Brussels, 15/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - The final conference of the Council of Europe's multi-annual project on "Lifelong education at the service of equity and social cohesion: new challenge for higher education" is being held at the Sorbonne in Paris from 15 to 17 November, under the high patronage of the French Education Minister Jack Lang and Foreign minister Hubert Vedrine. It brings together some 150 participants from the 43 member States of the Council of Europe and several international organisations. On the basis of the results of the project and answers provided at the final conference, a recommendation on the role of higher education in lifelong education will be addressed to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
This project pursues political objectives regarding lifelong education and the knowledge-based society, reflects the Council of Europe's special interest in social cohesion as foundation of a stable democracy and comes within the context of reforms undertaken in view of the development towards 2010 of a European area of higher education (Bologna Process). It recalls the specific role of higher education which, while combating exclusion and marginalisation, is to ensure equal opportunities in education, in the different stage in life and in different educational contexts, to different groups of learners, notably the least privileged groups. Info: Stefanka Hristoskova-Guenova, in Paris. Tel.: 06 07 27 87 91.