Lifelong Learning has become a predominant goal for international policy making, and is often advocated as a way to achieve socio-economic development and as a tool for promoting the 'knowledge-based' society.

It means that education is diverse, adapted to the individual and available throughout our lives. LLL is the guiding principle for educational strategies laid down by the European Commission, OECD and UNECSO, and is increasingly discussed as a framework for reforms in regional and national as well at the emerging economies all over the world.

In the European Council Communication LLL is defined as "all learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competence, within a personal, civic, social and/or employment-related perspective."

Thus, LLL means:

• acquisition and updating of all kinds of abilities, interests, knowledge and qualifications lifelong from the pre-school years to post-retirement. LLL promotes the development of knowledge and competences that will enable each citizen to adapt to the knowledge-based society and actively participate in all spheres of social and economic life, to take control of his or her future. 
• valuing all forms of life-wide learning, including: formal learning, such as a university course; non-formal learning, such as vocational skills acquired at the workplace; and informal learning, such as inter-generational learning, for example where parents learn to use ICT through their children, or learn how to play an instrument together with friends.

Why study the European Masters in LLL?

The MA LLL is aimed to provide policy-makers and professionals who manage, deliver or support LLL an opportunity to develop their own analysis and practice in a constantly changing economic, social, technological and political environment.

The European Masters in LLL is a response to the growing significance of and demand for LLL in regional and national policy-making worldwide.

European Masters in Lifelong Learning: Policy and Management (MA LLL) offers an opportunity to explore fundamental questions which influences regional, national and international policies.

Interest in lifelong learning has increased dramatically since the publication of the groundbreaking reports from UNESCO and the OECD in the 1970s and 1980s. These reports drew attention to the connection between economic and technological change and growing demand for access to lifelong learning.

Since 2001, lifelong learning has been at the heart of European Union’s attempt to develop a knowledge-based society to enhance competitiveness as well as to combat social exclusion and to develop active citizenship to promote social justice.

Policies concerning Lifelong Learning

At the Lisbon European Council, which was held in March 2000, government leaders launched a 10-year mission for the EU to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustained economic growth and able to provide more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. Lifelong Learning is a core element of this strategy.

Overview of EU policies on Lifelong Learning

The vision and overall goal of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning is: An open learning world in which the right to learn is exercised and enjoyed by all citizens throughout their lives, and where individuals, communities and societies construct their learning pathways in order to transform themselves and their environment.

Download the UNESCO strategy (PDF) 

Lifelong Learning for all is the guiding framework for OECD's work on learning, both formal and informal. The work is targeted at policy makers, decision makers, governments and stakeholders in education, training policy etc.

Visit OECD's website about Lifelong Learning

Books about Lifelong Learning

John Field's "Lifelong Learning and the new educational order" represents a substantial contribution to the literature on lifelong learning.

Read a review of the first edition of the book (PDF)

'Milestones towards Lifelong Learning Systems' is an anthology from the Danish University of Education Press. In this anthology Professor Peter Jarvis, Professor Kjell Rubenson and Professor Andy Green provide answers to some of the most urgent questions about Lifelong Learning.

Read more about the anthology

What are the adult education trends and issues in Europe?

Review of adult education trends in the EU member countries by The European Association for the Education of Adults, identifying key issues requiring the development of new policy

Download the report: Adult education trends and issues in Europe (doc)

Interviews with Lifelong Learning researchers

Nation states let go of educational policy

Because of the international competition, we have to learn throughout our lives. And we must continually adjust our learning to the needs of the global marketplace.

This is the educational consequence of the globalisation that governments from East to West have accepted as inevitable.

Interview in the online magazine Quarterly with Professor Andy Green from the Institute of Education and associate professor Søren Ehlers from the Danish University of Education.

Learning for the masses

Unemployment and social rejection: The transition to a global economy comes at a price for China. The government's response is to encourage the nation's 1.3 billion people to become lifelong learners over the next 14 years.

Interview in the online magazine Quarterly with Professor Xianjin Dou, Director of Lifelong Education at the National Centre for Education Development Research, which is an autonomous organisation under the Chinese Ministry of Education. Dou has been given lectures to the students at the Masters in Lifelong Learning.

How do others define Lifelong Learning?

Have af look