EURO-ALPHA Network plans for major public event in 2012 in Bonn, Germany

A special feature of the EURO-ALPHA Network, of which UIL is a member, is the direct involvement of learners in a process to develop a manifesto with their demands. The overall goal of EURO-ALPHA is to document, share, generate and disseminate “good practice” in empowering approaches to literacy and numeracy. It consists of 15 organisations from 11 European countries, coordinated by the Belgian NGO Lire et Ècrire, and is funded by the EU Commission within the Grundtvig Lifelong Learning Programme.

Activities have been running since October 2009 and are organised in three working groups involving the partner organisations, trainers and learners. The main outcomes of the fourth network meeting, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal in December 2011, included agreements for a fifth meeting in Brussels in June 2012 to finalise publications on the results of Network activities; and a major public event to be organised by the German partner DIE and UIL together with Lire et Ècrire, in Bonn in September 2012. This will be used for advocacy and for the presentation of the main outputs of the Network to a broader German and European public.