Lifelong Learning Programme : creativity and innovation. European success stories.
Date: 2013-09-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture
Subjects: EU programme, continuing education, continuing vocational training, education policy, innovation, learning, school-working life relations, vocational training

LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMME
Creativity and Innovation
EUROPEAN SUCCESS STORIES 

Contents

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4  

Preface

The Lifelong Learning Programme

 European Awards for Lifelong Learning in Creativity and Innovation

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Comenius – School education

Erasmus – Higher education

Grundtvig – Adult education

 Leonardo da Vinci – Vocational education and training

Languages 

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 Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Creativity and Innovation through Lifelong Learning 

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Making lifelong learning a reality and promoting creativity and innovation are 
two of the major priorities proposed by the European Commission in its strategic 
vision for education and training until 2020. 2009 has been designated as the 
European Year of Creativity and Innovation to highlight creativity and innovation 
in Europe. The Year aims to raise awareness of the importance of creativity and 
innovation  for  personal,  social  and  economic  development,  to  promote  policy 
debate, disseminate good practices and stimulate education and research.

Creativity and Innovation are two mutually enriching concepts. Whereas crea-
tivity  is  about  imaginative  thinking  and  behaviour  that  produces  original  and 
valuable outcomes, innovation seeks to put these creative ideas into practice 
for the beneﬁ t of our society. 

The labour market in today’s society demands new skills and knowledge. The 
Lifelong  Learning  Programme  (LLP)  plays  an  important  role  in  helping  partici-
pants  to  acquire  skills  and  competences.  Pupils,  students,  adult  learners, 
teaching  staﬀ ,  trainers  and  trainees  have  great  potential  as  drivers  of  crea-
tivity and innovation. By taking part in a transnational activity, they are sharing 
diﬀ erent views and methods in learning, teaching and training. 

Since 2007, the European Awards for Lifelong Learning honour annually the most 
outstanding projects in education and training funded by European education 
and  training  programmes.  I  am  pleased  to  present  in  this  brochure  the  prize 
winning  projects  for  2009.  I  hope  that  these  success  stories  will  encourage 
European citizens to seize learning opportunities in order to improve their skills 
and that institutions and stakeholders propose innovative and creative projects 
under the Lifelong Learning Programme which help to modernise education and 
training systems in Europe. 

Odile Quintin
Director General for Education and 
Culture of the European Commission

The Lifelong Learning Programme

4  |

Building  competences  and  skills  through  high  quality 
education  and  training  systems  is  an  essential  part  of 
Europe’s strategy to meet challenges such as globalisation, 
technical progress and the ageing of society. Knowledge, 
skills  and  competences  are  essential  assets  for  individ-
uals to succeed in the labour market and for enterprises 
to  boost  their  competitiveness  and  innovative  capacity. 
Lifelong learning is the key to personal development and 
economic success.

The  Lifelong  Learning  Programme  (LLP)  supports  tran-
snational  education  and  training  activities  in  Europe. 
With a budget of 7 billion EUR for the period 2007–2013 
it enables individuals to pursue stimulating learning and 
training opportunities across Europe at all stages of their 
lives  and  helps  education  and  training  institutions  and 
systems to modernise. 

The  European  Awards  for  Lifelong  Learning  have  been 
honouring, since 2007, outstanding projects in education 
and  training  in  Europe  in  order  to  give  visibility  to  high 
quality  projects  and  activities  supported  by  European 
education  and  training  programmes.  These  examples  of 
good practice are “success stories” and can inspire indi-
viduals and organisations to follow their model.

In 2009, the European year of Creativity and Innovation, 
the  LLP  awards  are  given  to  cooperation  and  mobility 
projects and networks in Comenius, Erasmus, Leonardo 
da  Vinci,  Grundtvig,  Languages  and  ICT  that  have 
achieved  particularly  creative  and  innovative  results 
with a signiﬁ cant impact. The eighteen European success 
stories presented in this brochure received either a gold, 
silver or bronze prize.

