A rear-view mirror approach indicates that citizenship education and adult learning and education (ALE) for lifelong learning have been prominent throughout history, dating back to the League of Nations and continuing through the United Nations and UNESCO. The League of Nations was founded in 1920 after World War I when humanity realized that…

This article critically examines how monitoring strategies currently track progress on country commitments to adult learning and education (ALE). These commitments are laid out in three main international initiatives and policy tools: (1) the Belém Framework for Action (BFA); (2) the 2015 Recommendation on Adult Learning and Education (RALE); and…

Climate change and climate education concern more than climate and the environment, as our social and economic systems both rely upon and are impacted by climate and environment. We cannot address the human impact on our global climate and local environments without several nations reconstructing their social and economic systems to be equitable…

Despite general agreement that a 21st-century learning society must also be a literate society, there is still a long way to go to achieve a broad consensus on how to achieve this within an explicit lifelong learning vision. The Seventh International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VII -- June 2022) is an excellent opportunity to rethink…

In the era of digital transformation, the intersection of adult learning, digital competence, global progress, and sustainable development emerges as a pivotal focus. This article dives into the complex interaction of these factors centering on the pivotal role of digital competence in advancing sustainable development goals through adult…

Most of the world's refugees live in Global South countries, where they struggle to find quality education and opportunities for decent livelihoods. This paper explores the underexamined yet highly relevant interlinkage between sustainable livelihoods and adult learning among urban refugees residing in three major cities in India. It speaks to the…

Australia has no national approach to climate change education, neither for primary, secondary, or tertiary education nor for the informal and community adult education sectors. Inaction has its roots in Australian politics reluctant to engage with scientific evidence or community experience of extreme weather events and hamstrung by the political…

This manuscript examines the adaptation and integration of intergenerational learning to create an inclusive marketing education environment. The development of innovative course designs to promote intergenerational learning and age-friendly curricula is an opportunity for educational institutions, given a demographic shift in many parts of the…

One of the core outcomes of the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI) held in 2009 was the Belém Framework for Action (BFA). Its signatories committed to monitoring the most recent development stages of adult learning and education (ALE) worldwide on a regular basis, and to present and assess results in a global report.…

Background: Political and economic upheavals in the current millennium globally have displaced millions of people, making cross-border and forced migration a reality. Many refugees are forced out of their countries and flee to other countries to find new languages with which they are not familiar. South Africa as a signatory to the 1954 UN…

This article submits that while the world continues to view education as a human right, it also persists in depriving an important section of it -- namely "adult learning and education" (ALE) -- of adequate funding. Located within the lifelong learning domain, which facilitates both the resolution of challenges and adjustment to the…

In this age of information exchange, where nations' multiculturalism is prominent, developing a positive attitude towards local people's knowledge and wisdom regardless of gender, faith, age, and other social class is prominent. This is because countries need to have a diverse population that embraces diverse indigenous knowledge systems and…

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), launched by the United Nations in 2015, established ambitious targets to be achieved by 2030, including in education. SDG 4, which focuses on ensuring "inclusive and equitable quality education and promot[ing] lifelong learning opportunities for all", attracted attention from the adult education…

The 30th anniversary Human Development Report, entitled "The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene," was released by the United Nations Development Programme in December 2020. It marks an important step forward as a high-profile publication trying to radically re-think the challenge of sustainable development and revisit…

The aim of this study is to determine the way education for self-reliance can lead to lifelong learning in previously colonised countries to trigger sustainable development. The intention of the colonial education system was to train individuals for the service of the colonial powers. The colonised people were exploited and dehumanised by their…