Awareness-raising

We began our efforts of building the awareness about the importance, role and forms of adult education and lifelong learning in 1996 with the project entitled Teden vseživljenjskega učenja (Lifelong Learning Week – LLW). Over the years, the building of awareness of all spheres of the public has become a recognised and indispensable activity that manifests itself in different ways. Its success is based on the participation of various stakeholders, i.e. from the political, academic and professional to the non-professional spheres and the media. One of the key guiding principles is that we work not only for others but also with them.

Through these activities, we:

• broaden the awareness about the necessity of learning in all stages of life and of its presence in all circumstances of life;
• contribute to the broadest possible understanding of adult education as a driving force behind lifelong advancement of knowledge and skills, improvement of employability, personal growth and coexistence in communities;
• promote curiosity and a positive attitude towards learning as well as change the established (mis)conceptions of its (in)accessibility;
• reach vulnerable groups and other adults and inspire them to engage in adult education and lifelong learning;
• contribute to the voice of the learners becoming increasingly heard and observed in the designing of the policy and the educational offer.

We realise the above through the promotional campaign entitled Lifelong Learning Weeks (Tedni vseživljenjskega učenja – TVU; 1996 →), and the SIAE Awards for the Promotion of Adult Learning and Knowledge (Priznanja za promocijo učenja in znanja odraslih – Priznanja ACS; 1997 →). We also organise various domestic and international events where we participate with our own contributions. The more notable among these are the traditional Adult Education Colloquium (Andragoški kolokvij; 1997 →) and the Annual Adult Education Conference (Letni posvet o izobraževanju odraslih; 2010 →) events.

Our experiences in this professional field have established grounds for an extensive ESS+ project titled Awareness-raising, informing various audiences and motivationg for greater participation in lifelong learning (Ozaveščanje, obveščanje različnih javnosti in spodbujanje k večji vključenosti v vseživljenjsko učenje – Ozaveščanje za VŽU; 2023 →), running until 2028.

We promote activities and achievements in various media, especially online media and social networks. We publish and disseminate various promotional materials.

We build on the synergistic action at home by transferring our knowledge and experience to the international arena where we are recognised as one of the first and most active members of the international movement for the promotion of adult education and lifelong learning.

We have used this experience as the basis for the national coordination of the Implementation of the European Agenda for Adult Learning (the EAAL project) in Slovenia, which we have been doing since 2012 on the national level. We also take part in other European projects dealing with awareness-raising.