TERM/DURATION
32 months from 1 January 2010 until 31 August 2012
PARTNERSHIP
Higher Education Institutions
8 Higher Education Institutions cooperated in the FLLLEX consortium:
- Hanzehogeschool Groningen (The Netherlands)
- KHLeuven – Leuven University College (Belgium) – Project coordinator
- Laurea University (Finland)
- Letterkenny Institute of Technology (Ireland)
- Vilnius College (Lithuania)
- Yasar University (Turkey)
- IUT de Saint-Nazaire (France)
- Clydebank College(United Kingdom)
Structural Partners
- Banku Augstskola School of Business and Finance (BA SBF) (Latvia)
- EURASHE
- ENQA
- 3s research laboratory (3s) (Austria)
Advisory Board
- Business Europe – main horizontal business organisation at EU level, representing more than 20 million companies from 35 countries
- ETUCE/Education International – The European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) is the teachers’ social partner at European level and a defender of teachers’ interests to the European Commission
- ESU – the European Students Union
- EduConsult – External project evaluator
- EURASHE – European Association of Institutions in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that offer professionally- oriented programmes and are engaged in applied and profession-related research
- KHLeuven – project coordinator
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The FLLLEX project addressed challenges and implications of incorporating Lifelong Learning into European higher education institutions.
The FLLLEX project (The Impact of LifeLong Learning Strategies on Professional Higher Education) was an EU-funded project in the framework of the Transversal Programme, Key Activity 1.
The project aimed to identify challenges and implications of incorporating Lifelong Learning (LLL) into European higher education institutions (HEIs), with special attention given to the recognition of prior learning and to different aspects of management and services in higher education institutions.
For governing bodies, HEIs remain a preferential partner in most countries in implementing national goals of LLL into education. Therefore, HEIs have a particular role to fulfil in the landscape of lifelong learners, businesses and business training providers. The project would like to assess this role within a wider landscape of LLL, as determined by national policies and as perceived by the institutions themselves.
The approach focused on a system analysis of professional higher education habits within different European countries. The focus was on an institutional level and attention was given to the comparison among practices in LLL education across the European Union. The project took into account challenges in implementing a LLL strategy (mainly for HEIs) and examples of good practice. It finished with general observations as well as with policy recommendations.
PROJECT OUTCOMES
Development of a self-assessment instrument for Lifelong Learning in Higher Education Institutions: the FLLLEX-Radar
ENQA was leader of work package 5 which prepared a tool to be applied by higher education institutions to assess the implementation of their lifelong learning strategies. The results were to be benchmarked against the respective national policies and with the other participating European institutions. At first, desk research was carried out on existing models and guidelines on Quality assurance in a European perspective (e.g. EFQM, Guidelines for RPL,…).
The tool was constructed on the basis of indicators for LLL identified in Work Packages 1 to 4. Results include a matrix of national policies, a typology of lifelong learners and an overview of their expectations and of those of other stakeholders. The tool thus includes indicators which assess those elements within the HEIs. The self-assessment procedure was to focus on how LLL strategies make an impact on: policy, curricular aspects (design, flexibility), management of programmes, delivery of courses, RPL, marketing, staff policy and management, internal processes (academic – administrative), student counselling, quality assurance, financial aspects and others if identified during the process.
PROJECT EVENTS
The main dissemination activity was the participation at the 22nd EURASHE Annual Conference – “Lifelong Learning: professionally oriented higher education & the welfare society” on 10-11 May 2012 in Riga, Latvia where the FLLLEX Radar and the FLLLEX results were presented.
Please find here the list of presentations given during partners events.
PROJECT WEBSITE
www.flllex.eu
ENQA was represented in the project by Josep Grifoll, ENQA Board member and Head of the Quality Assessment department at AQU Catalunya, Spain.