Adult Learners Week “Lernfestival”

The first Swiss Adult Learners Week was developed in 1995 by the Swiss Association for Adult Learning (SVEB) within a European Socrates Project, in cooperation with the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) from the UK. Ever since its first implementation in 1996, the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology (OPET) has supported ALW and has been the main partner of SVEB in this endeavor, although OPET focuses largely on vocational training. However, ALW is considered as an important campaign for learning and hopefully will get a new status in the law in 2009. Until now, ALW in Switzerland has taken place every three years.

Themes
1996: Lifelong Learning
1999: One hour a day for Learning (which was promoted by CONFINTEA V in 1997)
2002: Get connected! (meaning through internet and personal contacts)
2005: Let your brain cells dance (not including the word education or learning)

General Objectives
• To promote cooperation between adult education providers (formal, non-formal, cultural, religious, vocational training and the health sector)
• To involve social partners, employers and politicians (at local, cantonal and national levels) in further education
• To build bridges between older and younger people
• To motivate people to take part in further education (with a special focus on unemployed, immigrants, social excluded groups)
• To celebrate learning and to celebrate the learners who where especially active and successful in learning, to point them out as a role model for others.

Sponsors
The main sponsor of the Swiss ALW is OPET. In 2002, ALW was carried out under the patronage of the Swiss Forum for Further Education. In the Forum, the State Secretariat for Education and Research (responsible for EU-Projects) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs are also members, so sometimes they are sponsoring ALW as well. A very important role in sponsoring ALW is played by the Cantons and several private institutions.

Contact:

Ruth Jermann
Swiss Association for Adult Learning (SVEB)
Oerlikonerstrasse 38
CH-8057 Zürich

Tel.: + 41 44 311 64 55
ruth.jermann@alice.ch
www.sveb.ch/

Adult Learners Week:
www.lernfestival.ch