The Journal of Adult and Continuing Education (JACE), now published by the Manchester University Press, is essential reading for keeping in touch with the field of post-compulsory education. Published twice a year, it provides a forum for rigorous theoretical and practical work in the broad fields of lifelong learning and adult, community and continuing education.

Despite demanding weather and travel conditions in Scotland, we were delighted to have been able to run the second EcCoWell conference successfully in Glasgow on 5 December.

A full report, all presentations and some videos of the event will be published in due course. See below for attachments of those we have received to date.

We are pleased to inform you that we now have 25 courses (short and long term) for offering in an online and distant mode of learning. Please find belwo further information about our new courses, offered through PRIA’s International Academy. Do forward this information to friends, colleagues and others in order that we may be able to reach out to potential learners from across the globe.

As the rest of the world struggles with high unemployment in the wake  of the Global Financial Crises, Australia faces the problem of skills  shortages. This is in part fuelled by China¹s increasing appetite for  Australia's natural resources.  Prosperity in Australia has brought its  own problems and successive governments have reduced funding for adult  education. Skills shortages have created a "moral panic" that dismisses  learning that doesn't fill a specific skills shortage as unworthy of  support.