The Scheme Manager Christine and Support Tutor Jean attended the 5th meeting of our EU project ‘Back to Learning’ on 3rd /4th March 2020. The meeting was held in Valladolid, a university city approximately 160km north of Madrid in Spain, and included visits to an Adult Education Centre, a Lifelong Learning Centre and the City Hall. We enjoyed rambling around the beautiful city viewing amazing architecture and visiting the National Museum of Sculpture.

The first meeting on 3rd March was held in the Education and Social Work Faculty of the University of Valladolid. The Spanish partners delivered a very interesting overview of adult education and current policy to promote adult learning at both national and regional levels. We had a presentation on efforts to promote the use of EPALE (Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe) as an online forum for adult education professionals in Spain followed by a presentation on the varied opportunities for learning via innovative teaching methodologies offered at the Adult Education Centre of Olmedo.

After lunch, we took a short bus trip to visit ‘CEPA Muro’, a Public Centre for Adult Education, where adult learners are encouraged to acquire, renew and /or complete studies while experiencing new teaching /learning methods. The Centre offers both formal and informal learning programmes and is housed in a 100 years old building which has an interesting history as a TB hospital until it was converted to a school in the 1980s.

Day one of the meeting ended with a cultural walk around the city followed by a visit to the National Museum of Sculpture in Colegio de San Gregorio (College of St. Gregory).

The first meeting on day two was held at the FeCEAV Lifelong Learning Centre in the neighbourhood of Pajarillos. FeCEAV (Federation of Adult Education Groups of Valladolid) is a not-for-profit organisation offering education and training opportunities for adults at nine Centres across Valladolid. An overview of the Federation’s work was presented followed by a visit to an IT class to observe teaching and learning practice.

The second meeting was held in the offices of the City Council of Valladolid where we were welcomed by the Councillor of Education and Equity and taken on a tour of the historic building overlooking Plaza Mayor. The meeting also allowed time for project work and an update of tasks to be completed co-ordinated by the Hungarian partners.

The 6th and final project meeting will be held in Hungary in June 2020.