Epale

What is EPALE?

EPALE (Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe) is a European platform that gathers professionals engaged in adult education in Europe. It was established in 2014 by the European Commission, as part of the Erasmus+ programme, with the aim of improving the development of the adult education sector across Europe.

The platform was created in response to challenges in adult education across Europe such as: sector diversity, differences among adult education systems in Europe, low levels of cooperation among countries, numerous funding challenges and motivation of training programme participants. It was created based on research into the needs of professionals and regular research informs its development.

The Central Support Service (CSS) is in charge of coordinating the platform at the European level, with National Support Services (NSS) in each country participating in the EPALE network.

Who is EPALE for?

The EPALE platform is intended for professionals directly or indirectly engaged in the field of adult education. Therefore, its target groups include professors, teachers, trainers, researchers, decision-makers, career practitioners and all other professionals involved in adult education. Membership is open to individuals regardless of whether they are employed full-time, temporarily, part-time, as volunteers or as independent experts.

The EPALE platform stands out with its interactive approach involving active user participation. The platform provides individuals and institutions with opportunities to:

• improve their knowledge using resources available on the platform (publications, scientific papers, blog articles and various other content)
• discuss and exchange views with colleagues across Europe about adult education topics (for example, through active discussions or smaller groups focused on specific topics).

Additionally, the portal enables registered users to contribute to the community by:

• sharing their expertise in the field of adult education (e.g. writing blog posts, news or articles, and adding events);
• publishing relevant resources for other members (adding new resources to the existing database);
• presenting the work of their organisations and best practice examples;
• searching for project partners.

The EPALE platform also helps prepare individuals and institutions for participating in the design and implementation of these projects, which enables them to contribute to the improvement of the adult education sector.

National Support Service (NSS)

In 2017, the Republic of Serbia became part of the EPALE network. The National Support Service operates within the Foundation Tempus, which is responsible for the implementation of the network’s activities in Serbia. The NSS can be contacted via email at adult-education@tempus.ac.rs, or by phone at 011 33 42 430.

The National Support Service (NSS), together with the Central Support Service, is responsible for ensuring quality content on the portal and encouraging cooperation in the adult education sector.

The NSS is available to registered members for all questions related to registration, access to specific content and functionality of the portal (e.g. which EPALE section can be used to post news), as well as for resolving technical difficulties.

In addition, the National Support Service in Serbia implements a number of activities to support the adult education sector, such as webinars, conferences, competitions for writing texts on specific subjects, training, workshops and other initiatives.

Quality policy

Having high-quality content on EPALE is of key importance. In order to ensure its quality and reliability, EPALE National Support Services examine the quality and relevance of all posted texts (blogs, news, event descriptions and resources) before publishing them, in accordance with the Editorial Policy and Quality Standards and Content Settings Guidelines, established by the Central Support Service.