ETY Forum October 19-20, 2015
Workshop synopsis
Workshop 1: "Basic skills for all"
Europe’s low levels of basic skills attainment hamper economic progress and severely limit
individuals in their professional, social and personal fulfilment. The issue of reaching basic skills for all
is best addressed in a lifelong learning perspective, through formal or non-formal learning, ranging
from pre-school and school education, youth activities, higher education, vocational education and
training, to adult education and continuing training, family and community learning. Support must
come from stakeholders across society - education and training providers, as well as players such as
municipalities, businesses, trade unions, employment services and NGOs. Partnership and
coordination of activities is essential.
 What types of policy actions, interventions and cooperation would reduce low achievement
in basic skills (covering literacy, mathematics, science and digital literacy)?
 How can the supply of and access to high-quality adult learning and lifelong learning be
increased to address worrying trends of low basic skills and high unemployment among
adults?
The discussion will look at three specific areas:
 Adult education, continuing training and basic skills
 School education
 Migrants of all ages
Workshop 2: "High-level skills for the knowledge society"
Widening access to higher levels of education – and in particular the major expansion of tertiary
education – has been one of the major success stories of the last decades in Europe. A better
educated population is crucial in a modern economy that is increasingly reliant on highly skilled
people. Technological progress and new ways of organising work are changing the nature of many
jobs, increasing the demands on current and future employees and entrepreneurs. And, in the face
of new competition from around the world, Europe has to rely more than ever on its capacity to
create and innovate to be able to compete in crucial sectors.
But, for those working in education and in education policy, both the expansion of tertiary education
and the changing world for which they are preparing their graduates create challenges. How can
higher education institutions and their staff best support a more diverse student population to
acquire the kinds of knowledge, skills and competencies that they will need to succeed? There is
broad consensus that higher education should include an explicit focus on developing transversal
skills (such as critical thinking, problem-solving and cooperative working), alongside specialised
knowledge, both to facilitate graduates' initial transition to work and to help them adapt and learn
new skills over the course of their careers. But how can learning programmes be developed and
adapted that best help students acquire this set of skills and competences?
While there is no single or simple answer, a number of trends in higher education policy and practice
seem promising. This workshop will focus on the teaching and learning at tertiary level and explore
how changes in tertiary-level programme design, structure and teaching can increase relevance and
skills acquisition. Specific questions addressed through the project presentations and discussions will
include:
 Which kinds of programme structures, designs and teaching approaches are best for
developing transversal skills?
 How can cooperation with employers and work-based learning best be developed to support
skills development?
 How can teachers in higher education be better supported to help students develop their
skills and competencies?
Workshop 3: "Towards more inclusive learning environments: facilitating equal access and
addressing the diversity of learners"
Education and training systems need to enable all learners to achieve their potential, by
understanding and embracing the diversity of their needs, regardless of socio-economic, cultural or
other differences. While most EU countries have made progress in this area, a significant educational
gap persists and access to quality education for all remains a challenge. Learning environments need
to become more inclusive and facilitate the potential development of all learners, while paying
special attention to risk factors of underachievement or leaving school early, such as socio-economic
disadvantage, disabilities, migrant or minority background.
 How can learning institutions and educators be better equipped and supported so that
learners experience inclusion, equality and non-discrimination?
 What actions effectively address diversity in education and training?
Workshop 4: "Promoting active citizenship and fundamental values, such as tolerance, nondiscrimination and respect of diversity through education"
The Paris Declaration of Education Ministers of 17 March 2015 called for actions at all levels to
reinforce the role of education in promoting fundamental values, fostering social integration, while
combating all forms of discrimination with a view to helping young people become responsible,
open-minded and active citizens. The growing diversity of European societies poses a number of
opportunities, but also significant challenges. Offering migrants a decent start in an inclusive learning
environment is the best tool to help them develop their full potential and foster their integration in
European societies. However, associated with increased migration flows, recent studies have
revealed a large degree of intolerance towards minorities and migrant communities, which is
growing in certain Member States. Migrant children and youth tend to become victims of bullying on
the grounds of race and ethnicity across Europe. Peaceful co-existence of various cultures, minority
and migrant groups is increasingly becoming a challenge.
