Around the world, universities are finding their ways to respond to the pervasive applications of Generative AI in many spheres of human endeavours, train students for future skills to prepare them for employability, upskill the workforce, meet learning needs of older adults, promote local culture and sustainability, and numerous other evolving demands from the community. At the forefront of responding to these learning imperatives are continuing education schools which often represent the most inclusive and innovative force in their universities. In a study undertaken by UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (2023)*, it was found that higher education institutions (HEI) with an institutional lifelong learning (LLL) policy/strategy are more likely to have a dedicated LLL unit. This underscores the critical coordinating and professionalising functions of continuing education schools in a university/HEI setting.
*International Trends of Lifelong Learning in Higher Education, Research Report
This roundtable aims to gather university continuing education professionals and senior university administrators for a discussion of how they are helping to promote the lifelong learning mission of their respective universities and to find out about the different operational models that are prevalent in the participants’ contexts as well as the challenges and opportunities they are facing.
As this roundtable is framed as a global exchange forum, participants from around the world are welcome, and in particular, those from Africa, Central Asia, East Asia, South and Southeast Asia are represented. The dialogue partner of this roundtable is the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UALL), which represents university continuing education schools from the UK.
Keynote and special lectures; country and regional briefings; Roundtable and Panel discussions
