ričke
SIAE EVENTS
SLOVENIAN ADULT EDUCATION SCENE
INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
z vami
iter Republike Slovenije
First teachers in new programmes * 10 successful 3-11 years of work of the central Knowledge Exchange * Lifelong Learning Week - ninth -year! * 8th Adult Education Colloquium
Slovenian Folk High Schools Day 2003 * 12-18 Educational priorities of the Scout Association of Slovenia * Knowledge and young people as the main factor of tourism development in Slovenia
Psychological abuse in the workplace and the role 19-27 of adult education * International Adult Learners' ^^H Week in Europe (IntALWinE) * Results of the THENUCE+ project * At the conclusion of the MISSION project
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Andragoški ce Slovenian Institute for Adult Education
PROGRAMME BASIS OF NOVIČKE
Novičke (The News) is an information bulletin with whitch we wish to inform individuals and organisations abroad with adult education and learning in Slovenia. We plan to provide the following types of:
•	description and presentation of events and activities in adult education;
•	development, research and other programmes and projects;
•	information on organisations, their needs, plans and activities;
•	information on policy and strategies of adult education;
•	the latest news in administration and legislation;
•	statistical data;
•	information on forthcoming events, workshops, seminars and conferences;
•	presentations of new books and articles.
Novičke will provide brief, concise, objective and unbiased information. Novičke will be published three times a year in English language. Users will receive Novičke free of charge. This is a policy we intend to continue, provided we are able to cover the costs of publishing from the public funds allocated to adult education.
Novičke is edited and published by the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education.
In charge of the publication are: Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik, MSc, head of the
Information and promotion cluster, and Nevenka Kocijančič, editor.
DTP: Solos, inc.
Translation: AMIDAS, inc.
Printed by: Tiskarna Strok.
The publisher's address: Andragoški center Slovenije, Šmartinska 134a, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Phone: +386 (0)1 5842 560, fax: + 386 (0)1 5245 881, internet: siae.acs.si/novicke, e-mail: nevenka.kocijancic@acs.si
ISSN 1408-6492 (English edition - printed) ISSN 1581-3789 (English edition - online) Edition: 870
The preparation and dissemination of the bulletin Novičke is financed by the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs.
Raising the literacy level First teachers in new programmes
At the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education we have developed two programmes to raise the literacy level of two different target groups. The Bridge to education programme is intended for adults enrolling in formal secondary education and renewing reading, writing, arithmetic and computing skills to participate in education more effectively. The family literacy programme Read and write together is intended for parents with ten or less years of education who would like to refresh their basic skills to be able to help their children in literacy education and learning. For each group of participants the programme is realised by two teachers and with the help of volunteers. Teachers are trained in a special programme which has been prepared at the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education and ratified by the Ministry of Education.
Duration and content
Basic teacher training lasts a total of 118 hours. It consists of 86 hours of basic contents common to all teachers in adult literacy programmes and 32 hours of special contents related to particular target groups.
Participants in basic teacher training learn about the curricula of the programmes (Bridge to education and Read and write together), the characteristics and educational needs of target groups. Teachers have to learn how to create a network of institutions for the support of each programme. Implementation of the programmes requires considerable effort in order to acquire and obtain participants, so future teachers need suitable knowledge. Different target groups require different approaches from teachers, even though both programmes are aimed at raising the literacy level. Adults who are continuing their education are in the sensitive position of testing their learning abilities again and a good preparation for education is very important. This increases motivation for learning and ensures better learning achievement. Work with parents and children at the same time is not common in the Slovenian educational system; consequently teachers do not have such experiences. This working method requires special organisation - teachers
are working part of the time with children and adults together, while at other times the programme runs separately.
During the training future teachers learn about the social, cultural and scientific aspects of literacy as well as the psychological and educational background of reading, writing and arithmetic skills. In addition to basic skills relating to literacy, teachers are trained in social skills and for the promotion of lifelong learning and active citizenship.
The basic working method in the implementation of the two programmes is project learning. Teachers are trained to link creatively various skills relating to literacy and the everyday life situation of participants. To rise effectively their literacy level participants should acquire knowledge and skills which can be transferred directly to their everyday life situations in the workplace, in the family, at school and in their social environment.
The basic teacher training programme is provided by experts from the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education and other experts of related institutions who in their research, developmental work or teaching are involved in the area of literacy and adult education. Training takes place in the form of lectures and workshops.
Training conditions
Teachers applying for training must meet certain conditions before and on conclusion of training. Entrance conditions for training are: high level of education, professional examination, teacher training and computer skills. For completing the programme teachers have to achieve: positive mark in the seminar paper prepared at the end of the programme, 80 percent attendance, positive assessment of the participation in group learning within the programme and successful performance in front of a video camera. Teachers have to renew the licence every three years.
Teacher training is financially supported by the Ministry of Education.
In the year 2003 thirteen teachers have completed basic training; eleven are trained for both programmes and two only for the Read and write together programme. This year, we expect to train twenty new teachers for each programme.
Dr Livija Knaflič (livija.knaflic@acs.si), SIAE
Informal forms of learning 10 successful years of work of the central Knowledge Exchange
The Knowledge Exchange is a project, developed by the Slovene Institute for Adult Education in 1992, as part of the Centre for Self-Directed Learning project intended to bring together informal forms of adult learning and education. The project considers the concept of permanent and informal education of adults, the development strategy of the general culture of learning, and improvement of the quality of living in the learning society. It was based on the model of The Learning Exchange, which developed as an information and guidance centre for assistance in the formation of informal learning relations in Chicago in 1971. After a one-year trial, in which basic principles and rules, computer programmes, instruments for monitoring feedback, information material and initial contacts with the media were established, the project moved to the Labour Library, a branch of the Oton Župančič Library in Ljubljana.