In this context, it is more important than ever that all relevant actors - formal education institutions
and non-formal learning providers, local authorities, youth work, social services and civil society - join
forces to promote civic, social and relational competences, enhance intercultural understanding and
foster ownership of democratic values and fundamental rights. The workshop will aim to explore
how European fundamental values, such as tolerance, respect of diversity and non-discrimination
can be promoted through formal and non-formal learning with a view to creating more cohesive
societies.
Workshop 5 "Innovation in education: better ways to learn, teach and build partnerships in the
digital age"
Developing innovative learning environments is vital if we are to give learners the skills and
competences they need for the 21st century. The demand for high-level skills – for specialists, for
critical thinkers, for problem solvers - will grow as technology and globalisation disrupt established
economic sectors.
Digital skills and competences are also vital in the digital age for learning as well as work, leisure,
inclusion and participation in society. Across Europe initiatives are underway to boost digital skills of
teachers and learners. A third of the EU member states have introduced national strategies for digital
education. Huge challenges remain, however, and Europe lags behind other parts of the world.
These changes are an opportunity as well as a challenge. Changes in what, where and how we learn
offer us the opportunity to consider the mission and delivery of education. To do this, education
and training systems must optimise technology and more broadly make use of innovative and active
pedagogies, which include self-directed learning, critical thinking, team work and problem solving
skills.
To achieve truly innovative education institutions and systems, we need more inter-disciplinary
models and working methods in school education and higher education, as well as partnerships and
collaboration with stakeholders, including local community bodies, industry, research institutions and
cultural institutions. By promoting mobility (international, inter-disciplinary, inter-sectoral and
virtual), we can help give students and graduates the skills and confidence to thrive in a fast-changing
and global work environment and create strong links in the knowledge triangle of education,
research and innovation.
 How can technology support innovation in teaching and learning? How can we make learning
more collaborative? How can we empower and equip the educators to take the lead?
 Many schools and HEI are using ICT to innovate teaching and learning. But how can we scale
this up and move from isolated projects and practitioners to the whole school or institution?
How can we ensure that educators have the right training and professional development to
foster creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship in learners?
 How can we boost the availability and quality of open and digital educational resources and
pedagogies? How can open resources best be leveraged to improve the quality and
relevance of education in Europe?
Workshop 6: "Empowering teachers and trainers for better learning outcomes"
Teachers are one of the most important school-related factors influencing pupil achievement. The
same impact on learners can be assumed for all the teaching professions, including VET trainers,
adult educators and youth workers. At the same time, the teaching profession has lost much of its
attractiveness across Europe, and many countries are struggling with staff shortages.
It is therefore critical to pay close attention to how these professionals are prepared, educated and
supported.
Changes in society, technology and the labour market, growing expectations towards education and
training, as well as new knowledge about how and where learning can happen, all have an impact on
the roles, identities and practice of teaching professionals. A growing diversity of learners is
accompanied by an increasing variety of learning environments in which the classroom is
complemented by laboratories, work environments and virtual communities.
Empowering teachers and trainers to facilitate and lead learning effectively requires high-quality and
relevant preparation – which takes these changing environments into account. It also means
enabling them to update their competences continuously and to work in collaboration with others to
improve learning.
The workshop will look at examples of policies, initiatives and projects that share these aims.
Workshop 7: "Making learning pathways more flexible: recognition and validation of all forms of
learning"
Validating non-formal and informal learning is about making visible and valuing the outcomes of the
diverse and rich learning that takes place outside formal education and training institutions. A key
challenge for validation is to be able to capture this diversity and richness in a reliable, valid and
credible way – enabling the individual to make full use of the experiences s/he has made in
education, work and in society in general.