Comenius School Education

Comenius  multilateral  projects  aim  at  developing,  promoting  and  disseminating  educational  best  practices  at  school. 
Their  main  results  are  new  teacher  training  courses,  guidance  material  and  new  curricula  for  initial  teacher  training. 
Comenius networks encourage the networking of educational establishments and organisations. They are designed to 
promote innovative practices in thematic areas of particular importance to school education in Europe.

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The Learning Teacher
Barn- och ungdomsförvaltningen – Child and youth administration
Karlstad, SWEDEN 

Teacher quality is the most important within-school factor aﬀ ecting students performance. This network focussed on the 
changing role of European teachers from static “all knowing” teachers to dynamic “lifelong learners”. It developed guid-
ance material, organised conferences, seminars and courses which helped professionals to acquire new knowledge and 
skills Its innovative thinking contributes to a successful transformation of education at European level.
http://www.learningteacher.org/

DAF Südost – Network for German as a foreign language
Ellinogermaniki Agogi – Greek-German language school
Pallini Attikis, GREECE

DAF Südost is an internet-based virtual community for teachers of German as a foreign language in South, South Eastern 
and Eastern Europe. It gives teachers access to new inspirations and teaching material enabling them to develop their crea-
tivity and innovativeness in everyday teaching. The platform continues to evolve, is a valued source for teachers and has 
enlarged its circle of users and members beyond the original target countries.
http://www.daf-netzwerk.org/ 

THE GOLDEN 5: An educational intervention 
Universidad de Sevilla 
Seville, SPAIN

Pupils often feel that attending school is imposed on them and has no value. The Golden 5 helps teachers to raise pupils’ 
motivation by creating an inspirational atmosphere in the classroom. It supports them in turning diﬃ  cult classroom situa-
tions  into  empowerment,  addressing  diversity,  lack  of  motivation  and  drawbacks.  The  project  developed  working  tools 
and created a lively network in which teachers can exchange experiences and gain new motivation. A training course has 
been available since 2005.
http://www.golden5.org/

Erasmus Higher Education

6  |6  |

The Erasmus programme is well-known for the opportunities it oﬀ ers to study and to do work placements in another Euro         pean 
country. It caters also for professors, business and university staﬀ  who want to teach and be trained abroad. The programme 
also funds thematic networks and curriculum development projects around common topics of cooperation involving a large 
number of higher education institutions across Europe that innovate and beneﬁ t by learning from each other.

CLIOHnet – Creating Links and Innovative Overviews to Enhance Historical Perspectives 
in European Culture
Università di Pisa
Pisa, ITALY 

CLIOHnet  is  an  innovative  history  network  with  more  than  eighty  universities  and  other  partners  throughout  Europe. 
Stimulating critical awareness of history, the resulting work is extremely useful for academics, learners of all ages and 
European  citizens  in  general.  The  project  has  also  given  rise  to  an  online  research  network,  CLIOHRES.net,  which  has 
produced a library of historical knowledge that provides a new transnational dimension to European history.
http://www.clioh.net/

Improving job opportunities with Erasmus
 Università della Calabria
Arcavacata di Rende, ITALY

The university aims at combating the extremely high youth unemployment in Southern Italy by sending its students on 
Erasmus placements in particular enterprises. In cooperation with nine other Italian universities, the International Relations 
oﬃ  ce of the university actively promotes Erasmus-funded work placements abroad. The search for traineeships in other 
European countries is facilitated by the project’s database of European enterprises and other intermediaries.
http://www.unical.it/

Erasmus mobility and the Youth in Action Programme 
Akdeniz Üniversitesi
Antalya, TURKEY

Since joining the Erasmus programme in 2003–2004 this university has established 180 bilateral agreements with other 
higher education institutions in Europe to allow for mobility of students and teachers. It has set up a proactive International 
Relations oﬃ  ce which oﬀ ers support to exchange students and also draws on the experience of students who have taken 
part in the European Voluntary Service as part of the EU’s Youth in Action programme. 
http://www.akdeniz.edu.tr/

Grundtvig Adult Education

The Grundtvig Programme focuses on the teaching and study needs of people engaged in adult learning. Thanks to its 
multilateral projects and networks, institutions and organisations from participating countries pool knowledge and expe-
rience and strengthen the link between various actors involved in adult education throughout Europe. This cross-border 
cooperation results in innovative products and methods with indisputable European value in the area of adult learning.

