Author: NEZ

On 12 and 13 October 2021, EPALE is hosting its annual Community Conference, which will be held entirely online. The conference will provide an opportunity to discuss how adult education and learning can help reshape our society, promoting inclusive and sustainable models.

The pandemic has exposed and exacerbated vulnerabilities in our globalised and interconnected world, with profound and long-lasting effects. Fast-paced changes on multiple levels – digital, demographic, and environmental – have been the norm in recent times. In this context, the conference revolves around the concept of transition. Transitions are full of uncertainty and instability, but being inherently transformative, they also provide an extraordinary opportunity to sketch out new models, paying particular attention to the challenge of not leaving anyone behind.

The project DIGIT-AL identified different aspects of digital transformation that need more awareness from a civic education and Human Rights education perspective. At the same time, there is a potential of civic education for learning about, for and with digitalisation.

The training explored good educational practices linking digitalisation with Education for Democratic Citizenship/Human Rights Education. It discussed paths toward a digital pedagogy dedicated to digital competence also understood as a competence to support learners in understanding and co-creating the social, cultural and economic impact of digitalisation.

Digitalization is an important topic of European policy. Adult Education has a crucial role to play in accompanying the transformation.

By Nils-Eyk Zimmermann (DIGIT-AL project)

The impact of the current policy developments in the field of digital transformation on European level cannot be underestimated. The Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act will determine what platforms are (still) allowed to do and how the rules of the game of digital capitalism will work. The Circular Economy Action Plan suggests a right to repair. With the way rules for Artificial Intelligence are developed and implemented a market for data-sensitive and democratic innovation is emerging, a European way of dealing with AI or a European-dressed American way. How Europe defines and enforces the Next Generation Internet influences how free, decentralized, competitive, accessible the Internet and digital single market in Europe and if not beyond our continent will be.

The Competendo Digital Toolbox got a redesign, new articles about digitalisation as a topic for civic education and non-formal learning – and an App. You don’t need to go to the appstores, just enough to visit the toolbox https://competendo.net with a Safari, Chrome or Edge browser – and install it with one click.