The Knowledge Exchange is an information centre that collects, processes and mediates data on those, seeking to learn something and those, offering such knowledge, free of charge. What does the knowledge exchange offer? Those who want to learn something can obtain information on people who can teach them what they want to know. Those who want to use their knowledge to help other people can obtain information on people who need their knowledge and experience. Those who want to participate in any kind of activity can get information on people with similar interests. And of course, the Exchange offers a friendly helping hand to anyone who turns to it for help. What are the features of the knowledge exchange? The Exchange does not decide where, when and how members exchange their knowledge and information; members make their own arrangements with the person offering or looking for information. Services are paid for in the form of an exchange of knowledge, free of charge, in agreement between both users. All those with particular knowledge or skills can participate in the Knowledge Exchange. Participants do not need to present any certificate of formal education. Feedback information is of great help to the Exchange. How can you contact the knowledge exchange? Visit the Exchange in person, telephone or send an e-mail to one of the Knowledge Exchange branches in Ljubljana, Maribor, Novo Mesto, Slovenj Gradec, Izola, Murska Sobota and Škofja Loka. The Exchange only needs basic information about members which is kept for internal use only. Members need to state the knowledge, information or skill they wish to acquire. The Exchange then checks if the information needed is available in the database. If so, members receive the name and telephone number of those members who can be of help. What does the knowledge exchange expect from its members? The Exchange needs feedback
information: are members satisfied with the person offering or looking for information, and how satisfied are they with the mediation of the Exchange.
Keeping the public informed is of great importance for the Knowledge Exchange, in part because of the nature of its activity. A selection of current offers and requests is broadcast on various local radio stations; the Exchange also cooperates with the press. Public media cooperate with the Knowledge Exchanges free of charge. To pay for their services, they are mentioned in the Exchange information bulletins and on the Knowledge Exchange web sites (http://www.borzaznanja.mss.edus.si/).
To successfully develop the activity, the Exchange will have to establish contacts with new public media outlets and develop new ways of providing information.
Further development of the project requires a distinctive corporate image - from the graphic design of information material and the effective slogan "Change your knowledge, not your dreams" on the one hand, to a friendly working environment and good relations between associates on the other.
The Central Knowledge Exchange celebrated the 10th anniversary of the first Knowledge Exchange on 3 December 2003, at the Labour Library in Ljubljana.
Following the successful development of activities, reaction in the media and interests of the users, a major Knowledge Exchange social event was organized to mark the first decade of activities. Live presentations from the members were most interesting. There were official speeches by user representatives, who proved that informal learning can bear plentiful fruit, both through their appearances and through exchanges of knowledge: there were performances of African and Cuban dances, musicians performed Indian music, a member of the Exchange played the flute, other members made seasonal greetings cards and decorations, showed their skills in making ceramics, copper ... In this way even this festive event was an opportunity to demonstrate the mission of the Exchange.
The meeting was an opportunity to establish contacts with representatives of different domestic and foreign professional institutions. The Knowledge Exchange is aware of the importance of informal forms of education and life-long learning; this is why their goal is to inform the general public about its importance and role in the life and development of an individual member of society. Such an event was an excellent opportunity to realise the mission of and promote the Knowledge Exchange.
Edita Flegar (ljubljana@borzaznanja.mss.edus.si), Knowledge Exchange, Ljubljana
Learning festival in Slovenia Lifelong Learning Week - ninth year!
Slovenia will experience this year's Lifelong Learning Week (LLW) from 18 to 24 October. As an annual promotional event initiated by the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education (SIAE) and organised in cooperation with numerous learning providers and other stakeholders throughout the country, the LLW will celebrate the state-of-practice as well as the state-of-art of lifelong learning in Slovenia for the ninth successive year. As national coordinator of the festival, the SIAE has already started preparations to lay down the annual conceptual framework and attract organisations, societies, groups and individuals which in their own environments design, organise, implement, support or promote learning and education.
The first LLW, organised in the "Year of Lifelong Learning" (1996), involved 59 providers, most of them engaged in adult education, and around 500 events. In subsequent years, the number of LLW friends grew rapidly - by last year it had increased almost ten-fold, with around 3,000 events and more than 1,200 items in various media outlets attracting the attention of thousands of citizens all over Slovenia. However, we should mention not only the number of providers of LLW events, but also their extreme diversity, as it demonstrates that the LLW actually reaches all generations, illuminating the role of learning in the most diverse areas of public and private life. In this way, all of us involved in the project contribute to achieving the slogan "Slovenia, a learning country".
The plan for LLW 2004, the ninth implementation of the now well-known and established Slovenian LLW model, is based on the experience of all those who over the years have built on the initial concept (more information on the Lifelong Learning Week is available on the web at http://llw.acs.si). The central theme of LLW 2004 is the European Year of Education through Sport, although no limits have been set on imaginative and inventive approaches to LLW. In fact, all ideas that fit into the broad definition of lifelong learning are welcome, whether such learning takes place in formal institutions or in the everyday life of all generations. At the local level, providers will organise open days, talks and meetings, presentations and exhibitions with the aim of presenting their activities. Many providers will stage these events not only in their own premises, but also in libraries, bookshops, health centres, shopping centres, display windows, advertising stands, marketplaces and other locations where the public gather. Such events have been very important over the years; on average, they have accounted for 33% of all LLW events. Pride of place among presentational activities belongs to those involving audience participation; on average, these represented 26% percent of LLW events. They inc ude learning and creative
workshops for designing ceramic products, painting on glass or silk, lace-making, carving, artistic, musical and computer workshops, creative workshops for the elderly and for children, practical knowledge and skills testing, taster sessions, conversations in foreign languages, organised debates, round tables, lectures with discussion on the theme of job-seeking, self-employment, business management, meetings, relaxation for quality life, learning various skills such as oriental dances and other subjects. Festive, social and cultural events, such as opening or closing ceremonies, presentations of books, journals and collections, literary evenings, concerts, meetings with talks and music, theatrical and film presentations, puppet shows, award ceremonies, diploma presentations, club meetings, visits to natural and cultural attractions, professional outings, guided tours, competitions, sports meetings and others have accounted for 35% and are again expected to form an important part of LLW 2004. Information and guidance via personal contacts, by telephone hotlines, guidance centres, information days, e-forums, information booths and other means have previously accounted for 6% of LLW events, a figure which is expected to grow.
