The Business Foundation for Education starts a project that aims to aims to promote the awareness of Bulgarian citizens about the benefits, opportunities and enjoyment of lifelong learning. Joy&Learn is funded by the European Commission, under the KA1 program – European Cooperation in Education and Training. It is implemented in partnership with the Human Resource Development Centre. The initiative will last 1 year and will include 2 major activities: • Introduce a web Calendar of Lifelong Learning - a website with up-to-date and in-advance information about various courses, seminars, workshops, open days, conferences, workshops and other forms of learning available in 5 cities - Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo and Ruse. The online calendar will link learners and learning providers in an online database for the wide variety of learning. operate as a daily guide about various formal and non-formal learning opportunities available each day for people of all age, interests and learning needs. For each day users can find a daily menu of learning activities and events: language course, sports activities, art classes, workshops in crafts, seminars for personal and career development, online courses for creative writing, photography for adults, open days in museums, discussions and conferences, outoor teambuilding activities, etc. • Festival of Learning to make learning more accessible and attractive for people of all ages. Festival will take place in 5 cities - Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo and Ruse in the autumn of 2010. Unlike all the events that traditionally take place indoors, the Festivals will be held in public places most accessible to many people. In an attractive and untraditional ways they can experience the excitement and joy of learning and become familiar with various forms and opportunities for learning in their town. Festival will be accompanied by an active information campaign. The project is aimed at 3 target groups: • Bulgarian citizens of all ages who will be able to get information about other learning opportunities and increase their knowledge and skills through various activities; • All organizations that offer opportunities for learning – all types of providers, who would like to promote their activities - courses, seminars, workshops, training events, discussions and non-traditional educational activities - through the online Calendar, and taking part in the Festivals of learning; • Institutions in the field of education and lifelong learning - by helping them to "translate" the concepts of formal and informal education and make it clear, simple, understandable, and practical, with visible learning benefits to all citizens. In order to ensure the sustainability of these initiatives, the project will establish strategic partnerships - a national coordination committee including institutions and partners actively involved in carrying out the policies of lifelong learning; and local learning councils in the 5 cities (Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo and Ruse) to continue the organization of Learning Festivals. These entities will be the driving power of the project after its completion in January 2011, so we hope to involve the most active public, civic and business organizations who support the idea that knowledge will make people more competent, active and competitive, and improve their lifestyle. Although the concept of lifelong learning is not new, the low participation of Bulgarians in continuous education shows a lack of understanding and motivation about its importance for individual and society. By far no large public campaign has been explicitly conducted in order to make lifelong learning more “friendly”. Because of the many weaknesses of the formal education in the last decades, learners have lost motivation and clear understanding about the value of learning. This puts the newly adopted National Lifelong Learning Strategy in front of a major challenge. |
