Prof. Balázs Németh
What excites you about adult learning and education?
"My main interest about adult learning and education is connected to policy contexts referring to participatory issues, challenges of equity and inclusion and to matters of community learning in urban environment. Other focuses of interest are the history of adult education, active citizenship, professionalisation in adult education, the roles of international organisations in adult education and finally, learning cities and regions to promote adult and lifelong learning through collaborative actions."
Why did you choose to do research in the field of adult learning and education?
"One reason is that it offers the potential and implication of interdisciplinary approach to understand participation and performance in adult learning in the context of time, space, content, motivation, methods and outcomes."
Balázs Németh is a researcher on European adult and lifelong learning policy development and comparative adult education. He is an associate professor and reader in Adult Learning and Education at the University of Pécs. He is also a founding member of the Hungarian Universities Lifelong Learning Network (MELLearN) and represents the University of Pécs in the European Universities Continuing Education Network (EUCEN) and in the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA).
Balázs Németh is EUCEN Ambassador and responsible for policy affairs and talks. He is a vice-Director of PASCAL International Observatory for Central-East Europe, CEO of MELLearN and the current president of the Adult Education Sub-Commission of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
- the analysis of the roles of Inter-governmental organisations (IGOs)
- Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the development of learning cities
- Politics and Adult Education
- Comparative Adult Education
- History of Modern European Adult Education and Learning City-Region Developments in association with the global network of learning cities programme of UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning
CG2: Developing Learning Ecosystems through ALE - The Roles of Learning Cities and Communities
Co-Moderator: Prof.(H) Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Heribert Hinzen & Dr. Zsuzsa Koltai
Learning cities as ecosystems for promoting adult and lifelong learning are special models to integrate economic (Employment), social/community (citizenship) and environmental (green/climate) aspects to claim continuos development of knowledge and skills.
This topic may help turning attention of comparative studies and research to learning cities as ecosystems to discuss some key issue to influence the success of learning communities in urban environment.
Learning outcomes will relate to better understanding of:
- the roles and responsibilities of stakeholder collaborations in a learning ecosystem with sustainable structures.
- the impact of community learning in participatory actions to develop active citizenship through various forms of citizenship education.
- The role of the museum in fostering lifelong learning; the cultural and social roles of the museum today.
- Hinzen, Heribert – Klement, Carina – Klun, Jaka – Németh, Balázs: Local Experiences and Global Commitments in Citizenship Education and Adult Learning in Communities : Comparative Perspectives on Austria, Germany, Hungary and Slovenia. In. SISYPHUS: JOURNAL OF EDUCATION (2182-8474 2182-9640): 10 2 pp 129-155 (2022), DOI https://doi.org/10.25749/sis.25450
- Németh, Balázs: Adult learning and education in Hungary between global and local. The choices and limitations for researchers In. Cortés, Macarena – Lugo, Mar – Vidigal, Susana - Lucio-Villegas, Emilio (eds.) Looking back for the future. Reconsidering adult learning and communities : Proceedings of the 12th conference of the ESREA network ‘Between Global and Local – Adult learning and Communities’ The European Society for Research on the Education of Adults, pp 241-253 (2022) ISBN: 9788409370825
- Németh, Balázs: Changing Roles of Universities in the Development of Learning Cities into Smart and Creative Communities In. European Journal of University Lifelong Learning ( 2789-4029): 6 2 pp 15-27 (2022) ISSN 2789-4029 https://doi.org/10.53807/0602lds5
- Németh, Balázs: In the Making of Learning Cities into Smart and Creative Communities. Is there a Role for HEIs? In. Krisztina Fodorné Tóth (ed.) Felsőoktatási LLL: új kihívások és megoldások – A modellváltás és COVID pandémia hatásai. Pécs: MELLearN/Milton Friedmann University, pp 143-155 (2023) ISBN 9789634299936
- Németh, Balázs: Adult education and social justice: International perspectives. Int Rev Educ 70, 379–382 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-024-10087-5
