scholarly journals Programi aktivnog građanstva za nezaposlene niskokvalifcirane mlađe odrasle osobe u južnoj Evropi: Učešće, dometi i prepreke

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1 2021) ◽  
pp. 129-151
Author(s):  
George K. Zarifis
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
European Research ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Value System ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Early School ◽  
Participatory Citizenship

The development of policies and targeted initiatives that promote or supportactive participatory citizenship for vulnerable young adults with low skills has largely passed unnoticed in Southern Europe in the last decade. Despite the existing lifelonglearning (LLL) strategies, most countries in the area do not place active citizenship forlow-skilled young adults as a priority. This article is based on the results of the European research project EduMAP (Horizon 2020), and focuses on participation of unemployed young adults with low skills (hence early school-leavers) in educational activities that either focus or promote active citizenship in Southern Europe (Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Italy, Spain and Portugal). More specifcally the article explains the reasons behind low participation rates among vulnerable young adults in the region. South European countries are not yet showing any favourable conditions for increasing participation of the low-skilled unemployed young adults in such programmes. Some of the countries that were hit by economic depression in particular, face –not necessarily for the same reasons– major barriers for implementing policies to increase the number of low-skilled young adults in active citizenship oriented courses. The article concludes that one of the problems in promoting active citizenship through adult education activities is that the programmes delivered in the region are still not competence-based. Adult education is not high in the value system, and therefore low skilled young adults do not appear motivated to obtain such skills and competences. A key challenge therefore is to deliver a service that simultaneously meets the needs of the learners, provides sufcient responses to the needs of the local societies, and stimulates further demand.

scholarly journals Active Citizenship Programmes for Unemployed Young Adults with Low Skills in Southern Europe: Participation, Outreach, and Barriers

2021 ◽  
pp. 19-35
Author(s):  
George K. Zarifis
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
European Research ◽  
Value System ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Early School ◽  
Participatory Citizenship

AbstractThe development of policies and targeted initiatives that promote or support active participatory citizenship for vulnerable young adults with low skills has largely passed unnoticed in Southern Europe in the last decade. Despite the existing lifelong learning (LLL) strategies, most countries in the area do not place active citizenship for low-skilled young adults as a priority. This chapter is based on the results of the European research project EduMAP (Horizon 2020), and focuses on participation of unemployed young adults with low skills (hence early school-leavers) in educational activities that either focus or promote active citizenship in Southern Europe (Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Italy, Spain and Portugal). More specifically the chapter explains the reasons behind low participation rates among vulnerable young adults in the region. South European countries are not yet showing any favourable conditions for increasing participation of the low-skilled unemployed young adults in such programmes. Some of the countries that were hit by economic depression in particular, face –not necessarily for the same reasons– major barriers for implementing policies to increase the number of low-skilled young adults in active citizenship oriented courses. The chapter concludes that one of the problems in promoting active citizenship through adult education activities is that the programmes delivered in the region are still not competence-based. Adult education is not high in the value system, and therefore low skilled young adults do not appear motivated to obtain such skills and competences. A key challenge therefore is to deliver a service that simultaneously meets the needs of the learners, provides sufficient responses to the needs of the local societies, and stimulates further demand.

scholarly journals Conclusion: Divergences or Convergences? Facilitating Active Citizenship Through Adult Education Across Europe and Beyond

2021 ◽  
pp. 167-182
Author(s):  
Hanna Toiviainen ◽  
Natasha Kersh ◽  
George K. Zarifis ◽  
Pirkko Pitkänen
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
Life Long Learning ◽  
Participatory Citizenship ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Challenges

