European Qualifications Framework - the first 10 years

More than 300 people from employment, education and training organisations joined "The European Qualifications Framework: supporting learning, work and cross border mobility" conference on 15-16 March in Brussels. LLL-P's Steering Committee members were invited to participate at the event.

Participants discussed the following topics in interactive workshops on the first day, followed up by high level panels on the second day:

• How has the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), and its focus on learning outcomes, supported the modernisation of education and training systems?
• How has the EQF helped build trust and increase transparency and comparability of qualifications?
• How do qualifications frameworks facilitate validation of non-formal and informal learning?
• How can qualifications frameworks support the recognition of qualifications?
• What is the role of social partners and other stakeholders in the EQF process and what are their future expectations?
• How have the EQF and the development of qualifications frameworks supported international and global cooperation?

Culture and Education for All: Building the Skills for More Resilient Societies

Joining forces, several civil society organisations invited European and international institutions and various stakeholders to debate a common approach to addressing the links between education and culture. The purpose of coming together for this event was to discuss possible synergies in light of the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage and the  European Commission’s 2017 Communication on “Strengthening European Identity through Education and Culture”, as well as to react to the proposed revision of the key competences and to the future of learning package. To this extent, recent policy developments prompted the organisers to acknowledge the need to rebuild on past common positions, widen their scope, and formulate new recommendations to policy-makers. EPA's President, Vice President of Lifelong Learning Platform, Eszter Salamon was invited to present the LLL-P position on key competences and learning environments as a speaker of the event.

The 9th FEAD Network Meeting Highlights

The 9th FEAD Network meeting took place on 01 March in Brussels and discussed issues related to “The role of volunteers in FEAD delivery”. EPA was represented by EPA Ambassador Herminio Correa. During the meeting an interactive workshop on initiating and running a volunteer programme was organised. The suggested programmes took part in a competition and again the EPA representative was on the winning team. You can see the idea described at the end of the article. It will hopefully inspire people to implement it in reality.