English Summary

The Foundation of MELLearN

On 19 October 2002, 12 Hungarian higher education institutions formally established MELLearN Network (Hungarian University Lifelong Learning Network), as an initiative of the management of the University of Debrecen and the Lifelong Learning Centre of the University of Debrecen, within the frameworks of a THENUCE European Socrates / Erasmus programme. The registered Hungarian higher education network – as the Hungarian member of the international EULLearN Network (European University Lifelong Learning Network), currently operating with 22 members, generates and co-ordinates pedagogical, educational, research activities of public utility.

Every year the General Assembly of the Association elects 3 members for Presidency from the official legal representatives, the rectors of member institutions or more exactly – following an initial tradition – of the 12 foundation members, for a 3-year term, based on the official, alphabetical list of higher education institutions of the Ministry of Education. Every year members of the Presidency choose a President among themselves for a 1-year term.

Sources of income of MELLearN
a) membership fees; b) returns from organized events; c) financial support of sponsoring/advocating members ; d) subsidies obtained from projects; e) turnovers of economic ventures.

Bylaws

MELLearN (Magyar Egyetemi Lifelong Learning Network) Hungarian Higher Education Lifelong Learning Network

MELLearN operates as a formal registered non-profit public utility Association.

Bylaws

  1. The association can only undertake such activities which are compatible with reaching its aims of public utility and does not endanger them.
  2. The capital gathered in the course of the activities cannot be distributed but used for the activities defined by the Bylaws.
  3. The Association does not undertake business investment activities.
  4. Besides the members other persons can take part in the activities organized by the Association, but only according to the conditions announced prior the given activity. The accessible programmes, activities and events are published on the Internet, in professional journals, in handouts and other media products.

The working principles of the Association

  • The Association is independent from political parties.
  • It does not provide support for parties and does not accept any support from them.
  • The Association does not get involved in political activity.

The membership fee of the Association

The membership fee is determined by the General Assembly of the Association when accepting the annual budget. In 2005, the membership fee was 200.000 Forint / 800 EUR per member institution.

Membership conditions

  • Higher educational institutions can become members of the Association if their legal representative accepts the objectives and the Bylaws of the Association and confirm this in a written application
  • The admission of a new member is decided by the Presidency and confirmed by the General Assembly in its following session.

The organizational structure of the Association

  1. General Assembly
  2. Presidency (Board)
  3. President
  4. Secretary General

The General Assembly

The members of the General Assembly meet at least once every year, before the 30th of April:

  • to discuss and approve the accounts of the past year,
  • to accept the budget for the coming year, the report of public utility and the organizational plan.

The sessions of the General Assembly are open to the public.

Relations and Joint Activities in Adult Education

International Relations and Joint Activities in Adult Education

  • ALPINE – Adults Learning and Participating in Education
  • EULLearN – European University Lifelong Learning Network
  • TEACh – Teaching European Active Citizenship
  • NETTLE – Network of European Tertiary Level Educators
  • EUA – European University Association

Events

19-20 September 2003
Debrecen – international seminar.
Topic: training of trainers in Lifelong Learning

23-24 April 2004
Budapest – international seminar.
Topic: Lifelong Learning and the changing labour market

21-22 April 2005
University of Debrecen Lifelong Learning Centre – 1st Hungarian National and International Lifelong Learning Conference.
Topic: the development of Lifelong Learning and adult education.
The main topics of the workshops were: The Lifelong Learning concept today in Europe, APEL- Accreditation of prior experiential learning, Co-operation between the higher educational institutions and the non-educational sector in the field of the development of human resources

16-17 March 2006
Corvinus University of Budapest – 2nd Hungarian National and International Lifelong Learning Conference: „Higher Education and Lifelong Learning Strategy”
The main objective of the conference was to attract the attention on growing role of the higher educational institutions in Lifelong Learning, in adult education and in implementing the government’s Hungarian Lifelong Learning Strategy.
The main topics of the workshops were: Higher Education and Economy, Higher Education and Lifelong Learning Strategy, Training Adult Educators, E-learning in Adult Education.

24 November 2006
Eötvös Loránd University – workshop: „The Role of Higher Education in Adult Education”
Topic: What are the main tasks for the higher educational institutions in the new millennium and what kind of opportunities are offered in achieving these goals by the government’s Hungarian Lifelong Learning Strategy and the 2nd National Development Plan?

