working Groups will meet twice during the conference and are expected to prepare practical responses to these challenges.
For IAU, this event offers a timely opportunity to showcase and further the deliberations of the Rethinking Internationalization Ad hoc Experts Group since many members of this Ad hoc Group will take part in the GG2012 and will contribute substantively to the process described above. All GG2012 participants will also have an opportunity to contribute in the debate, as guests at a Reception offered by the British Council on March 14. During this social gathering they will also be invited to offer their views on the six questions mentioned above.
Going Global is growing into an annual international event of some importance and this conference will be an important milestone in the work of the IAU on re-thinking internationalization.
For more information about the Re-thinking Internationalization series of events at GG2012 please visit their website. For the complete set of questions to be addressed by the Working Groups see here and also read a fuller description of the work of the international Ad hoc Group whose efforts are being coordinated by IAU too. The work will carry on even afterwards as IAU prepares for its 14th General Conference where the question ‘Is globalization setting a new agenda for internationalization of higher education?’ forms a central part of the programme. For more information: r.hudson@iau-aiu.net.

Higher Education in the World 4, Higher Education’s Commitment to Sustainability: from Understanding to Action. In this article Jesus Granados and Jonathan Fredi of the Global University Network for Innovation describe the content and implications of GUNi's latest report, which aims to stimulate serious and profound thought, opening opportunities that should be jointly analyzed, discussed and hopefully used by academics, university leaders, policymakers and members of civil society and the business community.
In terms of social value, higher education’s greatest challenge in the coming years is to materialize the contribution made by knowledge to build a sustainable future for society. Sustainability involves the development of a new culture, encompassing an analysis of knowledge itself, reviewing the assumptions that sustain our understanding of the world and the human dynamics within it.
Our newest report, titled Higher Education in the world 4 - Higher Education’s Commitment to Sustainability: from Understanding to Action represents the next step in the GUNi series of reports on the social commitment of universities, with its aim to explore the commitment of higher education (HE) to sustainability. For this we have brought together 85 authors, representing 38 countries from around the world, working on sustainability in HE. We wish to note that 32% of developing states are represented and 45% of the authors are women.
The report is structured into four parts; the first analyzes the current context, as an awareness of the state of the world is what justifies the need for this transformation to sustainability. Lester Brown, in The World on the Edge, notes an increase in worrisome signs for our society. No civilization can survive the ongoing destruction of its natural resources, yet the economists look at the future differently. Modern economic policies have created an economy that is so out of sync with the ecosystem upon which it depends, that it is approaching collapse. If we continue down this path, how much time do we have before we see serious breakdowns in the global economy? Lester Brown proposes to save civilization, but do we need to save or reform it? The first thing we need is a contemporary economy, where the market tells us the ecological truth. The overarching question is: Can we change fast enough? Paul Raskin presents different scenarios of time, level of commitment, and the degree of the transformation.
HE plays a leading role in the domains of education, understanding and action. A university embracing the mission of transition to sustainability must center on the cultivation of informed and thoughtful global citizens; building foundations of knowledge for the transition, assessment of global dynamics, cultural change and institutional design. It is time to make a choice. Daniella Tilbury provides a global overview on the progress to this point. There is evidence suggesting that higher education doesn’t understand the true nature of the challenges to ESD. Sustainability challenges current paradigms and structures, as well as predominant practices in higher education. Though international declarations provide visible commitment encouraging progress, they are not sufficient to change institutional and disciplinary practices in HE. Achievements have been random, and mostly disconnected from the core business of HE, usually engaging minority groups, failing to reach the core of staff, students and stakeholders or influence the culture of institutions.
The majority of the universities engaged in sustainability are preoccupied with the greening of the campus through efforts such as minimizing waste and energy consumption, developing low carbon buildings, and modeling sustainability to influence the behavior of students and staff. Examples of initiatives influencing core university personnel are rare, and seldom impact students’ formal learning opportunities.
In the last decade we have seen a rise in more complicated research methods. We have seen the investigator become both expert and partner, with research both on and with people. Research that is inter- and multidisciplinary while discipline-focused, with academic and social impacts, that both informs and transforms, focusing on technological, behavioral, social and structural change.
Partnership platforms bring together universities committed to this agenda. Their annual meetings confirm that universities are increasingly recognizing the need to work together to share common issues but also learn from best practices. These initiatives represent tangible transitions towards ESD in core areas such as curriculum integration, changing views on how we work to solve these issues and moving from isolation in our approach to collaboration.
The second section presents the regional perspectives of how sustainable education has been incorporated into HE up to now, starting with overviews as in-depth analyses of the work accomplished towards the goal of global sustainability throughout each area of our world. The regional chapters also each include a detailed sub-regional analysis, spotlights on important issues pertaining to the individual regions and information on networks and organizations dedicated to sustainability in HE within each region.
