This sounds like a great opportunity for international collaboration. ulla Date: Tue 2/12/2002 7:23 PM From: Linda Rouhani lrouhani@natcom.org EU-US education partnership Article 13 of the Decision establishing the second phase of the Community action programme in the field of education "Socrates", together with Action 8(1)f. of the Annex to this Decision, provide that the European Commission may co-operate with third countries and with the competent international organisations. It has been agreed with the programme committee for Socrates that lifelong learning will be a central focus of the activities to be supported in this context. Lifelong learning, defined as "all purposeful learning activity, undertaken on an ongoing basis with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competence", is one of the key concepts in the Commission's strategy for the further development of education systems in Europe. Lifelong learning also encompasses non-formal and informal learning taking place outside the formal systems. Exchanges of experience and good practice between the Union and other parts of the world in the field of lifelong learning have a strong potential for mutual benefit and will contribute to enhancing the quality of education and training in Europe and elsewhere. Therefore the European Commission launches a call for proposals under article 13 of the Socrates programme for projects for cooperation with third countries in the field of lifelong learning. Projects should be aimed at: * exchanging lifelong learning experiences and know-how; * disseminating good practice in lifelong learning between Europe and other parts of the world; * developing effective and innovative forms of transnational cooperation in lifelong learning; * reflecting on future needs and priorities for lifelong learning in a global context. For further information, see http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/socrates.html <http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/socrates.html> ************************* Ulla K. Bunz University of Kansas 102 Bailey Lawrence, KS 66045 785-864-1160 ulla@ukans.edu *************************