EUCEN's 44th Conference builds on the established link between thriving democracies, healthy economies and equitable access to quality, lifelong-learning provisions in Higher Education. The conference will examine how the current, global financial situation, educational legislation, international aid and education reforms are impacting on equitable access to Higher Education. The conference will also foreground initiatives and projects undertaken by universities, in collaboration with other institutions of learning and the community, to bridge the participation gap in lifelong-learning initiatives.

 As the world comes increasingly to grips with growing material inequalites, and as advocates of social, economic and cultural inclusion continue to argue that uneven access to quality lifelong learning provision in Higher Educatioin tends to reproduce uneven development, the conference will examine possibilities for horiziontal collaboration in higher education, based on a South-North, East-West dialogue that allows for permeability, border-crossing, genuine exchange and mutual transformation. Participants will also examine how migration patterns are challenging thinking and lifelong-learning provision in Higher Education; the conference will provide a showcase for current projects and a forum for prospective initiatives in this regard.

In the year dedicated to active ageing, the conference will provoke reflection on issues of access and collaboration in the field of third-age provision in the context of Higher Education.

Conference Themes

Participants are invited to present papers, posters and power-point presentations on how lifelong learning is or can be promoted through one or more of the following key areas:

Border-crossing

Presentations under this theme are expected to highlight interdisciplinarity, collaboration across institutions of higher learning and projects within the community.

Access

Under this heading, participants are expected to reflect on issues of democratic and equitable access to quality lifelong-learning provision and on roablocks to access. Presenters are encouraged to highlight the link between compulsory education and further, continuing and higher education.

Collaboration

This key area sets out to explore the meaning of collaboration in a context marked by vertical inequality. Partcipants are encouraged to share examples of genuine collaboration between institutions located in different geographies and differentiated by material wealth, human resources, prestige and research potential.

Migration

Participants are expected to react to some of the pressing questions regarding migration and higher education : How are institutions of higher learning reacting to the inevitable movement of people who are making Europe their home? What are the challenges to genuine inclusion in this context? How is migration challenging traditional notions of access, pedagogy, evaluation and validation?

The Conference website is open now: http://www.um.edu.mt/events/eucen2012