A seminar hosted by Ege University, Izmir held at the Ataturk Cultural Centre, presented an opportunity for Dr Rob Mark, PASCAL Learning Cities Coordinator, to inform professionals including university staff  and residents about the strengths of working together to build sustainable learning cities for a better future. Izmir is a city of almost 5 million people and Ege University has a population of more than 50,000 students. 

Centres for Third Age Education ( CTAE) is a project  which is supporting the development of human capital to promote social inclusion of older people  in  Azerbaijan, Russia and the Ukraine through formal and informal learning. The aim is to encourage older people  to participate more fully  in society.

The project has  focused on the setting up of Centres for Third Age Education (CTAE)  and the training of staff to work in these centres.

The project is funded through the  TEMPUS programme of the European Union.