Traditional components of the LLW at the national level are events organised by SIAE: the grand opening combined with the presentation of awards for outstanding achievements in adult learning, and the Adult Education Colloquium. The latter will be a two-day meeting of domestic and foreign professionals to discuss issues relating to the training of adult educators; for more information see http://llw.acs.si/ac. The grand opening will be held on October 15, its central theme being the presentation of life-stories of exceptional individuals, groups and institutions. To date we have awarded 90 prizes, 46 to individuals and groups for enhancing their own knowledge, and 44 to individuals, institutions, local communities and others for professional and promotional achievements in enriching the knowledge of others. Nominations are currently open for this year's awards.
Through the LLW project we will also be active at the international level: with partners from Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, Spain and Switzerland, we will cooperate in the last phase of the EU project "Widening and Strengthening the European Dimension of the Lifelong Learning Week Movement" (see http://www.llw5.org), and through the international ALW/LF movement, coordinated by the Unesco Institute of Education (see http://www.unesco.org/education/uie/InternationalALW), we will establish links with festival coordinators all over the world to exchange experience and know-how. In addition, we will be involved in the Grundtvig 4 project 'International Adult Learners' Week in Europe' which is introduced to our readers in a later article.
Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik, MSc, (zvonka.pangerc@acs.si), SIAE
Education and Training of Teacher in Adult Education 8th Adult Education Colloquium
Slovenia is tied to the strategic goals set by the European Union in the area of education and training. These are: improving the quality and effectiveness of education and training systems; easier access to education and training for all; and opening up and linking education and training systems with the wider environment. The success of individuals, groups, organisations and society as a whole is increasingly dependent on constant updating of knowledge, with prerequisites including motivation, the ability to learn continually and accessibility of new knowledge. This is the foundation for European education policy that combines political efforts under the slogan of "a learning society". In the context of a learning society, teachers are at the centre of events, and so it is no coincidence that European countries pay considerable attention to the question of education and continuing professional training of teachers.
Adult educators in Slovenia will join together to consider education and training of teachers or educators that take on various roles in adult learning and education - and their influence on quality, success and efficiency of adult learning and education - at this year's adult education colloquium, which we have named Education and Training of Teacher in Adult Education and will be held on 22 and 23 October 2004.
The colloquium is primarily meant for teachers, leaders of adult education, principal (head masters), guidance workers and other adult educators, but we also expect representatives of higher-education organisations for teacher education and policy makers in the area of teacher education and professional training.
Key issues we wish to discuss are:
•	The quality of adult education and the role and responsibility of provider organisations and educators in achieving this objective (Are we prepared for it? Are the conditions in our education organisations suitable?);
•	Adaptability of education and training to various target groups of adults (Can adults truly effectively participate and combine their participation in learning and education process with other obligations and activities?);
•	The role and tasks of the teacher in adult education (How do teachers understand and experience this role, requirements and expectations?);
•	The competence of teachers for changing roles in the education process with adult participants in education;
•	The position of the teacher in adult education, professional development and career progression;
•	Ensuring options and conditions (including systemic) to improve the qualifications of adult educators.
Basic objectives of the conference are:
•	To exchange experience in the planning and implementation of professional training for adult educators;
•	To learn from presentations of various examples of good practice in this field;
•	To recognise the latest trends and efforts in the design of teacher training for the needs of adult lifelong education;
•	To agree on the guidelines and levels for concentrating efforts to improve sensitivity to the problems and needs of training for adult education providers, and consequently to improve the quality of adult learning.
In this area too, Slovenia is opening up to the experience and influence of other European countries - it is involved in joint projects. This year's colloquium has an international dimension, since the contents are linked to the project Grundtvig 1: Adult Education Driving Licence - ADDED). Partners from Estonia, Greece, Norway and Slovenia are together trying to define the necessary competences of teachers for work with adults rejoining formal forms of education for various reasons. The adult education colloquium will thus be an opportunity to present and evaluate the first results of work on this project.
We invite you to consider participating in this professional meeting. Due to content planning of the programme and the formation of working groups, we would ask you to register for the colloquium by 31 August 2004. If you want to present a paper at the colloquium, please follow the instructions given below.
Abstract submission (deadline: 15 May 2004)
Abstracts should be 200-300 words long. They should include the title of the paper, the name of the author, the address of the institution, a telephone number and an email address. You can send your abstract by electronic mail in Word format, by fax or by ordinary mail by 15 May 2004 to:
		Slovenian Institute for Adult Education
Metka Svetina		Šmartinska 134a,
metka.svetina@acs.si	or:	1000 Ljubljana
		fax: +386 1 5245 881
Full paper submission (deadline: 30 August 2004)
After receiving your abstract and confirming its inclusion in the programme of the colloquium, we would ask you to send the full text of your paper (20,000 characters including spaces) by 30 August 2004.
Further details are available from Neda Dordevic (tel.: +386 1 5842 573 or email neda.dordevic@acs.si) or Metka Svetina (tel.: +386 1 5842 583).
