Dear readers,
 
In March 2020, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) launched a new activity on the contribution of universities to lifelong learning. Universities have a vast potential to promote lifelong learning, in particular by opening up access to new categories of learners and by engaging with the community. In spite of its relevance for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, this topic does not attract sufficient research and policy attention.

In the past, UIL published two studies addressing the issue from a comparative perspective (2015) and with a focus on distance learning for adult learners (2016). This new initiative, undertaken by UIL in partnership with the Shanghai Open University and with the collaboration of the International Association of Universities, aims to provide a global perspective, five years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will result in the identification of good practice throughout the world and the formulation of recommendations to inform policy-making at national level as well as universities’ strategies.

This issue of the UIL Bulletin will tell you more about this new initiative. It also offers an update on the activities of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities as well as reflections on the importance of multilingualism in education, the need for a new generation of adult learning and education policies, and the potential of global citizenship education for promoting the SDGs.

Wishing you good reading!

David Atchoarena