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Inclusive teaching material for Adults: the Roma 
Dromo Kotar Mestipen – Association of Roma women
Barcelona, SPAIN 

The EducaRom project tries to eradicate inequality in society, in particular, inequality to women and has recognised the 
value of education in overcoming discrimination and exclusion. The project must be credited for establishing the ﬁ rst ever 
tailor-made learning materials for Roma women – designed by Roma women from organisations in diﬀ erent EU member 
states. By providing a space for exchange and dialogue it has helped in giving a stronger voice to these women.
http://www.dromkotar.org/

e-learning while in Hospital 
Die Berater – Unternehmensberatungs GmbH/The consultants
Wien, AUSTRIA

The project “e-learning while in Hospital” is addressing adult educators, e-learning facilitators, as well as health managers 
who want to develop learning activities for patients hospitalised for a long period of time. Computer-assisted learning allows 
patients  to  be  independent  of  the  time-space  factor  in  conventional  face-to-face  learning  while  virtual  tools  make  joint 
learning activities possible. Such activities can help cope with isolation and ease reintegration into normal life.
http://www.ehospital-project.net/partners.htm

EMMA – European Network for Motivational Mathematics for Adults 
VOX – Nasjonalt Senter for Læring I Arbeidslivet/National Centre for Learning in Working Life
Oslo, NORWAY

There are many situations in daily live – and not just at work – where mathematical skills are needed. Many adults in Europe 
still lack some of these very basic skills in numeracy. The EMMA project has made a valuable contribution to tackling this 
problem. Besides raising awareness of the issue, it has given researchers, experts and policy makers a platform to meet 
and discuss and to ﬁ nd the best strategies of improving adult numeracy in Europe. 
http://www.statvoks.no/emma/

Leonardo da Vinci Vocational education and training

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Leonardo da Vinci multilateral projects support the exchange of people, development and transfer of innovation in vocational 
education and training (VET). This has a real impact on the quality and transparency of the countries education and training 
systems and innovations have come into being through the cross-fertilisation and diﬀ erent creative approaches of numerous 
European partners. These projects also beneﬁ t enterprises, social partners and other representatives of working life. 

Réseau d’échanges pédagogiques européens de la Fédération européenne 
des écoles de cirque professionnelles (FEDEC) 
École Supérieure des Arts du Cirque 
Brussels, BELGIUM 

This project organised a series of European-level workshops for circus specialists and their students. Exchanges of good 
practices resulted in a remarkable training programme of seven modules which are supported by pedagogical ﬁ lms. Each 
module is dedicated to the technical aspects of circus disciplines as well as safety and rigging. The products of the projects 
are not only tools for all teachers and trainers of circus art, but also of special interest to sports educators.
http://www.fedec.net/

POOLS-Producing Open Online Learning Systems 
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig – Scotland’s Gaelic College
Slèite, United Kingdom

The Pools project has created an internet-based virtual community for language teachers in VET, which provides them with 
creative and innovative ICT-based material, especially for less widely used languages such as Lithuanian, Basque and Gaelic. 
The material on the website is accessible without any copyright restrictions and facilitates cross-fertilisation. It can be tailored 
to individual needs and inspires teachers to deviate from textbook-based lessons and experiment with new teaching tools.
http://www.languages.dk/

Smectra.net – Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Consulting and Training Network 
Overpar Solutions Est. – coordinator 
Schaan, LIECHTENSTEIN

The Smectra.net project encourages e-Learning in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The innovation and crea-
tivity of the project lies in the usability and practical value of the 6-steps concept – analysis, concept design, planning, 
implementation, action and evaluation. The project is an excellent example of how simple solutions can create a sustain-
able impact on strategically important target groups and sectors.
http://www.smectra.net/

The daily lives of many Europeans are becoming more international and, hence, more multilingual. Languages multilateral 
projects seek to raise awareness of the importance of linguistic skills and promote “multilingualism” as a bridge to other 
people, countries and cultures. They develop innovative language learning materials, including online courses and instru-
ments for language testing. They promote language awareness and access to language learning resources as well. 

