The FLLLEX project (The Impact of LifeLong Learning Strategies on Professional Higher Education)

What is FLLLEX?
The FLLLEX project addresses the challenges and implications of LifeLong Learning incorporation into European higher education institutions. How flexible are those institutions when it comes to LifeLong Learning? Hence: FLLLEX. LifeLong Learning opens up a multitude of new possibilities for higher education institutions but the impact on the organisation as such remains understudied. What is the role of higher education in the wider landscape of LifeLong Learning? What are the institutional changes for the future? What strategy can the project propose to other higher education institutions and what policy advise to European and national players?
The FLLLEX project (The Impact of LifeLong Learning Strategies on Professional Higher Education) is an EU funded project in the framework of the Transversal Programme, Key Activity 1. It has started on the 1st of January 2010 and will run until 31st of August 2012. The consortium includes 24 partners from 10 European countries.
The self-evaluation instrument has been developed. The tests in the different partner institutions will now start. Review panels will visit these institutions and draft a report on the tool by the summer of 2011. You can follow the process at our Calendar.
Self evaluation instrument
One of the goals of FLLLEX is to develop a Self-evaluation instrument for Higher Education Institutions. With the instrument, those must be able to enhance their policy and practical organisation relating to Lifelong Learning. The instrument has been developed by ENQA. It is currently being tested at several instutions throughout Europe. The testing in each institution takes place with the aid of focus groups. You may find the relevant dates in our Calendar. If you take part in the focus groups or if you are simply interested in our preliminary results, we invite you to have a look at the instrument. The use of the instrument will be explained at the start of your focus group but we already invite you to read the introduction of the document. Further background can be found in our powerpoint presentation on FLLLEX and this particular work package. Participants to the focus groups who speak Dutch can watch the introductory movie.
Work Packages
The FLLLEX project has set ambitious goals. To achieve those, the project is run by the partners over nine work packages.
The objective of the project is to identify challenges and implications of LifeLong Learning (LLL) incorporation into European higher education institutions (HEI’s), with special attention given to the recognition of prior learning and to different aspects of the management and services within higher education institutions. HEI’s remain a preferential partner in most countries for the governing bodies responsible to implement the national goals of LLL. HEI’s have a particular role to fulfil in the landscape of lifelong learners, businesses and business training providers. The project would like to assess this role within the wider landscape of LLL, as determined by the national policies and as perceived by the institutions themselves. The approach focusses on a system analysis of professional higher education habits within different European countries. The focus is on an institutional rather than on a policy level and attention is given to the comparison among practices in LLL education across the European Union. The project takes into account challenges in implementing a LLL strategy (mainly for HEI’s) and examples of good practice and will finish with generalizations and policy recommendations.
Assessing the impact of LLL on HEI’s starts with a good overview of the different strategies concerning LLL, RPL and WBL in the concerned countries. This is done in Work Package 1. Definitions will be provided for the further project on lifelong learners. Having assembled the policy and expectations of the involved States, a survey will start on the expectations of the other stakeholders in LLL: the learners (Work Package 2), the businesses (Work Package 3) and the business training providers/higher education institutions (Work Package 4). Differences and matching goals in relation to the national policies will be identified. This information serves HEI’s in better defining their role within the LLL landscape. In order to assess if the HEI’s match up with the expectations of the different stakeholders, a self-assessment tool is prepared in Work Package 5 based on the crucial indicators for LLL as defined by the other stakeholders in the survey. It will focus on policy, curricular aspects (design, flexibility), management of programmes, RPL, internal processes (academic – administrative), student counselling, quality assurance, and others if identified during the process. The results of the self-assessment (as carried out by each institutional partner in Work Package 6) are reviewed by a panel of experts, one of whom is connected to a policy-making body within the concerned country. This is Work Package 7. The goals of the last three work packages are to provide benchmarking for the individual institutions, to test the tool before further dissemination in Europe and to gather information for broader policy proposals of LLL. On the basis of those results a package (including self-assessment tool, good practices and policy advise) is developed which will be distributed by the national organisations in the consortium among their members (Work Package 8). The overall management of the project is carried out from within Work Package 9.
Reports and other publications
The project members want to disseminate the project goals and results in an early stage. Proper use of the project results is encouraged. All project partners, and in particular the work package leaders, can be consulted for further information. Presented here are the interim reports, final reports and publications related to the project and its topic.
Project Partners
The FLLLEX consortium exists out of 24 partners from ten different EU countries. The project deals with the implementation of LifeLong Learning strategies in higher education institutions. Eight HEIs have been selected together with the national organisation representing them as Full Partners. The project was initiated and is supported by Eurashe. Three Associated Partners form part of the Advisory Board. The external evaluation is carried out by Educonsult.
Higher Education Institutions
Cardonald College (United Kingdom)
Hanzehogeschool (The Netherlands)
IUT de Saint-Nazaire (France)
KHLeuven - Leuven University College (Belgium)
Laurea University (Finland)
Letterkenny Institute of Technology (Ireland)
Vilnius College (Lithuania)
Yasar University (Turkey)
National Organisations for Profession-oriented higher education
L'Association des Directeurs d'IUT (ADIUT) (France)
Council of Flemish Institutions of Higher Education (VLHORA) (Belgium)
Council of Higher Education (YOK) (Turkey)
Institutes of Technology Ireland (IoTI) (Ireland)
Lithuanian Colleges Directors' Conference (LKDK) (Lithuania)
The Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences (HBO raad) (The Netherlands)
Rectors' Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (ARENE) (Finland)
West of Scotland Colleges' Partnership (WOSCOP) (United Kingdom)
Structural Partners
Banku Augstskola (BA) (Latvia)
Educonsult (Belgium)
European Association for Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE) (Belgium)
European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) (Finland)
3s research lab (3s) (Austria)
Advisory Board
Business Europe,
Education International,
European Students' Union (ESU).