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Tracing the effects and impacts of the Memorandum on Lifelong Learning in the scholarly debate since its inception

The Memorandum on Lifelong Learning was launched in October 2000 by the European Commission and has been debated ever since in all member states of the European Union, leading to the publication of a follow-up document in 2001 which promoted a “European area of lifelong learning”. The Memorandum was...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International review of education 2024-04, Vol.70 (2), p.223-252
Main Authors: Nuissl, Ekkehard, Sava, Simona
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The Memorandum on Lifelong Learning was launched in October 2000 by the European Commission and has been debated ever since in all member states of the European Union, leading to the publication of a follow-up document in 2001 which promoted a “European area of lifelong learning”. The Memorandum was a unique document in terms of both form and content, and its outcome and immediate impact were remarkable. But what is the long-term effect of this document, considering policymaking processes and scholarly debates in various EU member states and beyond? The authors of this article aim to answer this question by highlighting the Memorandum’s “key messages” and analysing how it is referenced in academic papers and publications. Their main findings confirm the Memorandum’s significant impact, including a long-term one, particularly in raising awareness of the importance of adult education in the political debate. Despite a decrease in explicit references to the document in policy papers over the past ten years, other more recent references to the Memorandum can still be identified in the latest policy documents and academic debates. Scholarly papers are particularly interested in critical content analysis, pointing out the strengths and limitations of the Memorandum and its follow-up document. During the past decade, the academic debate has become more active than in the first ten years since the Memorandum’s publication, demonstrating its long-term impact on various sectors in the field of lifelong learning, even outside Europe.
ISSN:0020-8566
1573-0638
DOI:10.1007/s11159-023-10044-8