Europe and North America

The University of Third Age was first introduced in the second half of the twentieth century in France following legislation that assigned the responsibility of promoting lifelong learning to universities. The initiative gained international recognition, and U3As were established across all continents in more than 60 countries. The target audience of the U3As are people in the third age phase of their life, which is usually considered to be above 60 years of age; however, some universities offer the programme to people aged 50 and above.

PLAR is an initiative developed by the Canadian Association for Prior Learning Assessment (CAPLA). PLAR/RPL stands for Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition of Prior Learning. Prior learning assessment and recognition defines processes that allow individuals to identify, document, have assessed and gain recognition for their prior learning. The learning may be formal, informal, non-formal, or experiential (CAPLA, 2021).

Fast Track Initiative was launched in Sweden in 2015 with the aim of introducing newly arrived immigrants with qualifications and experience in certain fields to the labour market in a time span of two years, validating their professional credentials, taking Swedish language courses and participating in professional trainings, which would allow them to find employment in their area of expertise while simultaneously reducing the shortage of labour in certain spheres.

The initiative of transforming Gelsenkirchen from an industrial hub into a learning city was implemented as an attempt to revive a city suffering from high unemployment rates that had reached 15 per cent by 2016. In 1998, after careful consideration of the current situation, aGEnda 21 was initiated to increase the city’s sustainability and incorporate new learning strategies that would improve the quality of life. Since 2008, efficient measures have been implemented to promote lifelong learning based on education for sustainable development (ESD). In 2016, more than 120 businesses, institutions and organizations signed a Joint Declaration on Learning as a confirmation of commitment to the development of the city and the community.

Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands (TU Delft) started an Open Educational Resource (OER) that includes courses on clean water technology for developing countries. These resources have been updated by universities in South Africa, Singapore, the Antilles and Indonesia to include information on water-treatment processes from their regions, making a collaborative resource on drinking-water engineering available online to anyone who wishes to learn more.