Staying on Track – Presidency Symposium in Luxembourg – report

The Luxembourgish Presidency’s education programme was started with a large symposium on preventing ESL and promoting school success in Europe on 9^th and 10^th July. Throughout the event the importance of parents was highlighted and the participants have discussed parental involvement in depth. Given this framework EPA was honoured to be part of the closing panel and reflect on the key messages and recommendations coming from workshops of experts, together with representatives of ESHA, ETUCE, OBESSU, EYF and also a high level representative of the European Commission. The importance of the event was very clear from the fact that is was opened jointly by Commissioner Tibor Navracsics and the Luxembourgish Minister of Education, Claude Meisch.

ICOT 2015

ICOT 2015, the International Conference on Thinking took place in Bilbao (Basque Country, Spain) from 29 June to 3 July. It is one of the most important world event in the field of education. EPA was present both as a supporting institutional partner and by the participation of two Vice Presidents, Christian Hellevang and Josep-Manuel Prats.

ICOT is the biggest event on thinking in the world. This year marked the 17th edition and aimed to be a space to raise and discuss ideas and experiences on concepts such as creativity, intelligence, thinking, curiosity, complexity, problem-based learning (PBL), thinking-based learning (TBL), education, networking, learning, leadership, evaluation, measuring sustainability, change and innovation.

EUCIS-LLL Annual Conference 2015

On 15th and 16th June 2015, EUCIS-LLL organised its General Assembly and Annual Conference on “Lifelong Learning, paving the way for learning and qualifications”. At the General Assembly Eszter Salamon, President of EPA was elected to the Steering Committee of EUCIS-LLL and thus parental representation became a reality in the Platform on vice presidential level. The conference, as usual, brought together participants from a variety of sectors, ranging from public institutions, private enterprises to civil society organisations. These events are a great help of the EUCIS-LLL staff and leaders to shape policy recommendations and constitute a genuine moment of dialogue and peer exchange on lifelong learning.

Involved fatherhood is critical to gender equality and child development, reveals first global fatherhood report

The first-ever State of the World’s Fathers (SOWF) report has been presented today at the European Parliament under the framework of the global MenCare fatherhood campaign at a roundtable discussion organised by the S&D Group and Make Mothers Matter. This report is a landmark analysis of fatherhood that draws evidence from hundreds of studies covering all countries in the world with available data.

The SOWF report is intended to provide a periodic, data-driven snapshot of the state of men’s contributions to parenting and care giving globally by addressing four issues related to fatherhood: unpaid care work in the home; maternal, newborn, and child health and sexual and reproductive health and rights; men’s care giving and violence against children and women; and child development.

On Juncker’s Investment Plan – Investing in social progress, human capital, health and education is urgent

Press Statement of the EU Alliance for Investing in Children  on the occasion of the European Parliament’s adoption of the European Fund for Strategic Investments. (The Investment Plan is part of the Commission’s new approach based on three pillars of structural reforms, fiscal responsibility and investment. The Investment Plan aims to unlock public and private investments in the real economy of at least € 315 billion over the next three years (2015-2017). To provide this additional financing a new European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is being set up based on a proposal by the European Commission.)

Wikiprogress Online Consultation on Youth Well-being: Summary Report

The first Wikiprogress Online Consultation was a big success and the organisers thank all of you who took part. The consultation had around 300 registered participants and over 500 comments. As you may all know EPA was a partner in the consultation and we are very happy that the crucial role of parents was highlighted during it.

A summary report was produced, summarising some of the key points made in the consultation, and can be downloaded here.

The consultation findings and aspects of Youth Well-being more generally were discussed at a special session at the OECD Forum in Paris on 2 June.  Marianna Georgallis, Policy and Advocacy Officer from the European Youth Forum (one of the consultation partners) outlined some of the main issues and led the discussion.  The session, titled “What Does Youth Well-Being Really Mean?” was attended by around 50 people from the Forum, with many youth participants, and there was a lively discussion around the questions raised by the consultation.

Country-Specific Recommendations fail children - Urgent call to Action

Press Release of the EU Alliance for Investing in Children[i] ahead of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) 18-19 June 2015 and in view of their expected approval of the Country-Specific Recommendations, as a reaction to the 2015 National Reform Programmes