Multilingual education in the light of diversity : Lessons learned

While multilingualism and diversity have always been an integral part of Europe, they also became important characteristics of many national education systems in the past two decades. The linguistic diversity of modern classrooms is shaped by 1. the presence of historical non-dominant language groups, which are being revitalised; 2. The growing mobility between countries which results in a variety of new languages and skills in the classrooms; and 3. changing educational and labour market demands that favour multilingual and multi-literate citizens. Consequently, more and more young learners are growing up with several cultures and languages and may experience multiple transitions between different school systems and school languages. Raised in changing multilingual and multicultural environments, individuals may no longer identify themselves with one language and culture but rather with a range of languages and cultures acquired in different situations. In the context of these social transformations, multilingualism is becoming more a way of life, rather than a problem to be solved. Therefore, the task of education stakeholders is to create school systems that bridge these various linguistic and cultural realities and support the mobility of the pupils across Europe. Schools need to provide an education, which supports the development of learners’ linguistic and cultural resources, whilst balancing these at the same time with social, cultural and political demands. The challenge at hand is therefore, to offer a multilingual schooling system that supports the inclusion of all pupils in which they can develop their full potential linguistically, cognitively and emotionally

Visuomenės nuomonės apie miestų plėtros įtaką aplinkos, socialiniams ir ekonominiams veiksniams Vilniaus mieste tyrimas

Urban sprawl is recognized to have strong negative impacts on environmental, social and economic aspects. The expansion of the urban areas has important effects on energy and water consumption, air and water pollution, human health problems, soil and land consumption and degradation, as economic and social segregation and exclusion. The aim of this paper is to study the Vilnius public perception about urban sprawl in the environmental, social and economic dimensions, according to the age and professional occupation of the respondents. The results showed that the participants were concerned about urban sprawl effects. However, there were differences among ages and professional occupations. Younger people that worked in NGO and municipality gave more importance to the problem, and older government and municipally workers claimed for a better regulation. The perception of urban sprawl impacts on the environment were specially observed in consumption, pollution and human health, and less in soil, land degradation and resource depletion. Younger respondents valued more the impacts on air pollution, whereas government workers valued more the impacts in traffic aspects. The social and economic questions were considered all very important. Younger respondents were more concerned with the long distance travels and household expenditure than the older respondents. This last group claimed for more regulations and rated high the effects of urban sprawl in the rural environment, while young respondents – in urban areas.Žinoma, kad miestų plėtra daro didelį neigiamą poveikį aplinkai, socialiniams ir ekonominiams veiksniams. Su teritorijų plėtra susiję energijos ir vandens vartojimo pokyčiai, oro ir vandens tarša, žmonių sveikatos problemų gausėjimas, dirvožemio naudojimas ir nusidėvėjimas. Šio tyrimo tikslas buvo išanalizuoti skirtingo amžiaus ir skirtingo tipo darbovietėse dirbančių respondentų – Vilniaus miesto gyventojų – nuomonę apie miestų plėtros įtaką aplinkai bei socialiniam ekonominiam sektoriui. Paaiškėjo, kad tyrimo dalyviai susirūpinę dėl poveikio, kurį sukelia miestų plėtra. Jaunesni tyrimo dalyviai, dirbantys NVO arba savivaldybėje, didesnę reikšmę teikė problemoms, o vyresni vyriausybinių ir savivaldos institucijų darbuotojai teigė, kad svarbesnis yra reguliavimas. Respondentai miestų plėtros neigiamą poveikį aplinkai pirmiausia suvokia kaip užterštumo didėjimą bei didėjančias su žmonių sveikata susijusias problemas, mažiau dėmesio skirta dirvožemio nusidėvėjimui ir išteklių eikvojimui. Jaunesni respondentai didesnę reikšmę teikė oro taršai, o vyriausybinių institucijų darbuotojai – transporto problemoms. Jaunesni respondentai buvo labiau susirūpinę dėl ilgų atstumų kelionių ir namų ūkio išlaidų. Vyresni respondentai labiausiai pabrėžė urbanizacijos plėtros poveikį kaimiškų vietovių aplinkai, jaunesni tyrimo dalyviai – miestų teritorijų aplinkai. Visi klausimai socialiniu ekonominiu aspektu buvo laikomi labai svarbiais

Social Challenges in Cities

Abstract This study explores social challenges and policy responses in EU cities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It demonstrates that the pandemic has placed additional pressures on vulnerable groups and the institutions that work to support them. It finds that the local policy capacity to respond to the crisis has differed across cities and multi-level governance settings. Participatory and integrated policy efforts have often failed to meet the expectations of urban citizens and stakeholders. To move towards urban resilience in times of crisis, EU-levelfunding needs to become more accessible and focused on long-term transformations, as well as improving policy dialogue with those cities most limited by ineffective local governance structures and historical legacies

Education for environmental sustainability : policies and approaches in European Union Member States : executive summary

In the recent years, there has been a growing consensus in Europe and beyond on the role that education can play in the transition towards a green economy and society needed to address the severe decline in biodiversity, environmental degradation and risks posed by climate change. Education has an essential role to play by supporting citizens in developing the competences needed to live responsibly, change consumption models, design solution, transform society and shape a green economy. In the context of the EU’s efforts to promote a sustainable and green Europe, the purpose of this study is to map EU Member States’ national and institutional practices, processes, tools and strategies in education for environmental sustainability (EES) at various levels and in different forms of education. To date, no such comprehensive comparative analysis has yet been carried out on the delivery of education for environmental sustainability in the EU. The study will help inform the actions of the European Commission with regard to education for environmental sustainability and policy for the implementation of the European Education Area and the European Green Deal. This study understands education for environmental sustainability as education that makes students aware of, sensitive to, and knowledgeable about the environment and its interconnectedness to social and economic systems, while encouraging them to develop attitudes of concern and motivation, as well as practical, complex systems and critical thinking skills to identify and solve environmental problems. It recognises that EES is strongly linked to the economic and social dimensions of sustainability, but focuses on environmental topics and views these in social and economic contexts. The study understands EES beyond topical knowledge, as an inter-disciplinary issue that must be approached holistically. EES should closely follow learners through all phases and stages of education and take place in a supportive learning environment and by way of thoughtful and engaging pedagogies. This requires learning to occur along three dimensions: cognitive (relating to knowledge, understanding and critical thinking); socio-emotional (relating to a sense of common humanity, values and responsibilities, empathy, solidarity and respect); and behavioural (relating to skills development). As members of society, individuals should be empowered to act in a sustainable manner in complex situations. This may require them to strike out in new directions and participate in socio-political processes that require every member of society to acquire a ‘sustainability mindset’ and environmental literacy.peer-reviewe