12-13 April 2007
University of Miskolc Regional Adult Education Centre – 3rd Hungarian National and International Lifelong Learning Conference:”The Lifelong Learning Networking Cooperation of Higher Education Institutions as Regional Knowledge Centres”
The conference had two main topics: establishing and operating Regional Knowledge Centres, and discussing the main methodological questions of Lifelong Learning and their implementation in practice.
The main topics of the workshops were: EULLearNDis – European University Lifelong Learning Network Dissemination, Vocational Training and Higher Education, The Role of Adult Continuing Education in the North Hungarian Region, Modern Teaching and Learning Environments Supporting LLL.

29 November 2007
Budapest Business School – workshop: How are higher educational institutions implementing Lifelong Learning?
Topic: Discussing the problems of implementing Lifelong Learning with the member institutions and with the competent authorities in a round-table discussing form.

22 February 2008
Károly Róbert College – methodological training: The Methods of Measuring Prior Knowledge and Competence in Adult Education
The main idea of the training was to present the methods of measuring knowledge and competence developed by specialists in small groups.

17-18 April 2008
College of Nyíregyháza – 4th Hungarian National and International Lifelong Learning Conference:”Adult Education Experiences and Opportunities for the Renewal of Higher Education”
The conference offered a summary of the experiences of the past five years on the questions of adult education, the best practices and the effects of the Bologna process.
The main topics of the workshops were: Adult Education and the Labour Market, Adult Education as Service and Organizing Centre, Human Resource Requirements for Adult Education.

28 November 2008
Gábor Dénes College – methodological training: Employing Atypical Learning Methods in Higher Education
The main idea of the training was to present the atypical learning methods in three workshops: The Usage of Cooperative Learning Form in Higher Education, Tutoring and Mentoring Based on Informational and Communicational Technologies, The Development of Social Competences for the Involvement in a Knowledge Society.

16-17 April 2009
University of West-Hungary – 5th Hungarian National and International Lifelong Learning Conference:”Strategies, Technologies and Methods in a Learning and Knowledge Society”
The conference offered presentations of e-learning and e-teaching tools, thus contributing to the development of higher educational institutions’ methodological knowledge.
The main topics of the workshops were: Digial Pedagogy and Mobile Education, Modern Higher Education and the Labour Market, Information and/or Knowledge Society.

9 December 2009
Eötvös Loránd University – MELLearN Association and the Presidential Board of the Danube Rectors’ Conference had a joint roundtable meeting about the possibilities and ways of cooperation between the two organizations.

29-30 April 2010
University of Pécs – 6th Hungarian National and International Lifelong Learning Conference: „Lifelong Learning, Innovation and the Creation of Values” The European Year of Creativity and Innovation in 2009 has put the issues of lifelong learning into the dimension of the challenges of innovation with a special attention to the role of higher education promoting the development of individual and social competencies. However, MELLearN underlines that lifelong learning is not just for work, but for life as well, therefore, it must become a valid process of value creation. Higher education must, accordingly, represent the relations of performance and values in social, political and professional and scientific contexts. The Confernce has outlined sub-themes in order to cover most issues currently reflect various aspects of learning. The main topics of the workshops were: A.) Lifelong Learning and Innovation, B.) Lifelong Learning, Social Movements, Fighting back Poverty and Social Exclusion, C.) Lifelong Learning, Media and Communication, D.) Lifelong Learning: Learning Life and Age, PhD.) Lifelong Learning and Youth.

3 November 2010
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest – workshop – National Adult Education Day: Recognizing Prior Learning in Higher Education. The event was organized by the Eötvös Loránd University, the MELLearN Association and the Hungarian Pedagogical Society. The aim of the workshop was to find answers to two current questions: How can we define the concept of competence and competence-based training in higher education? What are the challenges of recognizing prior learning in higher education? The plenary session was followed by two sections on the separate topics: MELLearN section – Competence and competence-based training and validation in higher education, MPT (Hungarian Pedagogical Society) section – Roundtable discussion on the experiences, reports and suggestions of the „Adult Education Roadshow” organized in Pécs, Szombathely, Szeged and Miskolc.

