European Parliament postpones voting on EU Budget 2014 – 2020
Posted: September 27, 2013 Filed under: Erasmus+, Uncategorized | Tags: EU Budget 2014 - 2020, EU Multiannual Financial Framework Leave a commentThe European Parliament have announced their decision to postpone voting on the European Union’s (EU) Budget for the next seven years. The vote on the EU’s Budget for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2014 – 2020 was due to take place at the European Parliament’s plenary sitting in September and it is not yet know when the vote will be rescheduled.
The European Parliament must give its approval in order for the EU budget and all the programmes funded by the budget to be implemented from 2014.
The approval of the EU Budget for 2014 – 2020 is now the priority of the current EU Presidency which is held by Lithuania. The Lithuanian Presidency have begun triologue negotiations with the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission to progress the approval of the EU budget.
“It is essential that the European Parliament makes no delay in giving approval to the multiannual financial perspective of the European Union, to enable timely implementation of the programmes financed from the budget. Rapid decisions are needed for Europeans to get access to the funds allocated for agriculture, reduction of youth unemployment, and for other spheres. Implementation of these programmes is crucial for economic recovery of the European Union,” President Dalia Grybauskaitė, Lithuanian Presidency
The next trialogue negotiations are expected to take place on 16 October 2013 when more information on the progress of the EU Budget may be released.
We will continue to follow the progress on the EU budget here on our blog. You can also access further information on Erasmus+ on our website at: https://www.lifelonglearningprogramme.org.uk/erasmus-for-all
It’s never too late to learn a language…
Posted: September 26, 2013 Filed under: Grundtvig, Leonardo, Lifelong Learning Programme, Transversal | Tags: European Day of Languages, European Language Label 2 CommentsWelcome, Bienvenue, Bienvenidos, Willkommen, Benvenuto, Sveiki atvykę!
European Day of Languages 2013
Today is the European Day of Languages, a time to celebrate languages and language learning across Europe.
It is also the 2013 European Language Label Awards ceremony in London celebrating innovative languages teaching and learning practices across the UK.
There are now 24 official and working languages of the European Union, but across Europe there are more than 300 languages spoken as a native language. Europe has become increasingly multilingual and the need for us as European Citizens to speak more than one language has never been so vital. It is true that English has become a global language and so, as a native English speaker, you may think that it’s not worth learning another language. Whilst you may be understood in English, making the effort to speak to someone in their mother tongue is always more appreciated. For, as a great man once said:
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” Nelson Mandela
Martyn’s disability roadtrip around Europe
Posted: September 24, 2013 Filed under: Grundtvig | Tags: adult education, eLearning, London 2012 Paralympic Games, Martyn Sibley, social media Leave a commentIt’s been a year since the London 2012 Paralympic Games drew to a close and with the first ever National Paralympics Day taking place earlier this month, the subject of disability and providing wider access to education and sport has once again been in the spotlight. One man who has been working tirelessly to raise awareness of disability issues is Martyn Sibley, Co-Editor of magazine Disability Horizons and founder of social media consultancy Sunnier Days who has recently undertaken a Grundtvig job shadowing Visit…
The Visit
Martyn has Spinal Muscular Atrophy and is reliant on a wheelchair and additional support. He is passionate about informing and changing the world around him on disability issues and promoting greater social inclusion in Europe. Since 2009 he has blogged extensively about his experiences and as well as founding the magazine Disability Horizons, has created a number of disability webinars, e-courses and conferences providing support around social media. Martyn is no stranger to European mobility and in 2012 he embarked upon a disability road trip around Europe both as a fulfilling personal challenge and to highlight the different approaches to disability.
Martyn Sibley, Co-Editor of Disability Horizons
Earlier this year Martyn undertook a two month period of job-shadowing in Aviles in Spain through Grundtvig Visits and Exchanges funding. Grundtvig job-shadows are short, observational visits that provide those working in adult education with an opportunity to shadow staff in a sister organisation in Europe and gain valuable insight into good educational practices. Martyn was based at En Construcción, a cultural organisation set up to help young adults from all backgrounds integrate into society. Whether disabled, from a deprived family, poor neighbourhood or another country; En Construcción provides the necessary skills for people to access education, employment, culture and social integration. The organisation runs language classes, activities that fight against discrimination and promote volunteering and social cohesion.
Making mobility possible in Erasmus+
Posted: September 20, 2013 Filed under: Erasmus+, Leonardo, Mobility | Tags: Cumbernauld College, Erasmus+, Leonardo Mobility, Lifelong Learning Programme, vocational education Leave a commentErasmus+ the new education, training, youth and sport programme, aims to improve the skills and employability of Europe’s generations, through providing a range of mobility opportunities to study and train abroad. To take you through some of the key changes to mobility in the new programme, we thought we would ask an experienced promotor to share the benefits they have already seen from adopting organisation-led mobility, and some of the other new features of mobility in Erasmus+…
Ecology opportunities in Leonardo
Posted: September 18, 2013 Filed under: Erasmus+ | Tags: Ecology, Leonardo Mobility, Lifelong Learning Programme, Norway Leave a comment“We see prints but are they too big to be an Arctic fox? Could it be a wolverine…?” Leonardo Mobility projects provide many opportunities for staff, job seekers and apprentices with opportunities to enhance their skills. We take a look at one project which offers unique European work placements in the field of ecology – so wrap up warm and join us as we travel to Norway and hear some participants experiences after taking part in a breeding programme for the elusive arctic fox…
An artic fox taking a stroll, the population is monitored closely to ensure their survival
AMBIOS, a group of professional environmental scientists and educators is currently running its sixth Leonardo Mobility project. With partners from six countries working in ecology and wildlife conservation the project provides mobilities for participants to gain practical skills and experience in up-to-date ecological practices. This leads to enhanced educational, practical and language skills as well as aiding career development. A range of mobilities are on offer from barn owl tracking in Hungary to locating bison at the Mammal Research Institute in Poland.
