Brussels, 01/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - The issue of the future of education in Europe was at the heart of the second Brussels Debate, held on Monday 30 March by the European Commission, as part of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009. Entitled "Beyond Chalk and Talk: Creativity in the Classroom", it was set up in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). The Director General of DG Education and Culture, Odile Quintin, discussed the challenges faced by European educational systems in teaching skills required in the future on the one hand, and the measures applied by the EU to help young people to develop their creative potential on the other. The speech was followed by a debate open to all participants, during which there were contributions from specialists from the world of education. They discussed resources to be implemented in schools and universities to stimulate creativity and the sense of innovation among students, and to teach them to develop these throughout their lives, particularly in the employment market. Today's jobs and, a fortiori, tomorrow's jobs call for new skills, the participants stressed. Four more debates are scheduled for this year on the subject of creativity and innovation. These will lay emphasis on the public sector, sustainable development, cultural diversity and the arts and creative industries. (I.L./trans.fl)