EUTOPIA FLECSLAB

Flexible Learning Communities Supporting Lifelong Learning Across Borders

Rosette S’Jegers, Jo Angouri, Tomaž Deželan

 

In November 2021, six founding partners of the EUTOPIA Alliance were awarded  Erasmus+ (KA220-HED - Cooperation partnerships in higher education) for the project “Flexible Learning Communities Supporting Lifelong Learning Across Borders” (FESCLAB) submitted to the National Agency for European Community Programmes and International Mobility Programmes in Slovenia. 

Background and Needs Addressed

The demographics of Higher Education (HE) are changing. University graduates increasingly desire to expand their competencies as they face multiple transformations in a globalised society. 

The EUTOPIA universities introducing this essential action offer better chances for answering to the Lifelong Learning (LLL) ambitions of the European Commission by developing flexible mechanisms that recognise short-term intensive learning efforts in a transnational context. FLECSLAB suggests a roadmap for a more inclusive approach in meaningful international learning processes that enable academia to reach a wide range of lifelong learners from various backgrounds and across disciplines. The primary inspiration for launching this proposal derives from acknowledging the limitations of current HE models to accommodate LLL students. FLECSLAB thereby expands the work of learning communities towards international connectedness of best practices in active learning.

Objectives

First, the project delivers a framework and well-tested implementation tool to explore the potential of a European university alliance for creating a substantial LLL offer based on existing components of their curricula. Building on the development of the Connected Learning Communities in the EUTOPIA alliance, FLECSLAB will create a specialised instrument for all HE institutions that goes beyond the demand of degree-seeking students and opens up to non-modal learners looking for international learning experiences. This tool will include guidelines and training modules to support academic staff in addressing adult learners. 

Second, through piloting and hands-on experience, the project aims to introduce a business model that allows European universities to maintain their efforts for a high-quality offer in LLL. Due to its focus on active learning and innovative transdisciplinary topics, FLECSLAB will actively involve stakeholders operating in the social context of the learning communities. They are interested in cooperating with HEI to respond to the LLL needs of citizens and professionals.

The building blocks of FLECSLAB are Connected Learning Communities, which link best practices in open and active learning across EUTOPIA. Academics revisit traditional learning formats and organise short-term learning experiences that the students can take as part of their curriculum journey towards or alongside a degree. Despite its successful implementation and the promising results for curriculum development in a European University alliance, EUTOPIA is not designed to accommodate lifelong learners. That is the gap that FLECSLAB addresses. Building on the developments in a large sample of the Connected Learning Communities, FLECSLAB provides a unique opportunity to introduce a roadmap based on tested designs that the HE sector can adopt that will meet the needs of non-traditional students identified in the ecosystems of the learning communities. FLECSLAB is the first to provide the HE sectors with such an intensive set of cases and to extrapolate the tools and business models for all transnational alliances willing to open up their curriculum offerings towards a range of non-traditional learners. 

Planned Outcomes

FLECSLAB will document the business cases for a broad sample of LLL scenarios. The final and critical stage involves translating the FLECSLAB experience into policy guidelines for academics, industry, and public sector partners. The project team will produce a series of resources that help HE practitioners and policymakers develop LLL pedagogies (the Lifelong Learning Toolbox) and sustainable offerings (the Lifelong Learning Business Model).

Lifelong Learning Toolbox (LLL)
 

• Starting of the project: 1 January 2022
• Duration: 36 months
• Budget: 323.453,00 EUR
• Partners: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium), CY Cergy Paris University (France), University of Gothenburg (Sweden), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Pompeu Fabra University-Barcelona (Spain) and The University of Warwick (United Kingdom)
• Coordinator: University of Ljubljana

Core Coordinating Team:

• Professor Tomaž Deželan, University of Ljubljana
• Professor Jo Angouri, University of Warwick
• Professor Rosette S’Jegers, Vrije Universiteit Brussel