Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik is inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame

The main event of the IACE HOF 2024 International Conference, held in Florence from 7 to 9 October, was Friday’s award ceremony for the new generation of outstanding individuals who have made a mark in the field of adult education.

This year, the International Hall of Fame for Adult and Continuing Education inducted Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik, MSc, Head of the Information and Awareness Unit at the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education. She joined experts from different countries whose work and innovative approaches have inspired generations of educators and teachers.

Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik has been raising awareness about the importance of lifelong learning at national and international level for 30 years. In Slovenia, she conceived the Lifelong Learning Weeks (LLW), which have become a nationwide celebration of learning. She is an influential European policy maker in adult learning. As a member of numerous European working groups and committees, she is a strong advocate for non-formal adult education in Slovenia and Europe. Her main achievement has been the advocacy and formulation of the new European Agenda for Adult Learning (EAAL), a key policy strategy for adult learning in Europe.

By receiving this award, she joins the ranks of the world’s greatest names in andragogy, such as Peter Jarvis, Malcolm Knowles, Alan Knox, J. Roby Kidd, Gunther Dohmen, Katarina Popović, Uwe Gartenschlaeger and, from Slovenia, Ana Krajnc.
The SIAE is extremely proud to welcome her into the prestigious company of the world’s greatest experts in the field of adult education and we congratulate her from the bottom of our hearts!