What did the placement involve?
This particular mobility placement, in conjunction with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Norway’s leading institution for applied ecological research, saw a group of hardened participants travel to take part in an Arctic Fox reintroduction programme in Oppdal, central Norway, where the ‘Vulpes lagopus’ are native to the arctic parts of the northern hemisphere.
Read the latest edition of edUKation
Posted: September 13, 2013 Filed under: Erasmus+, Grundtvig, Leonardo, Lifelong Learning Programme, Mobility, Thematic Networking, Transversal 1 CommentThe latest edition of edUKation is now available to download. edUKation is our quarterly newsletter containing updates from the Leonardo, Grundtvig and Transversal programmes.
In this edition
In issue 22 you can read about how Leonardo Mobility participant Raymond Fisher secures his dream job as a chef in France. You can also find out the latest information on Erasmus+, the new education, training, youth and sport programme, as well as the following articles:
- Making the future possible conference
- Diary of study visit participants
- Celebrating Thematic Networking
Download issue 22 of edUKation
Subscribe to edUKation
You can sign up to our mailing list to receive edUKation straight to your inbox. You can also sign up for our monthly e-flashes for the Leonardo, Grundtvig and Transversal programmes: http://www.graphicmail.co.uk/rwcode/subscribe.aspx?SiteID=5307&SID=6&Email=
Previous editions
You can find previous editions of edUKation in our resource centre.
On the road with the Leonardo team
Posted: September 12, 2013 Filed under: Leonardo, Transfer of Innovation | Tags: leonardo, Lifelong Learning Programme, monitoring visit, Social enterprise, Transfer of Innovation, vocational education Leave a commentWhat has the Leonardo Transfer of Innovation (TOI) team been up to this summer? Laura from the team shares her experience of going on a monitoring visit to the SET4Work project managed by Siawns Teg and shares what a typical visit involves…
What are TOI Monitoring and Support Visits?
As well as a busy contracting period, summer for the TOI team means the opportunity to visit some of the live projects we monitor. TOI Monitoring and Support Visits are designed to monitor projects’ progress against set objectives and to support project promoters in meeting those aims. Visits also allow us to capture examples of good practice that other projects might benefit from, discuss the interim report and its requirements and to put some names to faces.
Laura (far left) on the visit
Where have we been?
Our last stop on our journey up and down the country this summer has been Newtown in the county of Powys in Mid Wales, where my colleague Nicola and I visited the SET4Work project. The coordinating organisation, Siawns Teg, support people who are, or feel, excluded from their local community by providing a range of services including soft skills and pre-work training. Over the past few years, Siawns Teg has also worked with students in initial vocational training and partners from Europe in a number of Leonardo Mobility and Grundtvig Partnerships projects.
21st century grand designs
Posted: September 6, 2013 Filed under: Grundtvig | Tags: grundtvig, Lifelong Learning Programme, Partnerships Leave a commentFrom the Houses of Parliament to St Paul’s Cathedral, London has some of the world’s most historic landmarks. But how do you make such prestigious heritage sites accessible for all in the 21st century? One of our Grundtvig projects has been looking at just that and the importance of inclusive design.
A cruise along the Thames © CAE
‘Universal Design: Barrier-Free Environment was a two-year Grundtvig partnership between disability and access organisations from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain and the UK. The project aimes to promote inclusive design and help local authorities improve access to their towns and public spaces. The Centre for Accessible Environments, (CAE), a leading authority on inclusive design was the UK partner and tells us more about the project…
Read the rest of this entry »
Thank you to our 1,000 followers!
Posted: September 4, 2013 Filed under: Grundtvig, Leonardo, Social media, Transversal | Tags: Lifelong Learning Programme, social media, tweet Leave a commentQ: What does the distance in miles from Bristol to Barcelona, the presumed number of legs on a millipede, and the LLP twitter account all have in common?
A: They all come to 1,000!
Since we launched our Twitter account we have sent over 1,900 tweets, been mentioned over 800 times and are proud to announce we now have over 1,000 followers!
We would like to thank all of our projects and promoters who have shared their successes with us through social media. Every day we enjoy seeing your photos, watching your videos and hearing your project news.
We have already had lots to celebrate online as the #EUjourney hashtag from our Making the future possible event where we invited organisations from across the LLP and Youth in Action programmes to celebrate, contribute and continue their learning journey with us was used 224 times. You can see more thoughts from the day in our event Storify.
We hope you will continue to share your successes with us via Twitter and Facebook and also comment on our blog.
So, if you haven’t already done so, follow us on Twitter @llpUKecorys to keep up-to-date with with the latest LLP videos, photos and deadlines as well as information on the new Erasmus+ programme.
llpUKecorys 