More than 200 practitioners, academics and policy planners in education discussed how to help people continue learning throughout their lives at an annual forum in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Monday.

The forum hosted by the state-run National Institute for Lifelong Education in Korea in cooperation with the Gyeonggi Provincial Institute for Lifelong Learning drew international experts, including Arne Carlsen, director of UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Michael Osborne, professor of the University of Glasgow, and Luis Scasso, director of lifelong education at the Organization of Ibero-American States.

Under the theme of “The power of learning cites to change the world,” they participated in a series of presentations and discussions on various lifelong learning models in different countries.

“This forum is a unique opportunity to share new ideas and promote international cooperation,” Choi Un-shil, the president of NILE, said in her opening remarks.

Since 2009, NILE has been hosting the annual forum in an effort to learn from advanced countries and to help spread best practice in lifelong education around the world.

This year, in particular, the forum was followed by a consultative meeting on Jeju Island for establishing a global network of cities to promote lifelong learning.

The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning is planning to establish the new initiative in October this year, and before that it plans to make a list of “key features,” a set of indicators for monitoring and assessing cities wishing to be part of the network.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)