Civil society and civil society organisations are on the frontline these days in Europe to assist and care for people fleeing the horrible war in Ukraine. They have been in the spotlight worldwide, in the last 2 years of Covid pandemic to flexibly provide social support and education services to people when formal system were in difficulty. Organised civil society is a crucial actor when it comes to sharpening the relevance of public policies and complementing public intervention.
Against this backdrop, the European Economic and Social Committee held its annual Civil Society Days this week. This conference brought together citizens, organised civil society and European institutions in order to hear the voice and position of the civil society vis-à-vis major societal challenges the EU currently faces in shaping its future. One of the dimensions of civil society contribution is in providing lifelong learning opportunities to people. A dedicated workshop session at the conference debated on the new challenge of contemporary societies and economies – how to make sure that people never stop learning, how to provide upskilling opportunities for all without leaving anyone behind.
In order for the society to enjoy the benefit of the green and digital transition, and to be at ease with the fast changes in jobs that they bring about, the EU has set a target of 60% of all adults taking part in training every year by 2030. The European Commission recently presented proposals for Council Recommendations on individual learning accounts and on micro-credentials – both initiatives are aimed at enabling all working age adults to engage in quality learning throughout their lives. At the Conference, the Lifelong Learning Platform released its Reaction to these 2 initiatives. Some of the key messages of these reaction are:
- It is important that a wide range of stakeholders, such as civil society organisations, are involved in providing training opportunities. This is especially crucial for reaching out to local communities, motivating marginalised adult people,
- Entitlements to training through individual learning accounts should not be limited to labour market related learning, but to open up to development of broader range of transversal skills that empower people to fully engage in society,
- The learning offer should aim at providing learner-driven meaningful learning experiences as opposed to market-driven access to learning. This is crucial for supporting a culture of lifelong learning across Europe where broad adult participation becomes the norm.
Link to outcomes and all materials of Civil Society Days 2022 here.
Indeed, while there is high awareness and important steps being made at EU level and across some Member States to foster participation in lifelong earning – it is important not to lose sight of the imperative of “leaving no one behind”. Civil society actors are important partners both in implementing lifelong learning, but also in ensuring, at an early stage, that the EU and national plans and policies in the field of lifelong learning and participation of adults are fitting the societal needs.
ETF advocates for civil society organisations’ engagement in policy shaping and implementation in the area of human capital development. ETF pursues research, analysis and knowledge sharing activities demonstrating the value added of CSOs engagement in HCD policy cycle. The link to the resent ETF survey and country reports on “Civil society organisations’ contribution to the lifelong development of people’s human capital” can be found here.
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