Deutsch Intern
Adult Education Academy

Prof. Heribert Hinzen

Heribert Hinzen, Prof.(H) Dr. Dr. h.c. mult., is a senior consultant on adult education and lifelong learning for sustainable development. He worked for DVV International for almost four decades, both in headquarters and in offices in Sierra Leone, Hungary and Lao PDR. He is an Honorary Professor at the Universities of Pécs, Bucharest and Iasi, a Visiting Professor at the University of Glasgow, and teaches comparative adult education at the University of Würzburg. He has served as Vice-President of the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE) and the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA), and is a Comittee Member of the global network for Promoting, Interrogating and Mobilising Adult learning and education (PIMA). He was a member of the CONFINTEA VI Consultative Group and member of the BFA Drafting Committee, the UN Literacy Decade Expert Group, and a delegate to the World Education Fora of 2000 and 2015. He is an Honorary Fellow of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and a member of the Editorial Boards of the International Review of Education – Journal of Lifelong Learning, CONVERGENCE. An International Adult Education Journal, and Bildung und Erziehung.

  • Adult education within lifelong learning
  • Citizenship and education for sustainable development
  • Policy, legislation and financing of ALE
  • Professionalzation and institutionalization

CG2: Adult Learning and Education – Looking Through a System`s Lens Towards Lifelong Learning

Co-Moderator: Prof. Balázs Németh

Adult Learning and Education (ALE) is a fragmented field of policy, practice and study as can be seen clearly in respect to their governance, legislation and finances, but in many other aspects also. A more recent discourse in the context of increasing participation, reducing inequality, and improving quality looks at ALE as a system which has implications and interventions on national, regional and local levels.

There are strong arguments closer to the acceptance that ALE requires its own regulations towards policy, legislation, and finance to function well in practice, and create and sustain opportunities for the education, training and learning of adults which cover all spheres of life and work, for the individual as well as for society. Therefore, in the advocacy work on macro level it is argued that ALE would need to receive a stronger attention, and of course provision and support – within and beyond the education system.

Demographic changes show that more people are living longer. Technological advancements require up-dating our knowledge, competencies, and skills continuously. Societal and cultural changes ask us to pay higher attention to attitudes, behavior, and values in a lifelong perspective. All of these developments would be best served by a comprehensive ALE System.

To strengthen ALE on local, national and global levels requires sustainable structures and therefore the institutionalization and professionalization of providers and programs has become quite a stable feature.

  • Belete, S., Duke, C., Hinzen, H., Owusu-Boampong, A. & Phuoc, K. H. (2022). Community Learning Centres (CLCs) for Adult Learning and Education (ALE): development in and by communities. In: International Review of Education, 68:259–290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-022-09954-w

  • Duke, C., Hinzen, H., & Sarrazin, R. (Eds.) (2021). Public Financing of Popular Adult Learning and Education (ALE). Experience, lessons and recommendations from 14 country and case studies. Bonn: DVV International. https://www.dvv-international.de/fileadmin/files/Inhalte_Bilder_und_Dokumente/Materialien/Analysis/DVV_International_Analysis_Financing_Popular_ALE_Web2.pdf

  • Hinzen, H., Meilhammer, E.  (2022). 100 years of Volkshochschule in Germany – 50 years of DVV International: Signposts for local and global comparative perspectives on adult learning and education. Int Rev Educ 68, 125–154 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-022-09944-y

  • Hinzen, H., Klement, C., Klun, J., Németh, B. (2022). Local experiences and global commitments in citizenship education and adult learning in communities: Comparative perspectives on Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Slovenia. In: Sisyphus. Jornal of Education, Vol. 10, 2, 129-155. https://doi.org/10.25749/sis.25450

  • Hinzen, H., Slowey, M. & Khau, H.P. (2024). Learning from the past for the future: Signposts and landmark anniversaries in adult learning and education. International Review of Education, 70, 177–204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-024-10089-3

  • Hinzen, H., Khau, H.P., Slowey, M. (Eds.) (2024). Signposts to a sustainable future: Valuing, sharing and using the collective legacy of adult learning and education.  International Review of Education, Volume 70, Issue 2. https://link.springer.com/journal/11159/volumes-and-issues/70-2

  • Hinzen, H., Medel-Anonuevo, C. & Németh, B. (2025). Implementation of the Marrakech Framework for Action in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals: UNESCO and Global Cooperation Frameworks. In: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.20551

  • Hufnagl, J., Bulugu, B. B., Ghaderinezhad, H., Hinzen, H., Németh, B. & Yarazan (2025). A Comparative perspective on citizenship and sustainability education in Armenia, Germany, Iran and Tanzania. In: Andragoška spoznanja/Studies in Adult Education and Learning, 2025, 31(1), 65-86       https://doi.org/10.4312/as/19899

 

                                                                                                                                                                               

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