The EBSN General Assembly and Annual Conference 2018 took place in Berlin between the 6th and the 8th June. The Conference was organised by the EBSN (European Basic Skills Network) Network, an association of policy level stakeholders engaged in basic skills training for adults which aims at promoting excellence in policy design and policy implementation, at European and national level, in fields like education, employment, social inclusion, the fight against poverty and sustainable economic growth. The meeting was also co-organised with the German Ministry of Education and Research, the German Federal Institution for VET and the German Institute for Adult Education.
A CEIPES delegation participated to the conference, interested to know more about basic skills on adult education and on the Best Practices were shared during the two meeting days.
On the 6th June a General Assembly of associated members was held together with a meeting of the Executive Committee. The morning of the 7th June was dedicated to a presentation of existing policies of Literacy and Basic Skills in Germany, together with an explanation of the “The Decade for Literacy” Programme of the country and round tables about interesting lessons or Best Practices that Europe could learn from the German experiences. A Presentation by the EBSN-EPALE Capacity Building Team was held followed by a discussion on how to improve the platform and what could be the main topics to focus for the next period.
The afternoon of the 7th June was dedicated to a carousel presentation of some of the Best Practices on Adult Education Programmes and projects from Germany, Norway, Slovenia and Switzerland followed by a discussion of a pre-prepared draft for a Conference Statement and an organised visit to the Basic Skills Centre of Berlin.
The 8th June was dedicated to a presentation of the regional strategy for Literacy and Basic Skills in Berlin followed by a roundtable debate on different pathways to basic skills where stakeholders coming from Germany, Italy, Dutch, Slovenia and UK actively participated and gave their own contribution. The conference gave also space for a “Market Place”, a dedicated area where organisations could show and present their projects and best practices about adult education. CEIPES was also offered the possibility to present their projects and initiatives. This was an opportunity for the organisation to show its knowledge and competence in the field of adult and VET education but also a good space for networking that could give the possibility to share and generate new ideas and collaborations.
The final part of the conference was in a form of parallel sessions where four workshops were presented and were respectively on Education and Skills Online Assessment from Slovenia, Basic Skills in VET from UK and Ireland, Inclusive Basic Skills provision from Malta and Spain and Basic skills on Journalistic competences for adult educators presented by Austria, German, Belgium and Netherlands.
David Mallows from EBSN summed up the conference message by reading the EBSN Conference Declaration discussed and amended during the first day. The EBSN Chairperson Joyce Black acknowledged participants and made closing remarks underlying that strengthening cooperation and synergies about the adult education topic it’s of utmost importance in order to reach the European Union social goals for 2020.