Metka Svetina (metka.svetina@acs.si), SIAE
SLOVENIAN ADULT EDUCATION SCENI
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Presentation of a conference Slovenian Folk High Schools Day 2003
On 21 and 22 November, the Association of Folk High Schools of Slovenia (ZLUS) prepared the by-now traditional international conference in Portorož. The working title of this year's Folk High Schools Day was Folk High School - strategic partner in the development of human resources in a regional environment. Around 100 delegates attended the conference. In addition to directors and professional staff of folk high schools, we were joined by a number of Slovenian and foreign experts (from Austria, Italy and Croatia). Representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (MŠZŠ), which also financially supported the conference, the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs (MDDSZ), the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education (SIAE), the Centre for Mobility and European Programmes of Education and Training (CMEPIUS), the Education and Science Trade Union (SVIZ) and the Faculty of Arts (FF) were actively involved in the programme. Numerous guests from other associations and organisations in the field of adult education joined us at the conference.
The first day was devoted to training directors and professional staff employed by folk high schools. We prepared three workshops or working groups:
•	In a special working group, directors reviewed the preparation of the description of occupations and the proposed job classification in the area of adult education prepared by ZLUS in conjunction with SIAE. Ana Iglič, lawyer for SVIZ, presented the work and negotiations in the area of preparation of the collective agreement for the noncommercial sector, the new collective agreement for education, and the classification of occupations and jobs in adult education in the pay system in accordance with new legislation.
•	In the first part of the second workshop, Robert Marinšek MA, coordinator of Grundtvig and Minerva programmes at CMEPIUS, presented to professional workers opportunities for cooperation by folk high schools in European e-learning projects; in the second part of the workshop, participants learned about the progress, objectives and results of the joint ZLUS and FF project Intensification of the introduction of e-education in adult education in Slovenia with the objective of improving quality and accessibility
of adult education and removing regional imbalances in the field. Individual folk high schools included in the project presented their work and results.
•	In the third working group, which was run by Eva Tomšič Porenta, an expert from the financial advisory group Egida, accountants discussed the expected tax reforms due to accession to the European Union relating to the operation of folk high schools.
After the workshops, the plenary session presented two projects - Vesna Dular, representative of ZLUS, presented the Project Informatisation of the Association, while Metka Svetina of SIAE presented the Adult Education Driving Licence project (ADDED).
The second day of the meeting was devoted to a conference, which was opened by state secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Elido Bandelj. Three papers were presented in the first part of the conference:
•	Elido Bandelj presented the Adult Education Master Plan in Slovenia and the achievement of the objectives and priorities of the Memorandum on Lifelong Learning;
•	State secretary at MDDSZ, Staša Baloh Plahutnik, defined the role of provider organisations in the implementation of measures for investment in human resources;
•	State undersecretary at MDDSZ, Dr Neva Maher, presented the combination of theory and practice in realising the principles of partnership in harmonising supply and demand on the labour market.
In the second part, examples of good practice were presented from Austria, Croatia and Italy:
•	Director of VHS Salzburg, Guenter Kotrba MA, spoke about the links between the Volkshochschule Salzburg and its regional and local environment in the area of human resource development;
•	Similar experience was described by the director of the Pučko Otvoreno Učilište Koprivnica, Josip Nakič Alfirevič;
•	The general director of the association of ENAIP centres (Centres for vocational education and development of vocational competences), Roberto Conte, and the director of marketing and development, Gillberto Collinassi, presented the model and example of good practice in the area of development of human resources through European programmes and funds in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy.
•	The general secretary of ZLUS, Andrej Sotošek MA, presented statistical data in the area of continuing education at folk high schools and the incorporation of folk high schools in regional, national and EU programmes.
Papers and discussions at the conference showed that folk high schools were and remain very important partners in the area of human resource development. They must
strengthen and expand their place and role primarily by establishing links in local and social partnerships. Even more, they must become involved in European priority areas in the field of general education. In submitting projects to European programmes and structural funds, they must join together and participate centrally through ZLUS.
Andrej Sotošek, MA, (andrej.sotosek@guest.arnes.si), Association of Folk High Schools of Slovenia
From Statement on Education to educational goals
Educational priorities of the Scout Association of Slovenia
The Slovenian Institute for Adult Education has solid, long-standing cooperation with the Scout Association of Slovenia (ZTS), particularly within the context of the Lifelong Learning Week (LLW). Last year's scouts' programme in LLW 2003 was somewhat restricted (due to complications in financing the learning festival), but the commitment to the culture of lifelong learning by the scouting organisation was not affected.
The Scout Association was established more than fifty years ago. It left the historic branch of the world scout movement, but rejoined in the nineties. This brought about almost revolutionary changes in the planning of work with young people, since scouting had for 40 years been treated primarily as a youth sporting activity. ZTS has around 10,000 members, organised into patrols, families and groups in which informal learning and educational activities are continually taking place. Even pre-school children become scouts, but most work involves schoolchildren, while adults work as seniors or support members, and are continually undergoing training for their work.
Experience-based learning is a regular feature in the scouts, but the education programme needed a fundamental shake-up. Renewal began in this area back in 1989, but the educational goals and the wider scouting values were not made explicit. In 2000 the European scouting region published a document Renewed approach to the programme that defined scouting as an educational system in eight steps and that was adopted by Slovenian scouts. How do we move on from here? Should they simply transcribe the forms of work, goals and value system from international documents?
They decided to invite a number of independent experts to a workshop, and so on 22th November 2003, educators, psychologists and public workers met in Portorož with seniors of the Scout Association of Slovenia. We added our knowledge and views from the outside to consideration of the values and educational priorities of scouting in an attempt to put fresh wind in the sails of the educational activities of ZTS.