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Languages

Barrier-free language learning – an approach designed for adults with learning disabilities 
Sverigeﬁ nska folkhögskolan – Institute of adult education
Haparanda, SWEDEN 

This project has developed a way of teaching English as a foreign language to adults with intellectual disabilities or learning 
diﬃ  culties. “English without Frontiers” works for people who want to learn English for a job, just for fun, or so they can 
communicate when abroad. It is a very ﬂ exible course that takes into account the special educational needs of this group 
of learners. 
http://www.englishwithoutfrontiers.com/ 

EUROMOBIL II
Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3 
Pessac, FRANCE

The project provides interactive multimedia materials for learning Czech, French, Polish, Portuguese and Romanian based 
on video recordings in these languages. It is adapted to learners with diﬀ erent levels of knowledge of the language and 
oﬀ ers exchange students the opportunity to prepare themselves for their time abroad.
http://www.euro-mobil.org/

Mission Europe – online immersion in other cultures
Radio France Internationale 
Paris, FRANCE

The project oﬀ ers full immersion in the world of languages through a creative approach to language learning in which the 
student is invited to identify with a computer player who carries out joint operations in France, Poland and Germany with 
virtual heroines. “Mission Europe” is an excellent example of how technology can help to foster cultural awareness and 
linguistic diversity. 
http://www.missioneurope.eu/

Information and Communication technologies

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Information  and  Communication  Technologies  (ICT)  have  the  enormous  potential  to  foster  the  competence  of  being  
creative and innovative. ICT develops fresh learning approaches – use of simulations, experiential and discovery learning – 
enabling and attracting new learners and bridging the “digital divide” between those with access to technologies and 
relevant skills, and those without. 

An educational dimension of conﬂ ict resolution through cultural production
Humak University of Applied Sciences
Helsinki, FINLAND 

The  project  applied  an  innovative  approach  to  distance-learning  about  the  theatrical  method  “Theatre  of  the  Oppressed”, 
founded by the Brazilian theatre director Augusto Boal. An online learning platform, with video-conferences and teaching mate-
rial based on theatre performances, acts as a “forum-theater” where the audience interacts directly and changes the plot of the 
play. The project combined the knowledge of art teachers and ICT experts.The outputs have been produced in nine languages.
http://www.actandchange.eu/

EU-HOU – Hands-on Universe, Europe. 
Bringing frontline interactive astronomy to the classroom 
Université Pierre et Marie Curie
Paris, FRANCE

EU-HOU project developed hands-on tools for studying the universe to awaken an interest in maths and science. The project 
managed to make formulas and computations attractive to young pupils. Pupils now have the possibility to experience the 
thrill of discovery by using webcam systems, radio telescopes and a world-wide network of optical telescopes available 
through the Internet.
http://www.euhou.net/

E-VOCAL – e-Learning for Vocal/Song Education 
Waldig Winterbacher Operasvoice OEG 
Wien, AUSTRIA

The project shows how the eﬀ ective use of ICT can build bridges between technology and art. The e-learning courses, which 
can be used at music universities, conservatories, schools and adult education centres, are designed to support trainers and 
students in classical singing independent of time and place. A video ﬁ le of an aria can be downloaded and a live rehearsal be 
simulated, in which the student sings according to the interpretation and the timing of the virtual conductor. 
http://www.e-vocal.com/

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For further information, please visit the following website of the Lifelong 
Learning Programme: 

http://ec.europa.eu/llp