Over the next ET 2020 work cycle, priority will be given to actions promoting permeability across
education, training and youth fields, amongst other issues through validation and recognition,
knowledge and skills acquired through informal, non-formal, digital and open learning.
Stakeholders operate at different levels (at European, national, sectorial and local) and in different
contexts (in public, private and voluntary sectors; in education and training and in labour market
services). The outcomes of the Workshop will feed into the debate on implementing the 2012
Recommendation on validation on non-formal and informal learning and provide valuable input for
the reviews of "The European Inventory on validation of informal and non-formal learning" and "The
European Guidelines on validation on non-formal and informal learning".
Workshop 8: "Innovative and sustainable investment in education and training"
The investment plan for Europe, launched by the Commission in November 2014, carries new
opportunities to catalyse private capital towards investments in education. Priority will be given to
actions supporting the effective implementation of the Investment Plan for Europe, including
through attractive funding models for private actors and capital; supporting the monitoring of
education, training and youth policies and the design of evidence-based reforms that deliver quality
in (formal and non-formal) education and training more efficiently. Priority will also be given to
actions supporting the development of innovative ways to ensure sustainable investment in all forms
of learning, including performance-based funding and cost-sharing.
Workshop 9: "Cohesive communities: promoting youth participation in democratic life"
Encouraging the participation of young people in democratic life in Europe is one of the key aims of
EU action in the field of youth. Not only is it enshrined in the Treaty (Article 165 TFEU) and reflected
in the EU Youth Strategy, but also has Commission President Juncker set the priority of making the
EU more democratic and bringing it closer to its citizens. The Flash Eurobarometer 408 'European
Youth' (April 2015) has shown that young people's participation in political elections depends on the
education level, and we know that young people of migrant background, for example, have relatively
lower prospects than the overall youth population regarding educational attainment, labour market
access or poverty. There is a high number of young people who feel marginalised, who cannot rely on
a network of social and personal relationships to support them.
 How can local, regional and national actors collaborate to support young people to bring
positive change to their communities and equip them with the necessary skills, competencies
and network to effect this change?
 How can young people be empowered to engage and be active in all aspects of society?
Workshop 10: "The impact of sport and culture-related activities on learning outcomes"
There is a wealth of initiatives stemming from the sport and culture worlds that could relevantly
complement actions within the education and training fields. These initiatives can support the
reintegration of disadvantaged groups into education and/or training.
Participation in grassroots sport can bring additional added-value with regard to a healthier and
generally more inclusive and sustainable society in Europe. Physical activity is closely associated with
school results, evidencing a positive impact in cognitive development, behaviour, and psychosocial
outcomes. Higher levels of fitness and motor skills development are associated with better academic
performance, cognitive functioning and memory. On the other hand sport may develop positive
social attitudes and values, as well as individuals' skills and competences, including transversal skills
such as the ability to think critically, take initiatives, problem solve, work collaboratively and
tolerance.
Culture has an essential role to play in the shaping of the Union's current and future societies. It is an
essential part of the foundations of the European project. It must remain firmly entrenched in
European ideals if the EU is to succeed in achieving a truly inclusive, just and diverse Union.
Undoubtedly, sport and culture-related activities can bring an additional angle in the efforts targeting
youth radicalisation, and can contribute to promoting civic, intercultural, social and relational
competences.
Culture - Understanding Territoriality: Identity, Place and Possession
 How can a cultural project concretely help better understand local cultures and identities?
Sport - Physical activity for education
 How can physical activity and participation in grassroots sport activities within or outside
education environment contribute to better learning outcomes?
 How to make passion to sport an educational engine?
Culture, Sport and open societies
 How can sport and culture contribute to tackling youth radicalisation, violence and
discrimination?
 How can cultural activities complement formal education in promoting understanding and
respect for other cultures?