The benefits of the use of digital technology for operations are enormous but also come with new and increased risks. There is a real threat to companies production security, safety and capacity, as well as data privacy, when companies connect to operational technology networks. InCyS 4.0 project (https://incybersecurity.eu/) offers free access materials to improve competences in cyber security for operational technicians in industrial companies.
Pontydysgu’s Spanish organisation is part of the EU CONNECT project. Funded under the Erasmus Plus programme, the CONNECT project aims to leverage the impact of Learning Cities through building urban ecosystems of lifelong learning that harness the assets of European cities and transform them into a network of seamless pathways of learning experience for adult learners. The project application says: “In a society where existing educational pathways no longer guarantee opportunity, and with a growing gap between the haves and the have-nots, connected learning for all citizens can open up new entry points and pathways to opportunity; in particular when integrating both the potential of ubiquitous learning technology and learning opportunities created by European cities.”
The CONNECT project aims to leverage the impact of Learning Cities through building urban ecosystems of lifelong learning that harness the assets of European cities and transform them into a network of seamless pathways of learning experience for adult learners. In a society where existing educational pathways no longer guarantee opportunity, and with a growing gap between the haves and the have-nots, connected learning for all citizens can open up new entry points and pathways to opportunity; in particular when integrating both the potential of ubiquitious learning technology and learning opportunities created by European cities.
The call for LifeLong Learning Awards 2018 has been launched. In 2016, the Lifelong Learning Platform launched the LifeLong Learning Awards to celebrate creative and inclusive practices. The aim of the Lifelong Learning Award is to give visibility to innovative practices taking place all over Europe in order to attract public attention on lifelong learning as well as to inspire new practices and policies. The Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP) will select each year its annual specific priority that can be linked to the European year if the theme is relevant.
On 25th January the first EU Education Summit with 18 Education Ministers and 450 Experts took place in Brussels. The Education Summit is another step on the road to a European education space, which the Commission intends to create by 2025. In the future, European education summits will take place regularly - the second is scheduled for autumn 2019.
EU Commissioner Tibor Navracsics said: "We must harness the full potential of education to build stable societies, to empower citizens, to experience European identity in all its diversity. To achieve this, we want to promote language learning and ensure that degrees are recognized throughout the EU, that European higher education institutions can work together optimally and that studying in other EU Member States is even easier. These are factors that make up real European education space, and the Summit is a concrete step in that direction. "
The aim of the summit was to create: »the Foundation for a European Educational Space: Realizing Innovative, Inclusive and Value-Based Education«. Accordingly, the following questions are in the center of attention: How can high-quality, inclusive and value-based education contribute to the success of Europe? What skills will be needed in the coming decades? And how can the acquisition of basic skills as well as digital and entrepreneurial skills be advanced?
SIM Europe's most recent european-wide expert survey reveals lack of reform towards establishing lifelong learning in several EU countries. According to the experts, in ten countries, no reforms have been undertaken aimed at improving financial or human resources for lifelong learning. Moreover, the researchers see a great need for reform in many countries regarding the strong influence of social origin on educational success. Six countries were not active in this regard: Croatia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain.
Transnational project management is a key feature of all European projects, comprising a range of more or less formalized tasks and activities, that shall allow for the smooth and efficient implementation of projects. Over the past years a broad range of methods and tools have been developed, with a view to support the day-to-day and strategic management of EU projects. The bulk of those however is dedicated to planning, monitoring, documentation of results and outcomes, accountancy and evaluation.
There are two objects taken as an exasperating and unavoidable duty by the vast majority of people outside my bubble: to study and to job. Therefore and amongst others, two vital and increasing societal movements alarm this vast majority: the so-called „lifelong learning“ and „to job up to your seventies“. The liquidation of former accepted age limits causes deep uncertainty.
The Erasmus+ partnership ON THE MOVE just released a best practice guide on how to reach out to and include persons from vulnerable groups in the world of Lifelong Learning. The publication is based on reviews of more than 100 European projects, providing outreach educational guidance and low-threshold learning opportunities.
A major aim of the project is to make staff in counselling and educational institutions in Europe aware of "alternative approaches (predominantly of the outreach kind) bringing educationally remote and low-qualified people to further education and will implement these in their countries".
Urban populations have been growing more rapidly than ever in recent years: more than half of the world’s population nowadays lives in cities, and the number is expected to rise to 60 percent by 2030. Cities become increasingly influential in national and world affairs as they expand. However, this expansion is also presenting municipal governments with multiple challenges relating to social cohesion, economic development and sustainability.