The EPALE Turkey International Conference 2024 was held on March 4 and 5, 2024 in Antalya. The conference aimed to contribute to adult education and lifelong learning in Turkey and exchange good practices through the EPALE project.
The conference brought together more than a hundred participants, representatives of the adult education community from Turkey, as well as representatives of EPALE NSS teams from eight European countries: Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro, Finland, Poland, North Macedonia, Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina. On behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the conference was attended by the deputy director of the Agency for Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education, Ms. Milana Popržen and member of the National Support Service (NSS) EPALE B&H, Ms. Daria Mršić.
On the first day of the conference, the national coordinator of EPALE Turkey, Mr. Yusuf Taner Tekin presented the work of the NSS team Turkey, as well as the document “EPALE’s impact on ALE in Turkey“. Academician, Mr. Husein Kaygin, PhD, from Barton University in Turkey gave a speech on lifelong learning in the continuation of the programme. Good practices within the EPALE project were shared by representatives of NSS Belgium and NSS Serbia during the first day of the conference, as well.
In addition, a reception and a meeting chaired by the Deputy Minister of Education in Turkey, Ms. Celila Eren Ökten was held during the first day of the conference. NSS teams from Poland, Belgium, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey attended the meeting during which themes such as improvement of adult education and cooperation widening among these five European countries were discussed.
On the second day of the conference, prominent academics and representatives of the Turkish LLL community, as well as European representatives participated and gave their contribution during four panel sessions. The topics covered during the panel sessions were: Lifelong learning and digitalization – the role of EPALE, Examples of good practice in adult education through the EPALE project, The role of lifelong learning institutions – educational and managerial approaches and The role of EPALE in lifelong learning and future projections.
The representative of NSS EPALE Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms. Daria Mršić, presented best practice example from the regional EPALE project in the field of media literacy during the second panel session. The Turkish LLL community had the opportunity to hear more about this regional cooperation of six Southeast European countries through the EPALE project. The successful implementation and results of the presented project arose great interest and positive reactions from the conference participants who discussed this topic in the further course of the program emphasizing the importance of upskilling adults in media literacy field.
This year’s International EPALE Conference in Turkey provided an exceptional opportunity for all participants to exchange knowledge and experience, as well as to establish new collaborations in the future.