21-22 April 2011
University of Pannonia, Veszprém – 6th Hungarian National and International Lifelong Learning Conference: „The Role of the Hungarian Higher Education in Achieving the Knowledge Triangle (Education-Research-Innovation). The Europe 2020 and the Education-Training 2020 Strategies” In the cultural and economic development of European, coherently with the statements formulated in the Europe 2020 strategy, it is a key point for the citizens to acquire the necessary skills for adapting to the digital world that determines their entire lives, to have the competences for handling change and mobility, to possess the knowledge about the criteria of sustainable growth and the requirements of inclusive and smart growth. In the last few years significant training experiences and contents have accumulated in Hungarian and European higher education institutions. The Europe 2020 strategy can be based more efficiently on the institutional (university) cooperation of LLL, both in the development of learning contents, in methodology and in the expansion of new learning environments. The implementation and best practices of LLL in European higher education not only represent opportunities for wide-range dissemination and quick adaptation but contribute to the development of European supernetworks. The Conference aimed to support the successful implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy, the promotion of the role of LLL, the adaptation of employees to the labour market, the country’s and the enterprises’ recovery from economic crisis with the experiences of higher education institutions, the good practices of LLL and with the review of resources needed for development. The main topics of the workshops were: A. Inclusive and Intelligent Growth in the Spirit of Lifelong Learning, B. Digital Agenda in the Higher Education, C. Sustainable Growth: Resource Efficiency and Lifelong Learning, D. Mobility and Change in Higher Education. The 7th National and International Lifelong Learning Conference was part of the Hungarian EU Presidency’s programmes. The patron of the event was Mr. Jari Vilén, Ambassador of Finland.

26-27 April 2012
Szent István University, Gödöllő – 8th Hungarian National and International Lifelong Learning Conference: „Competition and Cooperation: The Innovative Higher Education”. The 8th MELLearN Conference marked the 10th year anniversary of the network and aimed to link the topic of the European year of active ageing and solidarity between the generations with lifelong learning while presenting and evaluating the results of the networks’ activities. The target group of the conference: the leaders of higher education, adult educators in higher education, experts on education and adult training, experts contributing to the transformation of lifelong learning strategy in higher education, stakeholders, companies cooperating with higher education institutions, representatives of the business sector. The themes of the four workshops were the following: A. Intergenerational cooperation, intergenerational knowledge transfer, B. Functioning models in Hungarian higher education, C. Lifelong guidance models, D. Competitiveness in higher education.

15 October 2012
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest – „New Challenges in Adult Education” national conference organized within the framework of Adult Learners’ Week 2012. After the plenary sessions two workshops were organized: MELLearN Workshop: Modern Higher Education? Hiatus and Good Practices in Higher Education Head of workshop: PhD. Mária Kraici Szokoly (ELTE). Presenters: Éva Farkas, Judit Kerülő, Gábor Erdei, Emese Reinhardt Barkóczy, Balázs Németh, Judit Sass, Anikó Kálmán. ELTE workshop: Adult Education for Disabled Persons

9 November 2012
MELLearN workshop was organized at the 12th National Educational Science Conference (8-10 November, 2012, BME Budapest). The title of the workshop: „The Harmony of the EU 2020 Strategy and the Knowledge Triangle”. The head of the workshop was Anikó Kálmán, opponent: Zsuzsánna Lengyel, presenters: Anikó Kálmán, Márta Mohácsi, (Balázs Németh presented his lecture later in another workshop).

18-19 April 2013
University of Szeged, Szeged – 9th Hungarian National and International Lifelong Learning Conference: „The Social Engagement of Higher Education in Lifelong Learning: Responsibility and Opportunity for Breaking Out. Quality, Financing and Openness.” The modern higher education institutional networks following the global tendencies must be directly and proactively committed towards society. Hungarian higher education institutions contribute diversely to the development of society and economy: on one hand they provide knowledge and skilled labour force, and on the other hand functioning as the centre of regional knowledge clusters they impart their knowledge with the collaborating partners. The national higher education institutions have to make compatible and distinguishable advantage for themselves from the important fields of research-informed teaching and by using regionally committed and globally embedded inspired research. For obtaining this, it is of key-importance for them to broaden their relationship with non-training institutions and creating knowledge clusters cooperating with the broader community, thus covering the divided knowledge creation system. The new higher education model is characterized by the triple unity of teaching/learning – research/discovery – innovation/commitment. Higher education is no longer the sole source of creation for new ideas and innovation. Research is realized through bilateral, interregional and global networks, and through interweaving innovation systems as complex problems need collaborative solutions. The workshops of the Conference intended to provide a comprehensive overview: A. Quality in adult learning; B. Financing the adult learning sector; C. Opening higher education to adults (in English); D. The social and economic benefit of learning; E. The latest legislative changes in vocational and adult learning in Hungary.