Press release

International Conference on Adult Learning and Education in Tbilisi

In the past 20 years, DVV International has worked in the South Caucasus (Armenia and Georgia) to promote Lifelong Learning (LLL) and Adult Learning and Education (ALE) at different levels. Lobbying for sustainable ALE structures, increasing national-level investment into ALE and LLL, raising awareness of ALE benefits and reducing participation costs, and building the capacity of ALE institutions and professionals has been the main focus of cooperation on government, institutional, and individual levels. Following the German model of ALE, 14 Adult Education centers were established in Georgia and 5 – in Armenia. They provide more than 20 000 beneficiaries yearly with multicomponent ALE programs to support their further development, employment, and increased quality of life.

To summarise and analyse activities by DVV International in the region, the International Conference “Adult Learning and Education in the South Caucasus: the milestones” will be conducted on 28-29 September 2022. DVV International Georgia organises the Conference with DVV International Armenia and the Georgian Adult Education Network. The Conference will bring together ALE experts, policy, decision-makers, and practitioners who agree that Adult Education has to be recognised as a public good. The administrative and financial authority should be strengthened to allow for greater flexibility and freedom in contributions to skills development among adults. The conference participants will discuss and make recommendations on how to foster reforms and build a sustainable adult education system in Armenia and Georgia, based on the best European practices including implementation of targeted holistic AE activities. The Conference will enact a professional debate among stakeholders and facilitate exchange on the situation in the ALE sector worldwide and its possible influences on national opportunities in the South Caucasus. Around 80 ALE experts, policy and decision-makers, and practitioners from Germany, EU, non-EU countries, and three DVV International regions – the Caucasus and Southeast Europe, Ukraine/Moldova, and Central Asia- are invited to participate.

H.E. Peter Fischer, Ambassador of Germany to Georgia, and Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Mr. Valerian Gobronidze, will open the Conference and welcome participants.