AbstractThe chapter draws the lines of discussion of the book together and scrutinises the findings from the perspectives motivating the EduMAP study. A multiplicity of adult education policies, programmes and actions presented in the book sought answers to the question: What policies and practices are needed in the field of adult education to include young adults at risk of social exclusion in active participatory citizenship in Europe? Each contribution in this volume approached the question from original social and educational starting points, which may further be elaborated on within the national, European and wider contexts. Chapter includes reflections on alternatives to the discourse of Neo-liberal Life-Long Learning and Adult Education, the expectations vs. reality of Adult Education as a means to prevent social exclusion, and key conclusions outlining the future challenges for Active Participatory Citizenship pursued through adult education.

scholarly journals Active Citizenship, Lifelong Learning and Inclusion: Introduction to Concepts and Contexts

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Natasha Kersh ◽  
Hanna Toiviainen ◽  
George K. Zarifis ◽  
Pirkko Pitkänen
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
The Social ◽  
Participatory Citizenship ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Social Competences

AbstractThis chapter provides insight into the rationale, background and key concepts of the book and will discuss relevant theoretical considerations, contexts and discourses. The complexity surrounding the conceptual understanding of active citizenship, adult education and vulnerability will be considered, and approaches towards achieving a shared understanding of the nature of adult education and lifelong learning will be addressed within this chapter. In this book, the concept of active citizenship is used as a conceptual lens to understand the role of adult education in including young adults in active social, political and economic participation and engagement. The findings indicate that the social, economic and political dimensions of active citizenship, encompassing the development of social competences, labour market skills as well as civic and political participation, have been related to various educational initiatives (programmes) to engage young adults in active participation. The chapter will open the discussion of the cross-national complexity and interdependencies between adult education, social inclusion and active participatory citizenship, which underpin the dialogue offered in the seven contributions within this book.

scholarly journals Understanding vulnerability and encouraging young adults to become active citizens through education: the role of adult education professionals

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Toiviainen ◽  
Natasha Kersh ◽  
Jaakko Hyytiä
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Adult Educators ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Education Professionals ◽  
Participatory Citizenship ◽  
Mediator Role ◽  
Political Dimensions

The recent debate on active citizenship and adult education has been strongly underpinned by the discussion on how active citizenship could be exercised in a way that would promote inclusion and participation. The paper focuses on the role of adult educators in encouraging young adults in vulnerable life situations to become active citizens specifically through two empirical cases, from Finland and England (UK). The central questions the paper seeks to answer are: how do adult educators conceptualise vulnerability, and how do they see their role as facilitating young adults' active citizenship through their teaching? The consideration of socio-cultural, socio-economic and political dimensions of active participatory citizenship provides the conceptual lens to explore young adults’ participation in different social contexts. The analysis of the case studies supports the argument that active participatory citizenship is indirectly rather than directly included in the education and training of vulnerable young adults. This leads the article to highlight the adult educators’ mediation work in facilitating the socio-economic and political dimensions of active participatory citizenship in interaction with the students. Their mediator role is broadly invisible and in contrast with the ideal of adult education as the straightforward path to socio-economic citizenship and employability.

Rethinking adult education for active participatory citizenship and resistance in Europe

2019 ◽  
pp. 225-238
Author(s):  
George K. Zarifis
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
European Research ◽  
Communicative Practices ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Learning Contexts ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Participatory Citizenship ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Initial Focus

Based on the preliminary results of the European research project EduMAP the chapter discusses the widely recognised yet weakened position of active participatory citizenship and its role in the current debate on the responsibility of adult education as a medium for empowerment and emancipation from prioritised neo-liberal values. The initial focus is on the various problems faced by adult education in Europe. Adult education as a means to achieve active participatory citizenship is then discussed suggesting that it is important to examine the educational implications of relevant theories and practices on citizenship. The paper concludes by suggesting that the current discussion on the challenges European societies face today, must acknowledge the need for adult education to be reformulated in ways that are enriched by diversity and the wide range of learning contexts and communicative practices that pose new challenges.

scholarly journals Dental and Skeletal Imaging in Forensic Age Estimation: Disparities in Current Approaches and the Continuing Search for Optimization

