Agenda for Change in Education and Lifelong Learning
Brussels (BE), June 2009 - The Learnovation Open Forum entitled "Removing the barriers to creativity and innovation? Listening to stakeholders' voice", was held on 27 May 2009 in Brussels, gathering the main European networks in the field of innovation and ICT for education and training.
The event was organised by the Learnovation Roundtable with the support of the European Commission as a contribution to the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. It and resulted in the launch of the "10 imperatives for change" to make European education and lifelong learning a lever for innovation.
An ever-growing number of observers contend that despite the attention given by EU policy makers to creativity and innovation - testified to by the fact that 2009 has been dedicated to these issues - education and training systems do not adequately facilitate the emergence of creative skills and attitudes but rather often hinder their potential.
Given the importance of this issue for the Lisbon Agenda and for a new citizens-centred development of the European Union, the Learnovation Roundtable has organised a conference aimed at exploring the expectations and concerns of the various stakeholders in relation to barriers to creativity and innovation for learning, with a special attention given to ICT use.
The "10 imperatives for change" were discussed by more than ninety participants and will be proposed to relevant EU and national policy makers. They will represent the starting point of a broad societal consultation on the desired future of European education and lifelong learning.
The "imperatives":
- Rescue research on education and Lifelong Learning from a marginal position;
- Provide more evidence to policy making, but choose indicators that are able to push creativity and innovation, not only conformance;
- Face openly the issue of relevance of current learning provision: change is urgent;
- Establish more connections among the different areas of Lifelong Learning;
- Celebrate and recognise learning achievements;
- Bring informal learning into the policy spectrum;
- Enhance the innovation capacity of teacher-training systems;
- Help teachers and trainers to recognise and respect the value of informal learning;
- Encourage all forms of learning at the workplace;
- Remember that not all workers are stereotypical knowledge workers.
