International Conference

Diversity in Adult Education: Community, Integration, Governance

To highlight diversity as a positive and productive element of todays globalized world and a way to unravel the multiplicity of human experience, while important, is still perceived as a truism.

By putting on the spotlight the concept of diversity in conjunction with the issue of adult education, the conference aims nonetheless to decouple it from a rather monolithic “educational” understanding. It aspires instead to foreground the intense links between understanding and “managing” diversity in adult learning contexts and exploring the ways in which such perspectives and practices bear upon issues of community building, social integration, governance of diversity etc.

The conference is the fourth in a series of events organized by the Hellenic Open University during the past years focusing on ways of managing and understanding cultural diversity. It is addressed to scholars and practitioners representing a broad range of disciplines and perspectives, including among others personnel of educational institutions, training centers, social workers and researchers who interact with migrants and refugees, members of migrant communities, NGOs and voluntary organizations, public administration and local authorities’ representatives.

The conference will promote exploitation of the results of project DivinaEdu (Diversity in Adult Education) which was funded under Erasmus+, aiming at improving adult educators’ competences to deal with the increased diversity of their learners. The main topics of the conference include, but are not limited to:

• Diversity in Adult education- current perspectives and challenges
• Community Diversity and Governance I: Institutional Innovative Policies
• Community Diversity and Governance II: local initiatives
• Working Life and Integration

Those interested in attending the conference should fill the participation form here!

The participation in the conference is free!

Organizing Committee

• Maria Aspioti, Social Inclusion Expert–Researcher, DAISSy Research Group, Hellenic Open University
• Christina Fili, Communications Strategy Manager, Hellenic Open University
• Giota Zafeiropoulou, Administrative Assistant, DAISSy Research Group, Hellenic Open University

Scientific Committee

• Giorgos Tsimouris, Professor, Panteion University / Vice Rector, Hellenic Open University
• Achilles Kameas, Professor & Head of the DAISSY Research Group, Hellenic Open University
• Nikos Demertzis, Director & President of the Board of Directors, National Centre for Social Research
• Dionisis Balourdos, Research Manager, National Centre for Social Research
• Aspasia (Sissy) Theodosiou, Associate Professor, University of Ioannina / Senior Researcher, DAISSy Research Group, Hellenic Open University

Technical Support

• Ioannis Messalas, Developer, DAISSy Research Group, Hellenic Open University
• Phoebe Kamea, Graphic Designer, DAISSy Research Group, Hellenic Open University