Grundtvig Conference Brussels 2010

2010 is the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion in adult education. To start his year, the European Commission organised a conference in Brussels, Management Centre of Europe, over three days (26-28 January 2010).
It was the first time I attended a conference like this, and I wanted to take the opportunity to not only meet people and new potential partners, but also to promote eduate.eu. I was the first one to arrive at the Centre and, hence could see who was coming in, and who'd be my first target. :-)
Over the three days, I learned a lot about what those people would like to have and what they need. I questioned and listened to them in the plenary, in workshops and, of course, one on one.
I noticed what people want is a tool to disseminate their projects and outcomes, a tool to network and to see what others are up to, a tool that is simple and easy to use.

Maria Joao Rodrigues started the conferences by outlining the importance of adult learning in the EU strategy, this being the importance of building a knowledge society.To summarise a little, the goal is to make the best of people's capabilities, build a sustainable learning infrastructure and solidarity among generations.
Alan Smith finished the first plenary by saying that 2010 is an important year for designing the future programme beyond 2013.

The workshop I attended on day one was about Broadening Access, boosting participation. The other two involved: Recognition of non-formal and informal learning and Professional development of adult education staff. Through project presentations, the main barriers for adult learners were presented and analysed (little interest in own personal development, belief that education is sufficient for current profession, fear of failure, lack of time, lack of financial resources) and it was questioned whether these barriers (I didn't list them all) are merely excuses.

Day 2, the day started with a keynote by Doris Pack, the President of Education and Culture Committee, EU Parliament. She pointed out things to be worked on such as motivation to participate, reconciliation of working and family life, effective delivery of education, importance of learning languages, financing (a running issue throughout the conference as well) and improving the pedagogy.

And as this year, is the year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, there is also a European campaign to raise public awareness and to strengthen political commitment to more effective and efficient social inclusion policies. More information on what you can do, on 2010 Against Poverty.

I attended the workshop 5 – Migrants: the role of adult education. Martin Kilgus (SWR = southwest German Broadcasting Corporation) held the key speech about the segmentation of migrants according to social milieu and not their ethnic background with the goal of integrating them through the provision of adult education. I thought that this approach is well suited, especially with country of second and third generations of migrants, where the ethnic approach simply does not work anymore. Again, via their study, results showed migrants' obstacles of getting or receiving adult education.
Another result was also the difference between high and low income migrants / generations of migrants. The ones with high incomes, well-established professional life seek education and information via new technology (The web, phone etc.) whereas the low income, professionally less-established ones don't see the value of seeking education. It is either too expensive, has no value, traditionally only suitable for men and not women, learning (education) is not recognised in all EU countries or they prefer learning in their own ethnic group. And when talking about the way they would like to be educated, no one mentioned radio or television, the two channels, that are the most common and widely used for entertainment.

The conclusion of the conference and recommendations given by all workshops and people, is the need for additional funding, specific support to overcome language barriers, creating a Grundtvig Mundus and increase the transfer of innovation. It is crucial to simply spread the word about the programme, the projects and their outcomes to involve people outside the “Grundtvig community” and influence policy makers. ICT is still a continuous issue and shall still be encouraged to be used in projects.
And let's not forget the urgent need of a partner search database. :-)

The conference ended with, what I call the Grundtvig song, which is the result of European people throwing words at a songwriter in the Music workshop. :-) It reminded me somehow of John Lennon's peace music.