The Working Paper series provides a forum for work in progress which seeks to elicit comments and generate discussion. The series includes academic research by CR&DALL Core Members, Affiliates and Associates, PhD students and invited guest contributors.
Editor: Dr Muir Houston
Editorial board: Prof. Nicki Hedge; Dr Catherine Lido & Dr Kate Reid
The right to education has become an increasingly visible feature of international educational policy debates and a foundation for state education policy itself over the last three decades. The emergence of Human Rights Education (HRE) as both a concept and an educational programme in its own right has been seen as a central condition for the realisation of the right to education. Successive Scottish Governments have expressed a commitment to the promotion of a society that is inclusive and respects, and realises, the rights of all people.
EcCoWell was developed by the PASCAL International Observatory in 2012 (PIE), based on the experience of Taipei city, as an approach to developing learning cities in a holistic and cohesive manner. The emergence of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, with a similar requirement for holistic development has enhanced the significance of the EcCoWell experience.
High quality adult learning and education within a full lifelong learning philosophy are essential to attain the Sustainable Development Goals. Being active individually and organizationally in education for sustainable development and global citizenship is an obligation for political, professional and personal reasons.
After the 2016 Scottish General Election, the Scottish Government put school education right at the top of its policy agenda, aiming to close the attainment gap between young people from less and more disadvantaged neighbourhoods. But by the summer of 2018, its flagship Education Bill had been shelved and, in the intervening period, the initially central policy focus on place-based disadvantage had faded away. This was a disappointing result for what had seemed like a very promising new direction for education reform in Scotland.
It has long been suggested that in order to meet the requirements of the knowledge economy, university provision for adult learners is crucial. In its resolution of 2011 on modernising universities for Europe’s competitiveness in a global economy, the European Council claimed:
to improve the identification of training needs, increase the labour market relevance of education and training, facilitate individuals’ access to lifelong learning opportunities and guidance, and ensure smooth transitions between the worlds of education, training and employment.” (EU 2011a)
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