The Grundtvig programme is a European funding programme aimed at creating a stronger European dimension in the work of adult educators and learners. Launched in 2000, Grundtvig has been around for a decade. For many of those years, the programme has been steered at the Commission by programme coordinator and deputy head of unit Alan Smith. For those familiar with adult education politics at the European level, Smith is ‘Mr Grundtvig’. LLinE met Alan Smith in November to discuss Grundtvig’s past and present, and most crucial, the future.

LLinE: Thinking back on the decade of Grundtvig, what would you say are the programme’s biggest successes and shortcomings?

Alan Smith: Let me start by saying that the Commission sees Grundtvig as a highly successful programme. Bit by bit, we are witnessing the creation of a real European community of adult learning - despite the fact that the adult education sector is much less institutionalized than other fields of education. Grundtvig has helped to bring about a culture of cooperation and common identity among this heterogeneous group of adult educators and organisations. This cooperation has then, for example, helped spread adult education good practices into those new EU member countries, where adult education has a shorter history and weaker infrastructure than perhaps in the older member states.

“Our main problem is really the inadequate budget”

As for shortcomings, our main problem is really the inadequate budget allocated to the programme: despite increases over the years, this is still much too small relative to the high demand for grants from the adult education community. Another regret, and one which we hope to end in 2011, is that we would have wanted to develop a stronger network of universities working in the field of adult education. Such an academic network has not really materialised yet, despite, for example, the joint production of adult education master’s programmes. We would like to see researcher mobility as a strong part of the future programme. Researchers and academics, in cooperation with adult education providers, should be the strategic thinkers developing the field further.

LLinE: The current Lifelong Learning Programme, of which Grundtvig is a part, ends in 2013. What is the fate of Grundtvig after that date?

AS: The Commission is now in ‘consultation mode’. There will be a formal proposal for a new programme around late summer 2011. So that is when we will all know more. Having said that, continuity is important: Grundtvig is seen as a success not only by the Commission but also by the national authorities and national agencies. There is also, of course, strong support from the adult education community for it to be continued.  

LLinE: You mentioned earlier that one of Grundtvig’s achievements has been to root good practices of adult education more firmly in the new EU member countries. What is the ‘ideal type’ of adult education the Commission wants to promote?

AS: We don’t believe there is any such thing as an ideal type of adult education, as this needs to be different in different settings - social and geographical. But of course there are common features of what makes for good provision of adult learning opportunities, and our programme should aim to help the emergence of these in a variety of contexts. The key question we have to pose before any programme design is: what is it that we want to achieve? The answer must be that we want to endorse a holistic view of adult education. This encompasses the vocational side, i.e. the upskilling of the workforce, but also the side of adult education that is so much more than updating our skills. Lifelong learning is a main ingredient in creating a society of inclusion, with an active civil society. Again, this is in line with our policy objectives for Europe 2020. It’s not just ‘Youth on the Move’ or ‘New Skills for New Jobs’, there’s also ‘European Platform against Poverty’ among the flagship initiatives.

LLinE: Is there a way individual people in the adult education field can affect what happens next with the Grundtvig programme?

AS: Well, if individual people or organizations feel they have benefitted from Grundtvig and would like to see it continued, a good way to contribute is to spread information about the programme informally to one’s networks- including of course people with strategic influence – and to the media. Word-of-mouth information on the programme can potentially reach a wider audience than our official communication. This is because informal networks are far more important in the adult education field than in other sectors of education. We have also collected ‘user experiences’ and improvement suggestions from people who have been involved with Grundtvig projects in public consultations. We will take this input very seriously into account in future planning. The results of the consultations will be published in the beginning of 2011 and should make a very interesting read!

The complete interview was published in the 4/2010 issue of the journal Lifelong Learning in Europe (LLinE), page 252-253


Foto: Markus Palmén