Invitation to UIL Roundtables at the UNESCO World Higher Education Conference

Posted May 16, 2022 - 11:32

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are essential actors in the promotion of lifelong learning. To explore how HEIs can be transformed into lifelong learning institutions and act as agents for sustainable development, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) will host two roundtables at the upcoming UNESCO World Higher Education Conference (WHEC2022), which will take place from 18 to 20 May 2022 in Barcelona, Spain.

May 2022

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Roundtable ‘How can higher education institutions be transformed into lifelong learning institutions? Strategic reflections and discussions'
On 18 May, at 14:30 (CEST), the UIL roundtable will examine the steps needed to be taken to recast HEIs into lifelong learning institutions. It will touch upon topics including institutional strategies, funding and organizational structures, quality assurance mechanisms, widening access, providing diverse learning formats, developing innovative teaching and learning modalities, offering flexible learning pathways and strengthening community engagement. Some of the key findings of a collaborative research project undertaken by UIL and Shanghai Open University on the contribution of HEIs to lifelong learning will be introduced as input for discussions.

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Key data

UIL Website: The Role of Higher Education Institutions for Lifelong Learning

Roundtable 'Higher education institutions as change agents for sustainable development – Three approaches in practice'
On 19 May, at 16:15 (CEST), the UIL roundtable will present three viable lifelong learning approaches that higher education institutions (HEIs) can adopt to respond to wider societal needs, namely the learning city development approach, addressing the learning needs of an ageing society, and community engagement. This session will synthesize findings from a current research project being conducted by UIL that uses case studies to examine initiatives implemented in universities across different world regions. These three themes will serve to initiate an interactive discussion about how HEIs can act as change agents for sustainable development, particularly by following a lifelong learning approach.

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