Gender equality in lifelong learning is still far from a reality for many women and girls around the world. For International Women’s Day 2021, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and its partners advocated for increased investment in educational provision to ensure that everyone is provided with equal opportunities to learn.

Attendees: Judith James and Chris Shepherd, co-leads for the network; Mike Osborne, Director of Pascal; Rob Mark, Networks Coordinator, Pascal; Jean Preece and Annie Tubadji, Swansea, Wales UK; Kristiina Erkkilä, Espoo, Finland; Michelle Murphy, Derry and Strabane Learning City; Nishat Tasnim Maria, SHLC, Khulna University, Bangladesh; Jac Torres-Gomez, Wyndham, Australia.

In this issue we feature 11 current papers on the theme of social capital, chosen by Fabio Sabatini (Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”):

This is the year of paradoxes. Everything has changed and maybe nothing has altered. The impossible is easy, the familiar impossible. Taboos become normal conduct, as the taken-for-granted slips away.