Forging new pathways of research and innovation in open and distance learning

Changing Landscape of the Lifelong Learning Innovation in Europe
András Szűcs
In the meantime, with the escalation of the migrants’ problem, the role of civil organizations
may be higher valued (Policy Networks, 2016).
The recent Skills Agenda for Europe initiative (2016) as a potentially progressive action line by
the Commission, aims to boost employability, competitiveness and growth in the EU, to
improve the quality and relevance of skills formation, to make skills and qualifications more
visible and comparable. Concrete measures in support the implementation of the Agenda
include a review of the Recommendation on Key Competences, an initiative on graduate
tracking, a review of the European Qualifications Framework. The Digital Skills and Jobs
Coalition is a flagship initiative among a number of other initiatives that were presented.
The relation of education and training with the social usefulness has been reconsidered in
these years. Business models are changing, new stakeholder alliances emerge, supported by
fresh social and economic demands and clusters of interests. In the education – employment
context, enhancing education providers’ job placement awareness, efforts for exit strategies
from universities is emphasized, together with the request to follow closely how training is
translated into employment.
Lately however, EU Commission President Juncker made his annual State of the Union
speech. It was received with disappointment that a continued low priority for research and
higher education from the side of the Commission (EUA September 2016). President Juncker
did not once mention research, innovation or higher education. Instead it was proposed to
enlarge and prolong the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), which has clearly
failed to fund innovative projects or bring universities and industry closer together, as
originally promised (EUA June 2016).
Paradigm change quest in lifelong learning: towards stability in
complexity
In the multifaceted settings outlined above (“… Complexity is the new reality…” – Conole,
2012) the relevance of a holistic attitude is increasingly stressed, directing the focus on
comprehensive approach of learning scenarios and environments (EDEN, 2015, 2016).
Increasing attention is being devoted to the relationships between learning, living, and society,
and to learning communities which extend beyond education, including the way learning is
organized in different communities and spaces (intergenerational and cross-cultural,
learning).
Whilst however, these factors would act towards the extension of contexts of learning,
including employability, quality of life, joy of learning, learning experience etc., the
integrating approach of Lifelong Learning on its own right receives surprisingly small
attention in the EU policies. A kind of contradiction is that the LLL field seems to be devaluated,
losing impact and voice in the policy and social debates.
338 Reaching from the roots – 9 th EDEN Research Workshop Proceedings, 2016, Oldenburg
ISBN 978-615-5511-12-7