Austria

*** 2002 ***
In 2002, the Info Days for Continuing Education in Austria took place on 16 - 21 September, for the fourth time.

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Background...
The Austrian Info Days for Continuing Education took place on 17 - 22 September 2001, for the third time following two successful celebrations in 1999 and 2000. One of the objectives of the Info Days was to draw the attention of a large public towards the broad spectrum of adult learning opportunities right before the new cycle of courses to begin in the fall. For this reason, the period chosen for implementing the activities is the third week of September.

Already in the previous years, hundreds of events were put in place by as many education providers all over the country in order to raise the awareness of the role of and need for continuing and lifelong learning for individuals and the society at large - beyond initial education. While the responsibility for organizing the concrete events rests with the local providers, the overall coordination and support for the public relation activities are provided by the Ministry for Education, Science & Culture, which is equally in charge of the central opening ceremony of the Info Days and aspires to strengthen the cooperation between providers and institutions.

In 2001, as in the preceding years, no particular thematic focus was made during the events. However, being in the midst of the European Year of Languages, many of the activities arranged had content elements that relate to this EU initiative. Since the issue of continuity has been acknowledged as a very important ingredient for keeping up the momentum of the Info Days, it is foreseen to set up the celebration regularly each September in the coming years.

Contact:
Sonja Euller
Bundesministerium für Bildung,
Wissenschaft und Kultur
Abt. V/B/14
Wipplingerstraße 20, 1014 Wien
tel +43-1-53120-4625
fax +43-1-53120-4605
sonja.euller@bmbwk.gv.at
www.erwachsenenbildung.at (only in German)