This is how I think at the beginning of my mandate, and I look to the future of ALE with interest and eagerness to learn. A field that is so diverse is undoubtedly not possible to take in only one direction, nor to navigate here and there without a real goal. However, all of us involved in ALE can agree that we are doing this out of a desire to help adults learn, encourage them to learn and offer them support. There is only one reason for this: their ability to cope with changes and their determination to change their living and working environment. For this purpose, we need to be flexible, use technology wisely, work together, promote ALE and focus on continuous professional development.
Many challenges related to coronavirus lie ahead. We need to be resourceful in a changed reality and make the best out of the experience gained during the epidemic. We are now able and can be much more innovative in offering training and education. We can respond even better to the needs of individuals by providing them opportunities to learn that they need and when they need them.
Therefore, we must all look for new ways to reach individual target groups, develop new programmes, respond to society’s needs and raise awareness among the public about the importance of ALE to co-create smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
The future of ALE is full of opportunities. Let us dare to seize them and create new ones.
Dr Nataša Potočnik (natasa.potocnik@acs.si), SIAE
