This article contains news from the Youth Forum Newsletter as well as the Lifelong Learning Platform Newsletter.
EU strategy for quality education for all, focusing on schools!
At the end of May the European Commission presented its new strategy to support high quality, inclusive and future-oriented school and higher education. In the Communication School development and excellent teaching for a great start in life the Commission identifies areas where action is urgently needed and how EU support can help EU countries address the current challenges. Check out the complete strategy.
Celebrating 30 years of Erasmus
This year the EU celebrates 30 years of its ‘Erasmus’ programme. From Erasmus to Erasmus+, 9 million people have now benefited from exchanges abroad. On the day of the anniversary, celebrated in Starsbourg on 13June, the Erasmus+ Mobile App was launched.
Council adopts revision of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) for lifelong learning
The Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council adopted the revision of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) for lifelong learning. The purpose of the EQF is to improve the transparency, comparability and portability of people’s qualifications. The EQF was originally created in 2008 as a common reference framework of eight European generic levels of learning, which serves as ‘translation grid’.
EU cultural diplomacy: towards a greater commitment
In 2013-2014 the European Parliament funded the Preparatory action on Culture in EU external relations which brought interesting results, as the publication Engaging the World: Towards Global Cultural Citizenship. Building on this work, the European Commission has released at the end of last year the Communication ‘Towards an EU strategy for international cultural relations‘, linking it also to the series of follow up action to the Paris declaration. The European Parliament has now finalised its report on this initiative and will soon vote it in Plenary. In the meantime, also the Platform on Cultural diplomacy was born and is closely following these political developments from the civil society perspective.
Youth work recommendation of the Council of Europe: it is a first!
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted in May 2017 a first comprehensive Recommendation on Youth Work. It is a historic step towards broader recognition and support for youth work and youth organisations, acknowledging the countless positive outcomes they create for individuals, their communities and for society in general. The document sets out recommended actions for governments of Member States to support youth work. You can watch here the video of the Youth Forum, explaining why Youth work matters!
Congratulations to the new UN Envoy on Youth!
The new UN Envoy on Youth is Jayathma Wickramanayake of Sri Lanka. She will succeed former Youth Envoy, Ahmad Alhendawi of Jordan.
SDG Watch Europe scenario on the Future of Europe: a sustainable Europe for its citizens.
SDG Watch Europe put together this scenario on the Future of Europe and are looking for additional endorsements from civil society organisations.
PUBLICATIONS
Report of Forum on Intercultural Learning and Exchange 2017: the intercultural training of teachers: what,where, how?, Fondazione Intercultura.
Preparing teachers for Diversity, European Commission.
UNESCO Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding.
UNESCO Guide on the Holocaust and preventing genocide, it suggests key learning objectives aligned with Global Citizenship Education, the 2030 Education Agenda and the SDG4 on Education.
Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe 2017, Eurydice.
Guidelines for staff within Higher education Institutions for creating intercultural learning environments, by the project HE4u2 – Integrating Cultural Diversity in Higher Education.
Education systems in a post-truth world, Eurydice.
Youth work quality systems and frameworks in the European Union, European Commission.
Youth Policy, the ‘essentials’, Youth partnership.
CONSULTATIONS
Open public consultation to hear citizens’ views about Promoting social inclusion and shared values through formal and non-formal learning.Deadline: 19 august 2017.
For more information: elisa.briga@afs.org