I would like to extend a warm thank you to all the International, European and North American organisations and journals in adult and continuing education, that partnered with the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame to organise the Conference “Revitalising Adult Continuing Education for Positive Social Changes and Personal Fulfilment” on 7-9 November 2024 in Florence, including the PASCAL Observatory

Our partnering organisations were: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning – UIL, Act Global, Adult Education Academy Würzburg, ASEM Lifelong Learning Hub, Centre for Research and Development in Adult and Lifelong Learning – CR@DALL, Coalition of Lifelong Learning Organizations – COLLO, Coalition on Adult Basic Education – COABE, Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe – EPALE, European Association for the Education of Adults – EAEA, European Basic Skills Network – EBSN, European Lifelong Learning Platform – LLP, European University Continuing Education Network – EUCEN, German Adult Education Association, International – DVVI, German Institute for Adult Education Leibniz Network – DIE, International Council for Adult Education – ICAE, International Society for Comparative Adult Education – ISCAE, Ireland’s National Adult Learning Organisation – AONTAS, Nordic Network for Adult Learning – NVL, North American Alliance of Learning Cities – NAALC, PASCAL International Observatory, PASCAL International Members Association (Promoting, Interrogating and Mobilising Adult Learning and Education) – PIMA 

Our Partnering Journals were: Adult Education Quarterly (US), Adult Learning (US), Andragogical studies (RS), Convergence (MT), European Lifelong Learning Magazine - ELM (FI), Form@re (IT), International Journal of Lifelong Education (UK), Journal of Adult and Continuing Education (UK), Journal of Educational Sciences (RO), Lifelong Lifewide Learning (IT), Opus et Educatio (HU), Studies in Adult Education and Learning (SI), Studies in the Education of Adults (UK), The Adult Learner (IE) and The Resource for Adult Education (COABE, US) 

This was the first large-scale conference ever of the IACE Hall of Fame, and we are grateful that it could happen in partnership with 21 major adult education organizations along with 15 journals. The conference was organised by the IACE HALL of Fame Europe, hosted by the University of Florence, and attended by 150 representatives from 26 countries. 

The framework of the event  was atypical with only two keynotes and no research or paper presentations, but entirely focussed on achieving new partnerships and projects in 10 transnational and transatlantic working groups:

1.Marrakech Framework for Action: Towards an inclusive data collection process

2.University LLL and Inter-university partnerships

3.Adult Learning and Education in Immigrant Settlement and Integration

4.Understanding and Integrating adult learning principles into learning settings and Professionalisation of the field

5.Micro-credentials and Individual Learning Accounts

6.Learning Cities

7.Journals' Cooperation

8.Gender Equity, Leadership and Ageing

9.Education and social action to implement forms of bottom-up counter actions against organised crime

10.Cooperation and stakeholder engagement for ALE

 The Working groups had organised pre-conference webinars and were following up on the discussions and preliminary agreements from the webinars in the Working Groups.

We were honoured, as an integrated part of the Conference to have the IACE Hall of Fame induction events hosted by the University of Florence. 32 HOF members participated and 18 new members were inducted – they received the HOF medal. A plaque with their name, photo and biography will be exhibited in the Hall of Fame Building in University of Oklahoma.

The new members were: Lisa M. Baumgartner, Vandana Chakrabarti, Don Luigi Ciotti, Karen Evans, Francesc Pedro Garcia, Shibao Guo, Timothy Denis Ireland, Vaughn John, Elizabeth Lange, Carolyn Medel Anonuevo, Lisa R. Merriweather, Don Olcott Jr, Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik, Morten Flate Paulsen, Andreas Schleicher, Edward W. Taylor, Magdalini Trantallidi, Albert Tuijnman. The induction ceremony can be found at this link.

The Hall honors outstanding leaders in the fields of adult learning and continuing education who are distinguished as a scholar, practitioner, or policy-maker. It serves as a record of inspiration for the next generation of adult and continuing education leaders.To be eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame, a person must be eminently distinguished in the profession, shall have brought honor or distinction, and shall have contributed to the heritage of adult and continuing education. With the first induction in 1996, the prestigious IACE Hall of Fame comprises today of 429 members from 45 nations, of which 300 are still active.

The IACE HOF Organisational Award 2024 was awarded to the EAEA – the European Association for the Education of Adults.

The award is intended for organizations whose mission reflects opportunities for adult and continuing education by promoting the growth and development of adult learners and whose vision is dedicated to the idea that adult and continuing education contributes to human fulfilment and positive social change.

The conference agreed on a post-conference follow-up process over the next two years, consisting of follow-up webinars in the Working Groups, and with the support of the IACE Hall of Fame Europe of some of the ensuing new partnerships and projects. 

There have also been  Calls for Papers for Form@re and Lifelong Lifewide Learning Journals. They have received 80 contributions in English, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish from 151 researchers, experts, and professionals from all over the globe. 

A group will be established under the name of Club de Florence to publish the final conference report in 2026 under the name of “Learning without Limits – A new Renaissance for Lifelong Learning”. 

We thank the partnering organisations and journals, the Organisation Committee, and the Unifi team.

Paolo Federighi  and  Arne Carlsen, Chairs of the Conference, Éva Farkas, Chair of IACE HOF and  Francesca Torlone, Head of the Unifi Team

The International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame, where the spirit of learning is the lasting legacy.