On November 22, the Network of Experts on the Social Dimension of Education and Training (NESET) and the European Expert Network on Economics of Education (EENEE) organised the 3rd annual conference “Strengthening Common European Values through Education. What does the Evidence tell us?” with the support of the European Commission – Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture.
The conference was an official part of this year’s Global Education Week – the 20th annual celebration under the theme “The World is changing, what about us”, organised by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe.
The event was opened by NESET and EENEE Scientific coordinators – Dr Dragana Avramova and Dr Ludger Woessmann, respectively, who used the chance to introduce the networks’ work and their relevance to the conference topic. Mr Jan Pakulski (Head of Unit, Evidence-Based Policy and Evaluation, DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission) further elaborated on the coordinators’ addresses and underlined the importance of strengthening common European values.
The welcome speeches were followed by the keynote address from Prof Gert Biesta (Brunel University London and University of Humanistic Studies, the Netherlands). You can watch the thought-provoking keynote on Teaching Uncommon values here. The conference then alternated between the formats of plenary sessions and parallel group discussions. The three group sessions focused on “Inclusion and Social Cohesion”, “School curricula, learners’ experience and democratic participation” and “Education, Technology and Civic Engagement”.
NESET is looking forward to another exciting Annual Conference in 2019. If you have any ideas or suggestions, do not hesitate to contact us.