The regional analysis is structured into four areas: management, research, education and learning and community engagement. As shown in Figure 1, Asia and the Pacific is the region which is involved in every subject. Latin America and the Caribbean lacks in education and learning and in community engagement. Canada and USA is the leading region in HE sustainable management. Europe focuses on management, research, and teaching and learning. The transition in Africa has been slow and we are just now seeing efforts in community engagement and bottom-up initiatives in education and learning. In the case of the Arab States we can affirm their transition is still to come.
In Part III, the reader will also find our study: Sustainability in Higher Education, Moving from Understanding to Action: Breaking Barriers for Transformation.
This part of the report represents a schism from simply reporting attained knowledge; it emphasizes the move from the simple generation of information to its utilization towards a specific goal. Part III is a study on the barriers currently in place which are preventing the advancement of sustainability in HE, as well as possible solutions to these barriers towards the implementation of these sustainable initiatives. The barriers identified in the report are those voted on in two separate polls conducted by GUNi, the first being a prioritization of a list of the specific difficulties faced by these institutions in implementing education for sustainability by 200 institutions which participated.
The second being used to gauge the degree to which each of these barriers affect the transition of the 201 institutions who participated in the second poll. Also of paramount importance to the work of this section was the input from the 115 expert participants of the parallel workshops at the 5th International Barcelona Conference on Higher Education, hosted by GUNi. There seemed to be a general consensus among participants on the relevance of ESD, as well as the most urgent barriers, which are:
- Difficulties in acquiring integrative thinking, transdisciplinary learning and interdisciplinary cooperation in universities;
- Sustainable development is felt as an add-on to education, not a built-in aspect of HE;
- Lack of vision and prioritization of sustainable development at the leadership level of HE;
- Lack of a common understanding of ESD in HE.
The solutions seen as priorities are:
- Developing an institutional understanding, vision and mission on sustainable development in HEIs, taking into account faculty, students, and external parties, and engaging in open dialogues with all of them.
- Changing the incentive system and quality indicators for encouraging and promoting multidisciplinary work, interdisciplinary teaching, theses and projects.
- Building a culture of sustainability by involving and engaging the local community, universities, families, schools and other stakeholders in sustainability issues and projects. Including active learning courses and action research with local community projects that take students out of the classroom.
- Involving internal stakeholders in such a way that leads to ownership, empowerment, participation and willingness to contribute to, and be responsible for change. Communicating and sharing more information through team-building, awareness-raising of ESD issues, etc.
- Monitoring the design and implementation of sustainable development contents in curricula, offering awareness-raising and/or training programs on ESD for all university academic and administrative staff.
The fourth part of the Report, Visions for transformation, aims to shed new light on the current paradigm and to propose a different perspective on it, where alternative ideas can be raised. Within this section of the Report we would like to make a breakthrough on the established paradigms; renovating and adjusting them into the current realities in which we live. We have encouraged authors to move away from the normal and conventional way of thinking and suggest innovative ideas that can offer new future perspectives and give new horizons for academia and policymakers working in the field of HE. We expect readers to find different proposals for acting in alternative and creative pathways.
The Report ends with an extensive statistical appendix on HE, painting a global picture of enrollment rates, public spending on HE, and the Human Development Index (HDI), among other numerical representations of where HE stands today. Last section is a bibliographic compilation of publications dealing with sustainability in HE.
This report presents an exciting series of ideas, options, visions and specific challenges for the commitment of HE towards sustainability. The final goal of this Report is to stimulate debate among all those whose different links with the world of HE could contribute to enriching the discussion. We aim to stimulate serious and profound thought, which will open opportunities that should be jointly analyzed, discussed and hopefully used by academics, university leaders, policymakers and members of civil society and the business community. Thus, we invite everyone to follow the discussion in the GUNi knowledge Community, a new collaborative network initiative by GUNi.
About the author
Jesus Granados holds a PhD in Education from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) with a thesis on Education for Sustainability and Teaching Geography. Graduated in Geography (UAB), he holds a Master in Social Sciences Education (UAB) and a Master in Environmental Education and Communication (ISEMA). Granados worked at Universidad de la Rioja and in 2004 moved to the UAB to teach and research at the Faculty of Education, where he implemented, amongst others, the subject of Education for sustainability that was an optional campus subject available for all the degrees at the UAB. His main fields of interest are the building of a knowledge society; Education for Sustainable Development; Higher Education institutional change; Post-cosmopolitan citizenship; innovative participatory approaches to learning; the change of social structures, and the re-conceptualization of personal agency.
Jonathan Fredi holds a Master of Arts degree in International Relations while specializing in Peace and Security Studies from the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and one in Spanish Studies from Louisiana State University. After University he spent a year as a learning specialist and studies coordinator for athletes at Louisiana State University before coming to Spain to pursue his Masters Degree.