The ASEM Education Process (AEP)
The ASEM Education Process (AEP) was launched in 2008 with Germany hosting the 1st ASEM Education Ministers’ Meeting (ASEMME1) in Berlin. Since then, ASEM Ministers of Education have met bi-annually to develop the ASEM Education Process (AEP) and to advance transregional educational collaboration in creating an ASEM Education Area. The AEP works at both the political level and at the stakeholders’ level, providing a platform for education policy dialogue and concrete collaborations. Please find more about the history, structures, strategies and activities of the ASEM Education Process here.
At the 2nd ASEM Ministers of Education Meeting (ASEMME2) in 2009, Ministers agreed that a rotating ASEM Education Secretariat (AES) would be established. The Secretariat supports the ASEM Education Partners and Stakeholders to coordinate the AEP initiatives and activities based on the outcomes of the ASEM Ministers of Education meetings.
The ASEM Education Process (AEP)
The ASEM Education Secretariat (AES) works in partnership with three other ASEM key players in the ASEM Education Area and oversees several ASEM Education Working Groups to promote and facilitate bi-regional education collaboration:
- The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) is ASEM’s only permanently established organisation. Led by ASEF’s Education Department, ASEF’s activities in the field of education focus on policy dialogue at the secondary, tertiary & Lifelong Learning levels, facilitate capacity building & youth and student mobility.
- The ASEM Education and Research Hub for Lifelong Learning (ASEM LLL Hub), provides a platform for researchers, practitioners & policymakers to contribute to evidence-based educational reform and innovation in the field of Lifelong Learning.
- The ASEM-DUO Fellowship programme (ASEM-DUO) promotes balanced exchanges of students and professors between Asia and Europe and provides scholarships.
ASEM Education and Research Hub for Lifelong Learning (ASEM LLL Hub)
The ASEM Education and Research Hub for Lifelong Learning (ASEM LLL Hub) is the official network for university cooperation in Lifelong Learning Research between Asia and Europe. The Hub was established in 2005 with support from the Danish Government and hosted by the Danish School of Education, Aarhus University. Following the 7th ASEM Ministers of Education Meeting (ASEM ME7) in Romania in 2019, Aarhus University handed over the Hub to the University College Cork in Ireland. Dr Séamus Ó TUAMA, Director of the Department of Adult Continuing Education, will chair the Hub for the next five years. The ASEM LLL Hub is supported by the Irish Government, through the Department of Education & Skills and the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade.
Throughout the past 15 years, the ASEM Education and Research Hub has connected hundreds of researchers from Asia and Europe in collaborative networks and Forums, jointly working on ASEM-wide research studies and policy briefs. The new Host in Ireland aims to further the discussion on Lifelong Learning, “led by scientific thinking that is oriented towards policy formation, inclusion, progression, plotting a future direction for lifelong learning, and making sure that all voices are heard”.
Please read the interview by Dr Séamus Ó TUAMA, Director, Adult Continuing Education Department and Chair of the ASEM LLL Hub on the future strategies of the Hub here.
The ASEM LLL Hub is a platform for six Research Networks (RN) that share a common interest in the research and policy agenda on lifelong learning in the ASEM region. These are:
- RN1: eASEM (Development of ICT skills, e-learning and the culture of e-learning in Lifelong Learning)
- RN2: Workplace Learning
- RN3: Professionalisation of Adult Teachers and Educators in ASEM countries
- RN4: National strategies for Lifelong Learning
- RN5: Lifelong Learning Transitions
- RN6: Learning Cities and Learning Regions
Each Research Network will be developing operational plans for the next three years including a research programme & collaboration with the wider research community and with relevant stakeholders. Research Networks are led by one a Coordinator and two Joint-Coordinators from both Asia and Europe and are open to new researchers from the 51 ASEM Partner countries.
Researchers interested in joining one of the networks can contact the ASEM LLL Hub Secretariat at asemlllhub@ucc.ie.
From 13 – 15 October 2020, the new ASEM LLL Hub host, University College Cork in Ireland, organised the ASEM Lifelong Learning Hub Forum 2020 online. The Forum addressed “Future Directions in Lifelong Learning: Creating a vision for Lifelong Learning Research, Policy & Practice in Asia & Europe”, and 100 researchers, stakeholders and policy makers from Asia and Europe joined the discussions.
The key outcome of the Forum was the development and the finalising of a “Framework for Lifelong Learning Research in the ASEM Region: 2020-2025” – exploring the thematic focus and objectives of the Research Networks, and the plans for the next five years.
