ERIC ED479670: Agora XI: The Learning Region (Thessaloniki, Greece, March 15-16, 2001). CEDEFOP Panorama Series.

167 Pages·2003·2 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
CE 085 377
ED 479 670
Guggenheim, Eric Fries, Ed.
AUTHOR
Region (Thessaloniki, Greece, March
Agora XI: The Learning
TITLE
Series.
15-16, 2001). CEDEFOP Panorama
Development of Vocational Training,
European Centre for the
INSTITUTION
Thessaloniki (Greece).
TI-49-03-894-EN-C; CEDEFOP-70
REPORT NO
ISBN-92-896-0221-X
ISBN
ISSN-1562-6180
ISSN
2003-00-00
PUB DATE
and Portuguese.
166p.; Also available in French
NOTE
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CEDEFOP, PO Box 22427, Thessaloniki,
AVAILABLE FROM
e-mail:
31 49 01 11; Fax: [phone];
http://www.trainingvillage.gr/
[email protected]; Web site:
(# 5140 EN, free). For full text:
http://www2.trainingvillage.gr/
etv/publication/download/panorama/ 5140_en.pdf.
Proceedings (021)
Collected Works
PUB TYPE
EDRS Price MF01/PC07 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Impact; *Educational
Adoption (Ideas); Colleges; Economic
DESCRIPTORS
in Education;
Innovation; Foreign Countries; Partnerships
Regional Programs;
*Policy Formation; *Regional Cooperation;
Capital; *Social
School Business Relationship; Social
Vocational Schools;
Integration; *Vocational Education;
Vocational Training Centers
Regions
*Europe; European Union; *Learning
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
"education and training
This conference program describes
basis"
in promoting innovation on a regional
agencies taking a leading role
following three key issues to
the Agora and puts forward the
as the focus of
region itself and a
(1) the concept of the learning
be debated during it:
(2) education and training
weaknesses;
critique of its strengths and
facilitators of innovation on a regional
agencies, including universities, as
social
training agencies supporting economic and
basis; and (3) education and
Papers presented at the Agora are as
cohesion in building the social economy.
and
Networks in Europe" (Stahl); "Advantages
follows: "Regional Development
Region' Approach" (Richard); "Constructing
Drawbacks of the 'Learning
from Social Research" (Gustaysen); "Local
Learning Regions: Contributions
"ICT Supported Innovation in Regional
Partnerships in Ireland" (Crooks);
"South-East Europe and the Learning
Training Systems" (Dondi);
Context and Emerging
Region" (Baumgartl); "Bulgarian
of
"Developing a Local Response to the Needs
Initiatives" (Pantaleev);
from a
(Courbebaisse); "The European Social Economy
Vocational Training"
and
the Linkage to New Social Partnerships
Welfare Regime Perspective and
"Learn While Working, Work While
Learning Regions" (Westphalen);
Region as an Alternative for Enhancing the
Learning" (Grucker); "Learning
in Tourist Areas. Some Reflections" (Mol,s
Economic and Social Dimension
Education and
Discussions: Promoting the Learning Region
Mol,$); "Summary of
Regional
Leading Role in Promoting Innovation on a
Training Agencies Taking a
Basis" (Nyhan). Includes an agenda and a list of participants. Most articles
include references.
(MO)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
:000° CEDEMP
PANORAMA
AGORA XI
The learning region
Thessaloniki, 15 to 16 March 2001
AVAILABLE
BEST COPY
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TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
Points of view or opinions stated in this
1
document do not necessarily represent
official OERI position or policy.
Agora XI
The learning region
Thessaloniki,
15 to 16 March 2001
Cedefop Panorama series; 70
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2003
3
A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.
It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2003
ISBN 92-896-0221-X
ISSN 1562-6180
© European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, 2003
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium
The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) is the European
Union's reference Centre for vocational education and training. We provide information on and
analyses of vocational education and training systems, policies, research and practice.
Cedefop was established in 1975 by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 337/75.
Europe 123
GR-57001 Thessaloniki (Pylea)
Postal Address:
PO Box 22427
GR-55102 Thessaloniki
Tel. (30) 23
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01
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Fax (30) 23
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E-mail: [email protected]
Homepage: www.cedefop.eu.int
Interactive website: www.trainingvillage.gr
Edited by:
Cedefop
Eric Fries Guggenheim, Project manager
Published under the responsibility of:
Johan van Rens, Director
Stavros Stavrou, Deputy Director
Foreword
Education and training agencies taking a leading role in promoting
innovation on a regional basis
Introduction
This Agora will take place at Cedefop in Thessaloniki from 15 to16 March 2001.
In this note the concept of the learning region is firstly briefly outlined. Secondly, the manner
in which this theme is being dealt with in the wider context of the Cedefop Research Arena
(Cedra) is outlined. Thirdly, the thinking underlying the Cedefop Agoras, three of which are
held every year, is put forward. Finally, a draft outline of the Agora XI programme, which
deals with the learning region, is put forward.
The concept of the learning region
Despite the emphasis on globalisation and the prediction of the demise of place and distance,
due in part to advances in interne technologies, the region or locality is continuing to assert
itself as a focal point for the renewal and sustenance of social and economic life. In the
context of European Union (EU) policy to promote economic and social cohesion, the actions
undertaken at a regional level, for example, have been very successful. Due to their smaller
scale, regions can better coordinate their planning efforts and be more flexible than larger
national entities in coming up with new solutions to address everyday problems. The
possibility of close personal contacts along with a feeling of communal identity and a shared
history can generate commitment to work hard on a local level, building what is termed
`social capital', which is not always the case on a national level.
