24.05.2004 - Press Release anticipating the AEGEE Seminar at the European Parliament Views on New Generation of Education Programmes after 2006 On the 26th of May, at the venue of the European Parliament in Brussels and under the Patronage of Mrs Lissy Groener (Member of the European Parliament), the European Students' Forum AEGEE is organising a seminar entitled "Views on New Generation of Community Education and Training Programmes after 2006". The event will provide an opportunity to bring together institutions, academics, NGOs and representatives of the business world to analyse and present the views on the new community programs after 2006. We believe that all the sectors mentioned above play a very important role in shaping of the next generation of education programmes and the results of the seminar will bring a high value for the future work. We are glad to have the opportunity to organise this debate one day before the Council of Ministers of Education and that our results will be put forward and presented in the meeting. The list of distinguished speakers to the seminar includes Ms Marta Maria Ferreira Lorenzo (The European Commission, DG Education and Culture - Head of Unit: Socrates-Erasmus, Jean Monnet), Professor Nadine Engels (the Association for Teacher Education and Europe and Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Mr Peter Lacy (Executive Director of the European Academy of Business in Society) and Nicola Rega (President of AEGEE-Europe). What is more, "Blended Learning" proposal is going to be presented by Ms Diana Philip from EURECA Team. European Education Campaign - EURECA, a project run by AEGEE in 2002, was concluded with a draft of a new European Education Programme. It proposes to introduce "Blended Learning", a wider use of summer courses combined with e-learning. According to the proposal, education programmes should be implemented with special focus on exchanges between the countries, both within the enlarged EU and between the EU countries and its new neighbours. "In our opinion education nowadays does not reflect a European dimension sufficiently" - says Diana Filip, Eureca team representative - "Current education programmes reach only a limited target group and do not integrate formal, informal and non-formal techniques as much as required. In the light of introduction of the new generation of education programmes by the Commission, there is still plenty of room for discussion, and we should use every opportunity to shape up the programmes which will be the basis of education of the generation who will give direction to the development of the enlarged European Union". The representatives of media willing to attend the seminar and report on the debate, please contact Ewa Solarczyk at [log in to unmask] AEGEE is one of Europe's largest interdisciplinary and voluntary student associations, operating without being linked to any political party, promoting a unified Europe, cross-border co-operation, communication and integration in academic environment, and at the same time striving to create an open and tolerant society by involving students and young graduates in valuable projects and discussions over the topics of importance for the communities they live in. It is represented in 260 university cities, in 42 countries all around Europe and has about 17000 members. More information: Ewa Solarczyk Vice-President / Director for Public Relations European Students' Forum - AEGEE Rue Nestor de Tiere 15 1030 Bruxelles Phone: +32 2 245 23 00 Fax: +32 2 245 62 60 Web: www.aegee.org Email: [log in to unmask]