For at least two decades, politicians, academics and other stakeholders have advocated cooperation across sectors, administrative layers and other institutionalised boundaries to achieve objectives of what are called "learning regions" and the "lifelong learning perspective". Boundaries between geographical, institutional and sectors are becoming…

This article presents an argued case for making sustainable development a policy obligation for the European Training Foundation (ETF) and for vocational education and training (VET) reform in the partner countries that are served by ETF. In relation to ETF it points out that no major emphasis has been put to date on combining economic, social and…

Kaunas is the second largest city in Lithuania and has strong links with its large rural hinterland. Working from the ideas and examples in "Learning Cities for a Learning Century," (Longworth, 1999) and through contact with other cities that have already implemented lifelong learning concepts, the city has, since 2001, started out on…

There is little doubt as to the importance of creativity for both economic and social progress and of the need for educational systems to enhance and nurture it. However, are educational systems promoting creativity? The general feeling is that it is, in fact, being "killed" in schools. The educational systems were designed for a…

Economic growth is stimulated through learning. In "the learning economies" of those European regions that chose to develop their human and intellectual capital wisely, benefits have been visible. But this is a one-dimensional outlook in a multi-dimensional world. A "Learning Region" is an entirely different entity, pooling and…

This article presents reflections arising from a study on adult learning professions in Poland. Changes in the socio-political and legal context created phenomena that have occurred in the adult education systems, mechanisms and approaches. The article focuses on the impact of those processes on a specific professional group--adult educators.…