Special Focus: Lifelong Learning — The Challenge and Potential for Industry and Higher Education

Abstract

The papers which follow in this special focus on lifelong learning are based on presentations at the First Global Conference on Lifelong Learning, held in Rome on 30 November–2 December 1994. In this introductory paper, Norman Longworth discusses the concept, definition and practice of lifelong learning and assesses why its importance and significance for the future are increasingly appreciated and stressed. He also sets out and discusses the main themes of the Rome conference, and analyses their implications and challenges specifically for business and higher education. Finally he describes the roles of the European Lifelong Learning Initiative (ELU), which organized the Rome conference, and the World Initiative on Lifelong Learning (WILL), which was established at the conference.