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (05) ◽  
pp. 510-522
Author(s):  
Jannick De Tobel ◽  
Christian Ottow ◽  
Thomas Widek ◽  
Isabella Klasinc ◽  
Håkan Mörnstad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Medical Imaging ◽  
Gold Standard ◽  
Age Estimation ◽  
Statistical Processing ◽  
Automated Analysis ◽  
Forensic Age Estimation ◽  
European Research ◽  
Research Groups ◽  
Case Examples

AbstractMedical imaging for forensic age estimation in living adolescents and young adults continues to be controversial and a subject of discussion. Because age estimation based on medical imaging is well studied, it is the current gold standard. However, large disparities exist between the centers conducting age estimation, both between and within countries. This review provides an overview of the most common approaches applied in Europe, with case examples illustrating the differences in imaging modalities, in staging of development, and in statistical processing of the age data. Additionally, the review looks toward the future because several European research groups have intensified studies on age estimation, exploring four strategies for optimization: (1) increasing sample sizes of the reference populations, (2) combining single-site information into multifactorial information, (3) avoiding ionizing radiation, and (4) conducting a fully automated analysis.

scholarly journals Are adult learners in Europe happier than non-learners? Statistical evidence from the European Social Survey

2021 ◽  
pp. 147490412110146
Author(s):  
Ellen Boeren
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Relationship

This paper borrows insights from the literature on European welfare regimes to analyse the relationship between happiness and participation in adult education. The academic literature and policy discourses on adult education tend to claim that participation in learning is correlated with happiness despite the lack of strong European comparative empirical evidence on this topic. This paper uses data from the latest Wave of the European Social Survey to analyse the happiness perceptions of nearly 20,000 adults between the ages of 25 and 64 who live in 16 European countries (15 European Union countries and the United Kingdom). Results indicate that while adult learners on average tend to be happier than non-learners, this correlation weakens when controlling for determinants of participation and happiness and for the countries in which these adults live. Confirming the importance of welfare regimes, this study found that adults in Finland tend to be happier than those in other countries, regardless of their participation in adult education. Happiness scores were lowest in Bulgaria and Hungary, countries with low participation rates in adult education and with the biggest differences in happiness scores between learners and non-learners. It is argued that the presence of well-structured adult learning provision might be an important characteristic of welfare regimes but that happiness is determined by much more than being an adult learner.

scholarly journals A political ecology of transdisciplinary research

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 500
Author(s):  
Hali Healy
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Transdisciplinary Research ◽  
European Research ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Sustainability Problems ◽  
Science In Society

Transdisciplinary research (TDR) is widely regarded as a promising, and even essential, means of addressing complex sustainability problems, whilst delivering beneficial outcomes for scientists and the non-academic actors with whom they engage. Premised on the 'ecological modernisation' of Europe, regional funding for TDR under Framework Programmes such as FP7 and more recently Horizon 2020 have sought to support academic engagement with a wide range of research stakeholders through calls for transdisciplinary research  in order to better address Europe's "grand societal challenges" (EC 2013). This article, based on doctoral research, consists of an ex-post study of three European Union funded transdisciplinary projects (CREPE, EJOLT and GAP2) implemented under the Seventh Framework's (2007-2013) Science in Society program. Its focus is on how issues of power and governance permeate TDR projects, giving rise to tensions, challenges and ultimately struggles over the very meaning of official projects and their outcomes, despite the most egalitarian of intentions and underlying principles of mutual benefit. These tensions, this article argues, should be understood not merely as cultural, methodological or cognitive challenges, but as essentially political conflicts that manifest and flow across multiple scales. In light of these inherent challenges, the article argues that TDR is always conducted on a terrain of political ecology, and concludes by making recommendations for potential collaborators, as well as for European research policy makers, with the objective of enabling participants and funders alike to realise the transformative potential of this promising mode of research.<p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Political ecology of transdisciplinary research, power, governance, Science in Society, European research agenda, agro-ecology, environmental justice, fisheries          </p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document