In line with internationally adopted documents, scouting should help young people to assert themselves and help to build a better world. Therefore it should:
•	Involve young people of all levels of maturity in informal educational processes;
•	Use methods that respect individuals as the most important factor of their own development, helping them to grow into socially responsible and sympathetic people;
•	Help young people to master their spiritual, social and personal values in accordance with the scouts' oath and laws.
We will not list the scouts' oath and laws here, but it is important to know that the values and principles are not covered in full by the 50-year tradition of scouting in Slovenia. We therefore attempted at the workshop to harmonise the two while at the same time forming our own educational code and preserving the original educational emphases based on our own experience.
We attempted to answer some of the most pressing questions:
•	What are the basic characteristics of young people? Putting aside the (relatively uniform) basic development characteristics, we as educators must take account of the large gap between the emotional and cognitive maturity of individuals, since emotional maturity most of the time lags far behind, both due to the excessive importance placed on mental achievements (in the school system and society as a whole) and due to changes in the role of the family.
•	Which factors in society affect the formation of the personalities of young people? The most decisive mentioned here were: family, school, peer groups, communities, media - particularly television, church/religious communities, and other organisations of civil society, including of course the ZTS.
•	What sort of society do today's young people belong to? The boundaries between the outside world and home are being lost. Young people have information connections via the Internet and other media and means of communication. Through such connections, they are non-selectively swamped with the values of the global environment, the most outstanding of which are consumerism and productivity.
•	What sort of young people does society need? The scout code offers an answer: "good citizens", but unfortunately from practice - particularly in totalitarian societies - we know
that this is not always the highest range of socialisation of a personality, particularly if it is linked to the scouting law of duty. Participants in the workshop came up with the most suitable answer in the definition "happy person"!
• What can scouts contribute to the education of young people? This question was already partly answered in 2001 in the document Personal development of young people in ZTS; now however - with the help of the conclusions reached at the workshop - the management of the scout organisation will prepare a "declaration on education and educational goals" - Educational priorities of ZTS.
Slavica Borka Kucler (slavica.borka.kucler@acs.si), SIAE
Introducing lifelong learning in the Tourist Association of Slovenia Knowledge and young people as the main factor of tourism development in Slovenia
When we view with critical eyes the report on the activities of the Tourist Association of Slovenia (ZTS), we find with pleasure that the culture of lifelong learning is already well established in their ranks. In order to bring together as many factors as possible behind the development of tourism in Slovenia, in December last year, they prepared in conjunction with the National Council a conference on the theme of Knowledge, Young People and Tourism. Outside the tourist centres, Slovenian tourism is largely left to amateurs and a few resourceful individuals. Given its rich natural and cultural heritage, the whole of Slovenia could be of interest to tourists if only people knew how to promote their attractions or enhance their existing provision. ZTS realised years ago that two factors are decisive in the development of tourism: knowledge, which helps to create opportunities for development and contributes to improving the quality of tourism in general and of individual services; and young people, who will see opportunities for employment as tourist workers in their own towns or villages. Of course the tourist culture must grow with the person, or first the person with it, and so a project - Use your head to help tourism - was aimed at young people, an optional subject (tourism) was designed for primary school pupils, and planned educational work was undertaken with young people at all stages of school.
Innovations are also being introduced in adult education. A professional library was founded and programmes developed: Raising public awareness for tourism and co-existence with tourists, Slovenian language and tourist terminology, Tourist forest roads and other learning paths. The programmes Education of tourist society workers and Voluntary work in tourism were specifically aimed at members of tourist societies.
The public tender Young people create tourism was aimed at young people in education. This was intended to promote fresh and where possible feasible tourist thinking. The response was not exactly huge - 34 research papers were submitted by primary schools, secondary tourism and grammar schools. Nevertheless, it would be good if the thoughts of young people were taken into account in local environments in the planning of tourist development.
For a number of years, the Tourist Association of Slovenia has successfully participated in the festival events of the Lifelong Learning Week. Last year's LLW again included many events directly or indirectly related to knowledge required for tourism. The decision by the association to participate in the programme of the learning festival as an independent, thematic coordinator represents a new level of involvement in LLW by ZTS. Funding uncertainties meant that their range of events was more modest than planned, but we are still delighted by their participation.
Looking at the composition of educational, informative and guidance events of the LLW 2003 learning festival on the topics of tourism, tourism provision, tourism employment, rural development, ecology and cultural heritage, we can conclude that more than 100 festival events all over Slovenia were related to tourism or possibilities of its development: tourism per se was represented by around 20 events, tourism societies prepared 8 presentations (11 events), 5 events were designed as open days, two study circles prepared 4 tourism-related events, while ethnographic events - of which there were more than 40 - were strongly represented, and there were also around 20 culinary exhibitions and workshops all over Slovenia. In the broadest sense, events on the theme of fruit growing, garden design and caring for animals (11 events) were also related to tourism.
The promotion of winners of SIAE awards in 2003 for outstanding achievements in the area of lifelong learning was not entirely free of tourism influences. The winners included the Zreli Vedežsociety from Ptuj, which aims to preserve local heritage and to link tourist attractions in cultural, historic and other tourist routes.
The Slovenian Institute for Adult Education cooperates with the Tourist Association through involvement in the Coordinating Committee for the Knowledge, Young People and Tourism programme and in the Youth and Education Committee at ZTS. The programme contents are founded in the Slovenian Tourism Development Strategy 2002-2006 and in the Youth Tourism Development Strategy. Both documents place knowledge and young people to the fore as the main subjects of tourism development in Slovenia. "Knowledge is the foundation for successful tourism development and tangible tourism projects", whether tourism employees, young people or the public at large are concerned. They want to encourage tourism workers to aim as high as possible and to achieve their goals with the constant help of new knowledge. The ZTS programme establishes "guidelines so that we can also be a permanently learning society in tourism".
