Education Unlimited: Empower Young People to Shape Their Learning Experience

2. Improve your Education! 'Every person - child, youth and adult - shall be able to benefit from educational opportunities designed to meet their basic learning needs. These needs comprise both essential learning tools (such as literacy, oral expression, numeracy, and problem solving) and the basic learning content (such as knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes) required by human beings to be able to survive, to develop their full capacities, to live and work in dignity, to participate fully in development, to improve the quality of their lives, to make informed decisions, and to continue learning.'[1] [1] World Declaration on Education for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs (World Conference on Education 1990)

3. Project • Education Unlimited! is aiming at greater involvement of young people in designing their learning experience. • Education Unlimited! will contribute to the improvement of young people's education in Europe, pointing at changes necessary to answer the current needs. • Education Unlimited! will help young people to discover and benefit from opportunities that will increase their chances in work and study life. • Education Unlimited! means more and better education!

4. Target group • Direct audience: • Students and youth leaders • Academic staff and trainer communities • Decision makers in the field of youth, education, employment and those who influence these decisions • Indirect audience: • Civil society and media

5. Lisbon Agenda, March 2000 • EU Heads of States and Governments agreed to make the EU "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy by 2010“ • Education: Bologna Process (BP) as part of Lisbon Agenda aims to establish a European Area of Higher Education by 2010 • Objectives of BP: • Introduction of undergraduate and postgraduate levels in all countries • European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) • Elimination of remaining obstacles to the mobility of students and teachers • Implementing new ways of learning in the framework of life-long-learning (LLL)

6. Current situation… • Higher education as concept of school-teaching is not able to develop in an individual the key competences defined by European Commission, or life skills defined by UNESCO. There is need for broader understanding of learning! • The role of non-formal education (NFE) and its complementarities with formal education (FE) is neglected. • Learning experiences acquired outside the formal education system are not equally treated on the professional market.

7. Current situation… • The implementation of BP often provokes a lack of space within studies for extracurricular activities. (e.g. Project organization, active membership in NGOs or participation in international events.) • Educational reforms are arranged on governmental level.  They do not take into account feedback from the grass-roots! • Potential of mobility programmes as chance to enrich both formal and non-formal education is often not being realized among students and universities.

8. Our Principles! • Improvement of European higher education! • Strengthening involvement of young peoplein educational policies at the grass-root level! • Bridging formal and non-formal education!

9. Objectives • Bring Bologna process and concept of LLL closer to young people on the grass-roots level • Encourage proactive approach of young people to design their own education • Contribute to the acknowledgement of non-formal education activities within formal education system

10. Activities • Inform local students about BP aims and their implementation as well as about the concept of LLL • Preparation of user-friendly information materials and manuals explaining in a simple way about BP, LLL, NFE etc.; showing examples of activities and ways to get involved • Action Week on the topic of FE bridging NFE  promote benefits from mobility as NFE activity, organising exchanges • Training eventsfor BP multipliers to pass on knowledge to peers in their university cities

11. Activities • Analyse impact of BP on students active in youth NGOs • European-wide survey among students, about their attitude, knowledge and experience with Bologna process. • Press conference at IFISO meeting in Brussels: BP seen with the eyes of students that are active in NGOs Comparison of experiences regarding the impact of educational reforms (coming from BP) on their members.

12. Activities • Create platforms for young people to contribute with comments and ideas • Discussion clubs via AEGEE locals open also to other NGOs and individual students to exchange opinions Presentation of outcomes to representatives of student unions and academic staff.

13. Activities • Strengthen the cooperation between student NGOs and universitystudent unions • Debates and workshops to come up with proposalsfor inclusion of non-formal education within formal education system. • International study session/seminar: Analyse the BP reforms from the youth sector point of view • International conference about educational reforms with student NGOs and student representations of different faculties

14. Activities • Present the impact of NFE • Official booklet about history and development of NFE in Europe in the last 20 years Success stories of NGOs' alumni(AEGEE and other youth NGOs) • International conference on alternative education: Role of NGOs and institutions as providers of non-formal education • International conferenceinvolving UNESCO and World Bank: Best practices of other countries, recognition of NFE in the global perspective

15. Activities • Promote the participation in NFE activities • Joint letter-sending action: letters from AEGEE members asking for recognition of their participation in NFE activities are being sent at the same time to respective ministers and to European-level decision makers  “flood” effect

16. Activities • Initiate cooperation between institutions dealing with FE and NFE • International study session/seminar on complementarities of FE and NFE: AEGEE, Youth, Education units of Council of Europe, European Union, as well as European universities, labour market, youth NGOs and student unions discussing about actual system of education and proposing different structures of European core curricula

17. Activities • Encourage contributions from students who gained educational experience through mobility • Post-exchange evaluation round: collecting observations and conclusions about differences in educational systems of students coming back from educational exchanges  proposals to be discussed with university followed by implementation

18. Activities • Foster thematic meetings on education between students and academic staff of different nationalities • Thematic exchanges between AEGEE locals: Meeting with their university staff,workshops on the educational systems of the sides participating in exchange • Summer University Education Tour: Debates between participants on different educational systems introducing interactive methodology of theatre forum or debate Result movie „My perfect European education“ by AEGEE TV

19. Activities • Local interactions between young people and other stakeholders in education • Study visits: Trips to several cities in other countries where NFE is already acknowledged (e.g. Finland, France, Austria, Netherlands etc.) to meet stakeholders on education on local level  explore hot issues regarding education, main challenges, best practices, and study the involvement of all sides in educational system

20. Follow Up • All contributions and results of local and international activities throughout the project will be gathered, presented online and used for issuing a result booklet • Conclusions will be presented to relevant bodies at European level: • Bologna Follow-Up Group regarding the view on BP from NGO perspective • European institutions regarding complementarities of higher education and NFE provided mainly by youth NGOs • Governments and national bodies representing young people (student unions, national youth councils).

21. Expected Results • Presenting the impact of NFE and its importance along with FE • Presenting best practices of recognition of NFE • Reaching all actors in the field (NGOs, Government , international organizations)  Efficient lobbying for recognition of NFE with joint efforts • Giving contribution to the work of Bologna Follow-Up Group regarding complementarities of FE and NFE • Increasing participatory level (or role) of students in Education processes (e.g. BP)

22. Team • Project Manager: Asia Piskunowicz, AEGEE Poznan • Content Coordinator: Jan Tolkien, AEGEE Münster • Thematic Coordinator (BP): Julia Drews, AEGEE Berlin • Thematic Coordinator (Mobility): Mercedes Castillio Martinez, AEGEE Alicante • Thematic Coordinator (NFE): Veronica Stefan, AEGEE Bucuresti • Advisor: Miljan Radunovic, AEGEE Beograd • External PR: Anna Shirokova, AEGEE Moscow • Internal PR: Violeta Joitoui, AEGEE Bucuresti • European Relations: Viktoriya Voytsekhovska, AEGEE L´viv • European Institutions: Tika Tsertsvadze, AEGEE Tbilisi • FR: Vaggelis Monoguios, AEGEE Athina • FR/ Local responsible: Karolina Zborowska, AEGEE-Słupsk • Local activities: Kadri Kalle, AEGEE Tartu • Publications: Jacqueline Emmerich, AEGEE Augsburg • Follow-Up Coordinator: Jonna Sijl, AEGEE Utrecht

23. Questions? Contact us at: education-unlimited-l@aegee.org