But, this is not to exaggerate the advantages of regions nor oversimplify the task of promoting
economic and social advancement. Regions and localities can indeed be inward looking and
conservative. Power within regions can also be held by cliques which manipulate affairs for
their own purposes and resist necessary national-level reforms. Also, some economically
well-off regions can be isolationalist, thinking only of their self-interests and not taking
responsibility for broader national social and economic issues or engage with those outside of
their own boundaries. However, even within regions which are open to innovation, progress
can only take place if there are forward looking institutions and individuals who take the lead
in coming up with ideas and facilitating cooperation between all of the actors throughout a
region, thus raising the question of what education and training agencies can do in this regard.
The word 'region' in the term 'learning region' should be interpreted in a much wider sense
than that of a statutory or legally defined region. In very many cases learning regions may
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refer to small scale communities, localities, towns or villages involved in collaborative
learning activities. The important feature is that development is a collective process to
produce an outcome that is in the interest of all concerned and in which top-down and
bottom-up developments form a dialectic. Successful partnerships, therefore, reflect local
circumstances, are not imposed and do not follow a standard model.
In the concept of the learning region being put forward here, the focus is on achieving social
and economic objectives in an integrated manner. Regional learning initiatives entail
empowering local communities (through the involvement of people from different interest
groups) to enhance their living standards and quality of life, both from economic and social
points of view.
The word 'learning' in the term 'learning region' of course raises the question of the role of
education and training agencies in the promotion of learning in a regional context and how
they might act as catalysts or as active partners with others in this respect. In the first place,
the concept of learning in a regional context needs to be clarified. Traditionally, education and
training establishments see their main role as being providers of teaching and training
(learning) to individuals who, on graduation join other bodies (enterprises, public or
community agencies, etc.) to utilise their learning. This can be referred to as a linear way of
thinking about learning and is typical of formal learning in initial education and training.
Another way of looking at the learning process, which is not so prevalent, but is at the heart of
the thinking about the learning region, is that which can be called interactive learning. This
refers to social and organisational learning that arises in the course of cooperation between
technological and social research/development agencies,
different bodies and interest groups
working
educational institutes, companies, social partners, community bodies (civil society)
together in project teams or in dynamic networks to achieve a common goal. In line with this
model, learning gives rise to a community way of behaving and know-how. It is this type of
cooperative learning, much of it informal and project based (often addressing specific
problems), rather than the formal type of learning described above that is at the heart of the
`learning region' concept.
From an educational and training point of view the two goals of learning, mentioned above,
that is the individual formal learning activities and the social/organisational informal ones,
need to be kept in balance. The 'learning region' concept, however, has more to do with the
social/organisational pole of the axis. The emphasis, therefore, is primarily on introducing
new social learning methodologies.
This entails:
identifying new roles to be played by existing education and training agencies; and/or
(a)
creating new agencies for the promotion of this kind of learning.
(b)
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Cedefop's interest in the concept of the learning region
In early 2000 Cedefop published a book entitled Towards the learning region
Education
and regional innovation in the European Union and the United States as a contribution
towards the stimulation of debate on this topic.
Around the same time Cedefop commissioned the Department of Work Sciences of Halmstad
University in Sweden to produce an analysis of international research on 'regional approaches
to learning in the field of vocational education and training'. A final version of this report is
now available.
Beginning in 2001, Cedefop, in the context of the Cedefop Research Arena (Cedra), intends to
launch a concerted series of activities (including the creation and moderation of knowledge
sharing networks, development of research resource materials (including case studies) around
the topic of the learning region. Cedefop wishes to carry out these activities in partnership
with (or as part of development coalitions) with other research and development bodies who
are interested in examining this concept and promoting actions at a European level.
One of the main Cedefop activities to take place in 2001 is the holding of an Agora
Thessaloniki on this topic.
The Agora Thessaloniki project
The Agora Thessaloniki project was established by Cedefop in 1997. The purpose of an
Agora, three of which take place in Thessaloniki every year, is to provide a space for
researchers to engage in debate with political/government representatives and social partners
about a current topic.
The starting point for an Agora is the results of research on a specific topic which are then
discussed in a structured way with the above mentioned people.
To date, ten Agoras have taken place dealing with topics such as: the role of enterprises in
lifelong learning; addressing the issue of lowly skilled people; reporting on Human Capital.
Agora XI dealing with the learning region is to be jointly organised by the Cedra and Agora
teams.
Proposed issues to be debated at Agora XI 'Promoting the
learning region
education and training agencies taking a leading
role in promoting innovation on a regional basis'
The following three issues are put forward as key ones to be debated at the Agora:
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concept of the learning region itself and a critique of its strengths and weaknesses
(a)
including an examination of:
issues of centralisation and decentralisation with regard to fostering innovation by
(i)
educational agencies (including research and development bodies);
relationship between
statutory (regulated)
interventions
providing
(ii) the
in
a
framework for learning region initiatives and the more bottom-up (community-led
partnership/ network or market-driven) strategies;
(b) education and training agencies (including universities) as facilitators of innovation on a
regional basis
examination of case studies of regional innovations having a significant educational
(i)
input;
profiles of new regional oriented agencies (which have various names such as
(ii)
`regional learning centres') integrating research and development and education and
training activities;
(iii) examination of methodologies used;
education and training agencies supporting economic and social cohesion in building the
(c)
social economy
regional models for an integrated focus on economic and social goals;
(i)
examination of successful partnerships between public, private and non-governmental
(ii)
organisations.
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