Sharing is caring.  In particular if it is knowledge that is shared. 

Throughout the seven years of the EU Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) (2007-2013) a substantial body of knowledge has been generated in Europe within and across different sectors of education. LLP covered a wide range of educational activities, from school projects, VET, adult and higher education to the transversal ones such as languages or ICT. 

However, it seems that this LLP know-how is scattered across countries, sectors and organisations without any systematic approach to collecting and using it further. Apart from poor cooperation among decision makers and public administration, education stakeholders appear equally isolated within their own fields. For this reason, the European Civil Society Platform on Lifelong Learning (EUCIS-LLL) and nine other partners have developed a project called Capacity-Building for the Lifelong Learning Programme (CB4LLP), which aims to address this issue and facilitate knowledge sharing and the exploitation of the LLP projects’ results among European stakeholders. With a view to supporting the integration of lifelong learning methodologies and tools, this two-year project promotes cooperation and synergies among different actors in education – from decision makers to educational providers. One of the outcomes of the CB4LLL project is a CB4LLP Guidebook - a collection of good examples of LLP practice, relevant publications and suggested procedures and methodologies for more coherent capacity-building processes. The Guidebook is available for reading online at the CB4LLP website.

Project partners are also working on establishing a pool of capacity builders - individuals and organisations with LLP experience who wish to connect and share valuable knowledge. It is a database of over 300 registered users so far, where anyone who wishes to join can do so by creating a profile and adding relevant information with regards to LLP experiences. 

As the project is ending soon, in October 2014, the wrap-up CB4LLP conference will take place on 18 September 2014 in Athens.  It will focus on key policy areas in lifelong learning and exchange perspectives coming from different fields of education and decision making.