After the huge success of the European Conference eLearning Lisboa 2007, which had about ninety national and international speakers and over 1,500 participants (2,000 over the Internet), and after the Forum Innovation Marketplace 2008, which convened upwards of 2,500 visitors, a new event is being organised in 2009 called the Creative Learning Innovation Marketplace.

The call for "Convergence to the Core" seeks to reinforce the need to get out of the peripheral issues and address the centre of the relevant points. In an innovative format and using a novel methodology, the conference offers different spaces in an environment that is ideal for sharing and for the acquisition of new knowledge and practices:

• plenary sessions with international keynotes speakers,
• roundtables with national and international speakers,
• parallel sessions / workshops,
• living labs,
• marketplace product / innovative solutions,
• network area and "hands-on" experiment,
• prizes for the case studies and innovations of the year.

The Creative Learning Innovation Marketplace will focus on three key themes throughout the event:

Theme 1 - Business Innovation

Theme 1 will address issues underpinning the renewal of the Lisbon Strategy Agenda under the guidelines of the "New Skills for New Jobs" in line with the purposes of the Technology Plan, the National Agency for Qualifications, and the Ministry of Labour and Education.

Theme 2 - Creative Learning

Theme 2 will concentrate on topics such as lifelong learning and discuss the concept of "Learnovation" considering the guidelines of the European Parliament on non-formal and informal learning and "Learning Practices 2.0."

Theme 3 - Changing Society

Theme 3 will look at how creativity and innovation are influencing current social paradigms and their implications in relation to issues such as cohesion and social responsibility, inclusion, and dialogue between generations.