EUCEN, the European Association for University Lifelong Learning, is the largest European multidisciplinary Association in University Lifelong Learning.

EUCEN was founded in 1991. It is registered in Belgium as an international non-governmental non-profit making organisation and has 212 members from 40 different countries.

What are the aims and objectivs of EUCEN?

In furtherance of the above-mentioned objectives the Association shall have, amongst its functions, the following:

The Association shall ensure that its objectives and activities remain non profit-making.

What do we mean by university lifelong learning (ULLL)

The definition of ULLL varies between countries and universities. EUCEN seeks to include this rich diversity and to have a coherent focus for our activities.

We have therefore adopted the following definition of University Lifelong Learning (ULLL):

What is our vision?

Enable members to serve most effectively the people of Europe, particularly in their own regions, through the provision of high quality lifelong learning.

What is our mission?

1. To contribute to the economic and cultural life of Europe through the promotion and advancement of lifelong learning within higher education institutions in Europe and elsewhere.
2. To foster universities’ influence in the development of lifelong learning knowledge and policies throughout Europe.
3. To provide a forum for the development, interchange and dissemination of innovation and good practice on lifelong learning within European higher education.
4. To encourage high standards in all areas of lifelong learning and to harmonise levels of quality for lifelong learning among its members.
5. To represent the interests of the lifelong learning community within higher education and to European policymakers.
6. To facilitate communication, liaison and collaboration with other appropriate bodies and organisations.
7. To promote and conduct research into lifelong learning and to disseminate the results of this research.
8. To obtain, collect and receive money, funds and other property and to administer them in pursuance of the objectives of the Association.

“ULLL is the provision by higher education institutions of learning opportunities, services and research for: the personal and professional development of a wide range of individuals – lifelong and lifewide; and the social, cultural and economic development of communities and the region. It is at university level and research-based; it focuses primarily on the needs of the learners; and it is often developed and/or provided in collaboration with stakeholders and external actors”.

• Influence the development of university lifelong learning policy throughout Europe.
• Promote a European model of lifelong learning based on democracy, equal rights and social justice.
• Contribute to a lifelong learning policy that takes into account economic and social needs.
• Promote interaction in order to identify and mobilise resources within the Association network.
• Enable the exchange of experience and information between members on current lifelong learning regulations and policies and establish contacts with the relevant European bodies.
• Provide contacts for members with lifelong learning policy makers and practitioners in a range of universities throughout Europe.
• Seek to harmonise levels of quality for ULLL among members and to maintain standards for effective monitoring.
• Contribute to the development of an effective university credit transfer system that would be acceptable within the network.
• Seek to influence European policy on ULLL.

What strategy do we have to achieve this?

• Assist ULLL policy makers in selecting the most appropriate and effective policies for their own institutions.
• Provide a forum in which ideas about ULLL can be discussed.
• Provide an accurate and rapid source of information to members on ULLL in European countries.
• Help members to strengthen their contacts with employers and the professions in European countries.
• Encourage the exchange of information between universities and employers to identify their changing LLL needs.
• Provide academic and administrative support with members working together to expand their LLL provision.
• Support members wishing to develop European LLL research.
• Provide opportunities for LLL staff development through staff exchange.
• Seek opportunities for student exchange.

What role oes eucen have?

EUCEN has an important role in the policy making process. It is represented on a number of committees and advisory panels at European level and provides experts and expert teams for international projects and consultancy to universities wishing to develop lifelong learning strategies and actions. Through conferences, projects and networking activities we provide a wide range of opportunities for staff and curriculum development, for the sharing of best practice and for the development of international contacts for ULLL.

Source: Eucen2011

Things are a little different in Zermatt. Zermatt: a world of its own! For three days, 27-28-29 September, Zermatt can become your world! Experience it yourself. Register now for our conference.

This year’s scope

The scope of the conference is ‘the development of institutional strategies and business models for lifelong open and flexible learning, including (international) cooperation between institutions’.