Slavica Borka Kucler (borka.kucler@acs.si), SIAE
INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
Mobbing
Psychological abuse in the workplace and the role of adult education
While the existence of physical abuse in the workplace has always been recognized, the existence of psychological abuse has long been underestimated, and is only now receiving the attention that it is due. The real extent of the problem remains unknown. Reliable research suggests that between 5 and 10% of workers have been subjected to mobbing at some point in their lives, with the total for the European Union around twelve million victims. It has also been estimated that about 10-15% of all suicides have this phenomenon as a contributing factor. With awareness growing and a consensus of ideas emerging, mobbing is now considered a serious problem, and an extremely costly burden, not only for individual victims, but also for companies, in that it is detrimental to the functionality of the workplace, as well as to the larger community.
Attempts to define mobbing focus on a series of minor actions or "micro-offences". It is increasingly recognized that psychological abuse between colleagues, or between superiors and subordinates, is perpetrated through repeated behaviours which individually may be of relatively minor importance, or even legitimate, but which accumulate into a very serious form of harassment. These repeated behaviours, which harm human dignity, have a devastating effect on the victim, and affect mental and physical health, as well as social and family relations.
It is obvious that this is a matter of social justice and human rights, which fall within the best and oldest tradition of adult education movements, which themselves have always been sensitive to issues concerning fundamental values. Adult education today should therefore have an important role in the prevention of mobbing, by disseminating an awareness of the problem and its symptoms among workers and managers, and overall, by promoting a company culture which is unfavourable to the development of this evil.
While in the past greater attention was paid to the abusive intentions of the perpetrator, judges and legislators have recently considered the devastating effects on the victim to be sufficient elements in awarding damages. This represents important progress
for the victim when considering his or her serious difficulties in providing evidence of the mobber's intentions. Terminology surrounding this issue has not yet been fully defined, but expressions like "psychological abuse," "moral harassment" or "bullying" have tended to converge into "mobbing," a word which has now been adopted in many languages.
In recent years, this matter has been studied in depth by agencies of the United Nations, namely the World Health Organization (the WHO, based in Geneva), and the International Labour Office (the ILO, also in Geneva). In particular the ILO, having dealt in the past with other forms of workplace violence, has now begun to focus on psychological abuse as an aspect of its "decent work" agenda, and in particular, in its call for the preservation of human dignity in the workplace.
In 2001, the European Parliament urged action by the Commission of the European Union. Well-documented reports and papers, which are constantly updated and cover several European countries, have been published in recent years by two different agencies of the European Union, namely the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND, located in Dublin) and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA, located in Bilbao). The documentation is available from each organization's website.
Legislators in individual European countries have taken action, such as in France, where an innovative law was approved (Harcelement moral au travail, Law no. 73, of 17 January 2002). In other countries, such as Italy, no legislation has yet been adopted, and the legal system has been working to identify a legal basis on which to counteract mobbing in the provisions of pre-existing general law, by means of interpretation. Much important work is also being done by trade unions.
In the past, mobbing normally consisted of pathological interaction between individuals, but in the last decade, a new type of this cruel practice emerged. As we know, the period around 1995 saw many business mergers that were intended to enable companies to grow and gain competitive advantages in large European or global markets. In the same decade, unemployment reached serious levels. As is well-known, such mergers, even when not hostile, result in both a shift in the balance of power within the corporation, as well as redundancies for some workers. In this context, a new and cynical, rather than pathological, form of mobbing has developed, so-called "strategic" mobbing. It is not one individual or a particular group of workers who attack the victim, but rather the management itself, or the company, by adopting a coordinated tactic of psychological
harassment against redundant workers (especially those with permanent tenure) so that they will feel compelled to resign. Some actions typical of this type of mobbing consist of assigning duties that are below a worker's professional competencies, or that will incite conflict among workers. Another frequent practice is to leave the victim without any duties whatsoever.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1949 asserts the right of every human being to life, liberty, and security of their person (Art. 2) and provides that no one should be subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment (Art. 5). Protracted negotiations and debates followed, in which I had the privilege of participating as head of a delegation to a session of the Commission on Human Rights at the UN. Finally, these fundamental rights were restated and further elaborated by the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, as adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966, which recognized the right of everyone to "safe and healthy working conditions" (Art. 7-b).
I strongly believe that the forthcoming Year of Human Rights declared by the Council of Europe should see mobbing on the agenda, and should be open to contribution from the educational sciences.
Sofia Corradi (s.corradi@educ.uniroma3.it), University "Roma Tre", Italy
A Grundtvig 4 project in the field of learning festivals
International Adult Learners' Week in Europe (IntALWinE)
The Slovenian Lifelong Learning Week, one of about twenty-three learning festivals in Europe, has played an important role in the international Adult Learners' Weeks/Learning Festivals (ALWs/LFs) movement. We have been involved in several events, such as the launch of the first International ALW as part of the Expo Global Dialogue on Building Learning Societies - Knowledge, Information and Human Development (September 8,
2000),	the gathering of twenty-one European national ALW/LF coordinators (December
2001),	the meeting of coordinators from different parts of the world on the occasion of the Third Brazilian Literacy Week (September 2002), and the first regional learning
festival for South-Eastern Europe (October 2003). In parallel, we have also been invited to provide input for some publications1 in this field. Currently, we are coordinating a Grundtvig 1 project entitled 'Widening and Strengthening the European Dimension of the Lifelong Learning Movement', combining the resources of five European countries (Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, Slovenia and Spain, with Switzerland as a silent partner). Towards the end of 2003, we became involved in a new Grundtvig 4 project called 'International Adult Learners' Week in Europe' (IntALWinE).
