From Political Will to Implementation - New EUCIS-LLL Position Paper on Europe 2020 Strategy

The Europe 2020 Strategy is on the verge of its mid-term review. Inequalities in European education and training systems have increased simultaneously with the crisis, with vulnerable groups being particularly disadvantaged. The level of low-skilled adults, increased numbers of people at the risk of social exclusion and rising unemployment levels in most Member States show that much more needs to be done in order to reach the 2020 targets. This will require a renewed political commitment to foster lifelong learning at European level with a stronger focus on the social dimension of education, training and youth policies and funds.

European citizens should be rightly placed at the centre of the strategy and of all political decisions made at EU level. A common vision for the European Union cannot be reduced to purely economic considerations - says the Position Paper just published, and EPA (not only as a member of EUCIS-LLL) cannot agree more. EUCIS-LLL presents 10 key points on the EU2020 Strategy.

Civil Society Europe - a new network of NGO networks

More than thirty European Networks[1] of civil society supported the creation of Civil Society Europe on 16^th December 2014 in Rome. Civil Society Europe will work towards regenerating the European project around the shared values of Equality, Solidarity, Inclusiveness and Democracy expressed in its Manifesto. (EPA is linked to the new network through EUCIS-LLL and the Social Platform.)

KeyCoNet final conference

Almost 100 stakeholders from 25 countries attended the conference  Improving the Integration of Key Competences in School Education, stretching across the various education communities involved in policy, research and practice. The goal was to launch KeyCoNet’s recommendations to a broad group of key stakeholders involved in key competence development in school education. EPA was invited to be at the conference and contribute to the discussion as a panellist. We are also committed to helping the dissemination of KeyCoNet’s recommendations at national, regional, European or local level, to ensure they are put to good use by the various stakeholders you work with in your daily professions.

The role of home-school relationship in preventing school violence and early school leaving – report of the EPA conference 28/29 November 2014

FNAP-IP, our Romanian member hosted the last EPA conference of 2014 in Bucharest in the grand building of the national Parliament. The topics of the conference - school violence and early school leaving (ESL) – are both burning issues in the host country as well as other parts of Europe. Our speakers tried to answer the question how parental involvement help to decrease both problems and how to involve parents, especially those with disadvantaged backgrounds. The importance of the conference was highlighted by the fact that it was greeted by the Minister of Education – on Skype from Senegal -, the General Mayor of Bucharest and a high ranking official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. All keynote speakers of the first day offered workhops on the second day to make it possible for participants to share their thoughts and good practices.

Agents of Change - Fight against early school leaving following the model of Real Pearl Foundation

Keynote by Nóra Ritók at the EPA Conference in Bucharest 28/29 November 2014

My foundation works in East Hungary, in one of the poorest regions of the country. We work for integration with families living in extreme poverty. Most of these families are Roma. Among this population early school leaving is a significant problem. There are many causes of this problem. First of all we have to understand the families, the circumstances, the possibilities. These families live in very poor and terrible circumstances. There are five to eight, sometimes ten children in one family. In the second part of the month they have no more money to buy food for their children. This situation is not acceptable in the twenty first century in Europe. These people are expected to do things they are far from being able to.

EUCIS-LLL message on the International Volunteer Day

This year, the International Volunteer day highlights the contribution of volunteers in engaging people from the grass-roots in decision-making processes, ultimately creating space for participation that leads to: stronger governance, social cohesion, peace and sustainable development. Volunteers develop personal, social and civic competences that are seldom recognised by educational institutions and companies. The International Volunteer day is a good opportunity to recall the importance of ensuring the possibility for volunteers to have their learning outcomes recognised and to push for the better social and political recognition of volunteering for society and for democracy. 

ICOT 2015 News

The 17th International Conference on Thinking (ICOT 2015), which will take place in Bilbao between June 28th and July 4th 2015. The conference that will focus on the application of Thinking in Education, the Arts, Business and Sport is supported by EPA being FAPAE (our local member) actively involved in its organization. The focus is to develop understanding about the key competence of Learning to Think creatively and critically. Read a detailed report by FAPAE on the organisation and the event.