Local Adult Education Policy – LEAP

Project Goal:

The general objective of the project is to contribute to attaining the target of 15% participation rate of adults in learning as stated in strategies Europe 2020 and Education&Training 2020. Project LEAP is targeting local authorities to empower them to i) understand and appreciate the importance of the adult education issues and ii) be prepared to draft local adult education (and/or skills) strategies.

Those interested in adult education policy on local level, please join us at EPALE Community of Practice

Background:

The low participation rates of adults in learning activities are seen across a number of EU countries. In many cases it applies that increasing participation in adult learning requires a policy framework that is well co-ordinated. In order to encourage adults to participate in learning and education over their life course, the importance of adult learning, as well as a clear definition of what it is, needs to be acknowledged across all levels of government and society. To effectively address the need of strengthening the governance system, we need to strengthen the local level of governance which is closest to the citizens. To do so, better policies on adult education need to be promoted.

Target Groups:

The primary target group are local decision-makers, council members, staff of local authorities, ie those who will be drafting a policy.
Stakeholders are the adult education ecosystem stakeholders such as education providers, learning centres, cultural centres, civic society, employers who have vested interests in having a good policy. They need to understand the issues and cooperate with policy makers in order to set up a functioning and effective policy.
The beneficiaries will be the general public who will be given quality learning opportunities.

Project Activities and Results:

The project activities revolve around four intellectual outputs that are to be implemented:

IO1: LEAP Platform and Community of Practice (Open Educational Resource) on www.leap2local.eu

IO2: Trends & Dynamics in AE local policy making (Research)

IO3: AE Policy Making Tools for Local Authorities (Training and Piloting)

IO4: “How to” Guide for local policy makers (Guidelines for a policy)

Financing:

The project is implemented in the framework of the Erasmus+ Lifelong Learning Program, KA2 – Strategic Partnerships. The budget is EUR 288 647. The project period is 24 months, starting in November 2020 and ending in October 2022.