IntALWinE is a network of (at present) thirteen national coordinators of learning festivals in Europe coordinated by the Unesco Institute for Education (UIE), Hamburg, with the aim of continuing and upgrading the endeavours for the 'International Adult Learners' Week'2.
This three-year project will run from December 2003 to November 2006, with a number of study visits and working meetings organised during this period. In addition, partners will collaborate by email in three thematic working groups: (1) Instrumental value of learning festivals: mobilisation and advocacy tool, (2) Operational improvement and (3) Voices of learners: experiences and aspirations.
At the initial meeting of the project group in Hamburg (December 4-6 2003), the network aims and activities were re-discussed, and joint tasks as well as specific responsibilities were defined and allocated. The project coordinator, Ms Bettina Bochynek of UIE, informed the network that national coordinators of other European countries had also expressed a desire to participate, so that additional partners will join the network in the course of its three-year duration.
Three presentations were given by project partners in the introductory part of the meeting. The first concerned the Grundtvig 1 project mentioned above and was given by Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik, representative of the project coordinating institution - the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education. The presentation - structured according to the fifteen project outputs3 - received warm recognition since much work has already been done, with the most outstanding achievements including the organisation of the First Spanish Lifelong Learning Festival (November 2003). On the other hand, some
1	The Learning Festivals Guide (2000), Securing the Right to Learn. An Internationally Produced Guide to Advocacy (2002), Learning is for Everyone/ Lernen fuer Alle (2002), International Adult Learners' Week - Six Years after CONFINTEA V (2003)
2	See the IntALW website: http://www.unesco.org/education/uie/InternationalALW.
3	See project website http://www.llw5.org.
topics of both projects are similar and several experiences will be readily transferable to the new project. The second presentation was given by Sica Martinez of NIACE, UK, and introduced the Rationale and Development of Learners' Forums in the UK - a topic central to the work of the third thematic working group. The forums are meeting places for learners who exchange experiences and aspirations, express their viewpoints concerning adult education provision, and make recommendations for adult education policy. In the third presentation, Eeva-Inkeri Sirelius from the Finnish Adult Education Association introduced the main features of the Finnish Adult Learners' Week and the proposed study visit to Finland on 21 - 25 April 2004. The study visit will consist of a closed project working meeting and opportunities to take part in ALW events in Helsinki as well as in local communities.
In the second part of the meeting, thematic working groups were formed. The criterion for selecting a group was either extensive experience in a particular field of work or the desire to learn something new. The concept of learners' forums seemed challenging to the vast majority of the network members, and some of us were interested in getting to know it better and trying to introduce it into our learning festivals or even into our adult education practice. Representatives of Norway, Slovenia and UK therefore decided to join forces in the third thematic group with the aim of preparing the International Learners' Forum in the UK in October 2004 with delegates/learners from partner countries playing active roles. The group will also be responsible for collecting voices of learners and producing a joint publication 'Learning Journeys'.
All other partners will start working in thematic group 2 addressing operational improvement of ALWs/LFs, focusing on such topics as methods of data collection as well as models for cooperation with partner agencies and media.
Working group 1 will start work at a later date, concentrating on the mobilisation and advocacy potential of learning festivals. The group will follow the strategic perspective and its basic topics will be evaluation methods and policy recommendations.
Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik, MSc, (zvonka.pangerc@acs.si), SIAE
THENUCE+
Results of the project
The international THENUCE+ project began in 2000 and ended in autumn 2003. The project originated from the previous THENUCE project, which began in 1996. The THENUCE+ project involved about 140 partners (mainly universities) from 29 European countries. The project was financially supported by the European Commission Socrates-Erasmus programme. More information on the project THENUCE+, its activities, partners and results is available from the project home page http://www.thenuce.net.
The aim of the THENUCE+ project was to enhance the quality of university continuing education (UCE) and to promote Europe-wide actions for further development of UCE. Project activities were clustered into nine interconnected thematic groups: Handbook, Observatory, European University Continuing Education Survey, Open and Distance Learning - ICT, Relay Centres and National Networks, Accreditation & ECTS, Quality and Evaluation, Adult Teaching & Learning.
During implementation of the project, various materials and studies were written, several web pages prepared, many dissemination activities - such as conferences and workshops - were organised, and several papers published. Undoubtedly the project was a real-life network in which partners shared their experience and knowledge in the area of UCE and learnt from each other.
In this paper, we will attempt to present very briefly two concrete products of the THENUCE+ project: the publication Lifelong Learning in a Changing Continent: Continuing Education in the Universities of Europe and the e-book The Managers' Handbook.
Lifelong Learning in a Changing Continent: Continuing Education in the Universities1 of Europe contains 520 pages of interesting reading on UCE. The book starts with two introductory chapters - one on the European Union and UCE, and the other on international understandings of UCE. There are 30 national reports on UCE in 29 European countries. The book concludes with a chapter on comparative analysis of UCE.
The comparative analysis shows that UCE is understood in different ways in different countries; indeed there may even be no definition. The degree of support for UCE, the
The book was edited by Michael Osborne and Edward Thomas and was published by NIACE in 2003.
tradition of UCE delivery, the patterns of supply and demand, the level of innovation and the degree of regulation by national legislation vary from country to country. The need for more research work in the area of UCE is stressed, and the role of UCE as a place where innovations in higher education are born and tested before being implemented in the mainstream emphasized.
The second important result of the THENUCE+ project is an e-book2, the content of which is structured into ten chapters: The Management of UCE: An Overview, A Policy for UCE, Regional Development and UCE Management, Organisational Structures, The Management of Distance Education, Marketing, Staffing and Staff Development, Financial Structures, Quality Assurance, Looking to the Future.