This year’s themes

The main themes are:

• Lifelong Learning
  • Policy: Setting the research and innovation agenda for open and flexible teaching and learning in higher education and for lifelong learning.
  • Best practice: Showcases of successful lifelong learning strategies and business models.
• Open Educational Resources
  Cooperation, development and implementation models in higher education.
• Quality Assurance
  Including quality assurance in higher education andbenchmarking the quality of open and flexible learning.
• Virtual Mobility and Virtual Erasmus
  Raising the numbers and quality of mobility of staff and students by the integration of Virtual Erasmus.
• Academic Cooperation
  Including academic cooperation for international master spaces and joint doctorates and networked teaching and learning at the undergraduate and graduate level.
• Employability & Entrepreneurship
  Education and training for employment and entrepreneurship through open and flexible provisions, combining informal and formal learning for innovation.

Source: EADTU

This year, StudyWorld focused on Studying in Spain with 30 Spanish educational institutions from all parts of the country represented at the Fair. Among them were 21 universities, which introduced fairgoers to their courses of study. Furthermore, the Universidad.es Foundation provided information about university admissions and financing an educational stay in Spain.

The Fair was accompanied by a seminar programme with 60 presentations on the topics of academic periods abroad and career planning. The event meets the needs of secondary and tertiary-level students, graduates and people on the job who are looking for an educational programme that fits their needs and desires.

ICWE’s partners in organising the event are the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Further information about StudyWorld 2010 is available http://www.studyworld2010.com/eng/

The MISC Conference will take place from 20th to 22nd January 2010 at Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), London under the following major themes: Mobility, Individualisation, Socialisation, and Connectivity. It is organized by: EIfEL (European Institute for E-Learning ). The MISC conference is about exploring the current changes in technologies and practices towards individualisation and socialisation through digital identity, connectivity and mobile technology in a perspective of lifelong learning and employability. The goal is to bring together researchers and practitioners working in a variety of fields (education, employment, healthcare, policy, technologies etc.) to facilitate exchanges and share the latest advances in the state of the art identity construction and personal data management.

The MISC 2010 tracks are as follows:

1. Education & lifelong learning


2. Work & employability


3. Healthcare & wellness


4. Business & trade


5. Policies & citizenship


6. Technologies & infrastructures

The speakers at the conference include: Martin Kuppinger, Kuppinger Cole and Partner (Germany) – Fulup ar Foll, Sun Microsystem (France) – Rakesh Radhakrishnan, Sun Microsystems (USA) – David Gurteen, Gurteen Knowledge (UK) – Rob Arntsen, MKM (UK) – Serge Ravet, EIfEL (France) – Mikael Ates, Entr’ouvert, (France)

Mr. Nadhir DOUMA, Founder and CEO of e-Taalim presented a study about the Uses of ICTs and Media for lifelong learning in Africa and the Arab states; Situation & Perspectives. The study was divided into the following main sections: ICTs & Internet, Higher education, Educational institutions networks, Professional development, Initiatives and Perspectives. The key figures include the percentage of Internet users in Africa & the Arab countries which is no more than 1% according to the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) – UNESCO, the Network Readiness Index (NRI) rankings which put Tunisia as African leader for the second consecutive year according to the World Economic Forum (38th). Other African countries were ranked as follows: Mauritius (51th), South Africa (52th), Egypt (76th), Morocco (86th) and Algeria (109th). Concerning the Arab countries, the United Arab Emirates is the leader (27th), Qatar (29th), Bahrain (37th), KSA (40th), Jordan (44th) and Oman (50th). The study also indicated that Arabic content on the Internet is only 1% at the end of 2008 according to the World Economic Forum.

Concerning Higher education and in Africa, the number of Virtual Universities is three: 1 in Tunisia, 1 in Senegal and the third is the African Virtual University (AVU) which is an Inter-Governmental Organization headquartered in Kenya with members including Senegal, Mauritania, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire. The AVU was initially launched in Washington in 1997 as a World Bank project. In the Arab World, there are six Virtual Universities: 1 in Syria, 1 in Tunisia, 2 in Egypt, 1 in Jordan and the Arab Open University (AOU). The AOU was founded in 2002 in Kuwait, Jordan, and Lebanon. One year later it opened in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and soon in Oman. The situation is to be improved as if we compare it to the United States of America for instance; the number of online Universities and colleges is around 200.

For more information about the results of the study, please contact e-Taalim at:
info@e-taalim.com