EPALE (Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe) is a European, multilingual, open membership community of adult learning professionals, including adult educators and trainers, guidance and support staff, researchers and academics, and policymakers. EPALE is funded by the Erasmus+ programme. It is part of the European Union’s strategy to promote more and better learning opportunities for all adults.
Over the last decade, social exclusion and disengagement of adults have been among the most significant concerns faced by EU countries. There is a growing number of people suffering from the various effects of the unstable social, economic and political situations affecting Europe and its neighbouring countries. Some adults are particularly at risk of being excluded and marginalised, for example those with health or learning difficulties, early school leavers, members of ethnic minority groups, homeless people, or refugees and migrants.
EPALE believes that the European adult education systems have the potential to meet these adults’ specific educational needs and change people’s lives for the better. They opened two thematic pages dedicated to social inclusion of vulnerable groups: Social inclusion and Barriers to learning where the community and the national teams have gathered interesting articles, useful resources and case studies on the topic (content varies based on your language preference).