The Managers' Handbook is available on CD and at the web site http://distance.ktu.lt/ thenuce/ebook/. In general, the structure of each chapter is as follows: summary, introduction and/or brief explanation of the basics of the topic covered in the chapter, several case studies, list of further reading and checklist.
The e-book contains 63 case studies written by experts from European universities - partners in the project. The e-book deals with the most important issues in UCE, a field which needs to adapt to recent changes in the European society. The e-book shows many examples of good practice and innovations in UCE. It is true that it is primarily intended for managers working in UCE in order to improve their everyday practice or to enter UCE. However, the e-book presents a rich pool of resources which could also be useful for other target groups, such as academic authorities and other university staff, researchers and decision-makers in UCE.
The Slovenian partner in the THENUCE+ project was the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education under an agreement with the University of Ljubljana. THENUCE+ partners have already begun work on a new international Socrates Thematic Network The European University Lifelong Learning Network3 (EULLearnN), the main aim of which is to foster university lifelong learning. Three Slovenian partner institutions are involved: the University of Ljubljana, the University of Maribor and the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education as a member of External Evaluation Team.
Margerita Zagmajster, MA, (margerita.zagmajster@acs.si), SIAE
2	The e-book was edited by Valerie Mitchell, Helka Urponen, Mick Brennan, Frank Moe and Danguole Rutkauskiene.
3	More information on the project is available from: http://www.eullearn.net.
MISSION
At the conclusion of the project
The international project Multi-country Integrated System for Improved ODL Networking (MISSION) was supported by the European Commission under the Socrates-Minerva programme. Activities in the two-year project ended in December 2003.
The aims of the project were to strengthen links among Phare ODL Study Centres (established in Central and East European countries in the framework of the Phare Multi-country Programme for Distance Education1); to improve the effectiveness and long-term stability of collaboration between two networks - EuroStudy Centres (coordinated by the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities - EADTU2) and Phare ODL Study Centres; and to raise awareness of ODL as the most effective and innovative way to support the European dimension of lifelong learning and globalisation in education.
17 partners3 from 14 European countries were involved in the project. The lead partner of the project was the National Council for Distance Education/Apertus Public Foundation from Hungary. The Slovenian Institute for Adult Education became a project partner on the basis of an agreement with the University of Ljubljana, which was the formal project partner at the beginning of the project.
The idea for the MISSION project originated from partners (some ODL Study Centres and National Contact Points) of the network established during the Phare Multi-country Programme for Distance Education. Clearly the Phare Programme stimulated the development of ODL in Central and East European countries; this was confirmed by the results of several evaluations. However the Phare Programme only laid the foundations for further development of ODL in Phare countries. At the end of the Phare Programme,
1	The Phare Multi-country Programme for Distance Education was adopted in 1994 by the European Commission. The main objective of the Phare Programme was to promote multi-country cooperation in distance education and further development of education in Phare beneficiary countries.
2	More information on EADTU is available from http://www.eadtu.nl.
3	The following institutions were partners in the project: Apertus Public Foundation, National Council for Distance Education (Hungary), EADTU, UNED-Spanish National Distance University (Spain), University of Paris 6 - Sorbonne (France), Dublin City University (Ireland), University of Sunderland (United Kingdom), University of Plovdiv (Bulgaria), South-West University "Neofit Rilski" (Bulgaria), Brno International Business School (), Kaunas University of Technology (), University of Miskolc (Hungary), Gdansk University of Technology (Poland), AGH- University of Science and Technology (Poland), "Politehnica" University of Timisoara, "Alexandra Ioan Cuza" University of IASI (Romania), Slovenian Institute for Adult Education, (Slovenia), University of Technology in Kosice (Slovakia).
it was clear that the countries involved had to continue work in the field of ODL if they wanted to retain the experience and expertise already gained in ODL. The network of partners in the Phare Programme was aware of its potential and synergetic work in a network. This led to the need to establish a framework for further central coordination in networking, and the idea for a new common project MISSION was born.
The core objectives of the project were establishing a multi-lingual web portal and an electronic network (database of Phare ODL Study Centres, multilingual glossary, course catalogue, counselling service, database of existing ODL staff training programmes, e-Newsletter and discussion groups). The main project objectives were achieved. In this article, we will briefly mention some concrete results.
Project partners developed several home pages and web portals simultaneously with different objectives, contents and purposes4. Some information in the web portals was intended for a wider audience, while other information was restricted for use by project partners. These web portals were combined at the end of the project in a central web portal5. Web portals developed in the MISSION project represent a very rich source of information in the field of ODL. Over 300 multilingual introductory pages presenting ODL in Europe in 10 languages; more than 100 pages presenting national OLD systems and partner institutions; a multilingual glossary with more than 200 items in several languages; a course catalogue with demo versions of on-line courses; a database of ODL Study Centres; a database of ODL staff training programmes; a database of OLD experts; 4 Newsletters; and other useful ODL information are available.
International collaboration in the field of ODL among partners from all over Europe was stimulated with the support of the MISSION project. Project partners were given the opportunity to exchange experience and knowledge of ODL. To further sustain the network, MISSION partners initiated a new organisational framework - the E-Collegium Foundation - the aim of which is to serve as an umbrella organisation for further joint activities in the field of e-learning.
Margerita Zagmajster, MA, (margerita.zagmajster@acs.si), SIAE
4	Some home pages and web portals developed within MISSION project are available at the following addresses: http://queen.odl.uni-miskolc.hu/projektek/mission/index.htm; http://mission.pu.acad.bg/en/index.html; http://www.acs.si/mission/; http://ldrum.opendrum.utt.ro/mission/; http://www.dec.pg.gda.pl/pro/socrates/ mission/index.html.
5	See: http://www.odl-misson.org.
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