International Conference Presentations
Dr Paul Downes, Director of the Educational Disadvantage Centre and Associate Professor of Psychology of Education in DCU Institute of Education gave the Keynote Presentation A Resilient Danube Region through Digitalization, Inclusion and Education at the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science International Conference, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Labour and the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research of the Republic of Austria on June 17th 2021
Dr Paul Downes Director of the Educational Disadvantage Centre and Associate Professor of Psychology of Education in DCU Institute of Education gave the Keynote Presentation, A Holistic Differentiated Response for Wellbeing and Mental Health, Resilience and Agency across Europe: Addressing Covid Pandemic Lockdown Impact on Education at a European Commission Meeting, on April 23rd 2021.
Paul Downes’ Keynote Presentation, A systemic focus in VET (Vocational Education and Training) on emotions and agency for inclusion at the EU Commission’s Cedefop Webinar, Making Excellence Inclusive on February 3rd 2021.
For the June 30th UN FRESH Webinar, Dr Downes was a panellist on the theme of Life Skills, Social & Emotional Learning and 21st Century Skills: We Know the Why, the What is clearer, the How needs some work, with panellists including Ramya Vivekanandan, Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Professor Bryony Hoskins, University of Roehampton, London. LINK TO PRESENTATION HERE
Global Citizenship Foundation Webinar
Paul Downes was an invited panellist for The Global Citizenship Foundation’s webinars:
Paul Downes gave a keynote presentation, From ELET Prevention to Promoting Inclusive Systems as Concentric Relational Space: Future Steps for a Holistic, Differentiated Systemic Vision Across Europe for the 27th - 29th November 2019 Early School Leaving Unit, Directorate for Research Lifelong Learning and Employability (27/29th November 2019) and Ministry for Education and Employment, Verdala Palace, Malta, November 19th 2019
Paul Downes gave a Keynote Presentation, Key issues for inclusive systems to prevent school violence: A European perspective from NESET reports at the Slovenian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Experts Workshop, Measures and Practices to reduce violence among minors, October 17th 2019
Paul Downes gave a presentation, Beyond resilience to inclusive systems for prevention of early school leaving in Europe: A spatial-relational approach, in Finland, September 2019
Paul Downes gave the opening Keynote Presentation, Developing a Holistic, Differentiated, Systemic Framework for Social and Emotional Education at the Network of Education Policy Centers (NEPC), Summer School on Social and Emotional Education, Croatia in June 2019
Paul Downes gave a keynote presentation, A multidimensional approach to preventing early school leaving and reintegrating NEET youth: Outreach and multiprofessional teams for area wide strategic cooperation, at the Sustainable and Coherent Strategies - From School To Work Conference, Baltic Sea Region Flagship, School2Work, Gdansk June 11, 2019
Paul Downes gave a presentation, Structural indicators for good practice as part of a
holistic and systemic approach for prevention of early leaving in VET at the Role of VET in Reducing Early Leaving from Education and Training. Session 4: Monitoring and evaluation of policies, Cedefop Workshop, June 4 2014
Paul Downes gave an invited presentation, Community Lifelong Learning Centres as a gateway to multidisciplinary support teams, at the Cedefop-LLL platform Policy Forum: What role for community lifelong learning centres? The potential of one-stop shop for preventing youth at risk from disconnecting, Romanian EU Presidency Event, Brussels, May 29, 2019.
Paul Downes gave a keynote presentation, From Early School Leaving Prevention to Promoting Inclusive Systems of Concentric Spatial Relations of Assumed Connection in Cyprus, January 2019
Dr Paul Downes gave an invited presentation at the University of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, Public Forum on November 8th 2018; his presentation, entitled Reducing early school leaving: The role of Universities can be accessed HERE
Dr Paul Downes gave a presentation at the Austria Ministry of Education and Science Conference in Vienna on October 1st 2018. His presentation, entitled The Neglected Shadow of Emotions and Mental Health Supports for Engaging the Needs of all Students, can be accessed here
Dr Paul Downes gave a keynote conference presentation at the Faculty of Education, University of Warsaw’ s International Conference, Supporting the Wellbeing of Children And Youth – Interdisciplinary perspective in Warsaw, 13th – 15th September 2018. His presentation entitled Beyond interagency working to developing multidisciplinary teams in and around schools: Key issues for system development can be accessed here
Dr Paul Downes gave the opening keynote presentation at the EMPAQT International Conference, ‘Policies and Practices for the Prevention of Early School Leaving’ at Maltepe University, Istanbul on May 3rd 2018. His presentation, entitled From Early School Leaving Prevention to Promoting Inclusive Systems of Concentric Spatial Relations of Assumed Connection can be accessed here.
Dr Paul Downes gave the keynote conference presentation at the international conference ‘Empowering eTwinning Schools- Leading, learning, sharing’ in Rome on May 15th2018. Hosted by the Italian eTwinning National Support Service (NSS), the Conference was organised in collaboration with the European Commission, the eTwinning Central Support Service (CSS), EACEA, and the Italian National Agency Erasmus+/INDIRE at the Centro Congressi Trevi, Rome. His presentation, entitled Developing a whole school approach for promoting inclusive systems in and around schools: Some issues for eTwinning can be accessed here.
Paul Downes gave the opening keynote presentation at the three day international conference, Reducing Early School Leaving in the EU: A Comparative Qualitative and Quantitative Research, at the University of Antwerp, January 22nd 2018. The title of his presentation was, Conceptual Foundations of Early School Leaving: From the Tangled Web of Diametric Space to Inclusive Systems as Concentric Relational Spaces.
Paul Downes gave a keynote presentation to the Conférence Decomparaisons Internationales Lutte Contre Le Décrochage Scolaire, Paris, 9th and 10th November 2017. Presentation entitled ‘Early school leaving: taking a holistic, differentiated and systemic international perspective on the issue’ Access video of Dr Downes' presentation here
At Cedefop’s international conference, Policy Learning Forum: VET (Vocational Education and Training) as a solution to leaving education early (Thessaloniki, May 16-17, 2017), Paul Downes gave an invited presentation, Self-reflection tool for policy makers based on structural indicators to identify the strengths and weaknesses of policies put in place. ACCESS THE PRESENTATION HERE ACCESS CEDEFOP TOOLKITS HERE
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, VANCOUVER APRIL 18TH 2017
Dr Paul Downes gave an invited presentation in the University of British Columbia, Vancouver on April 18th 2017 ACCESS THE PRESENTATION HERE
INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTE PRESENTATION ON TRANSITIONS IN EDUCATION
On 16th February, 2017, Dr Paul Downes, Director of DCU’s Educational Disadvantage Centre gave the keynote presentation at the Directorate General of Education of the Portuguese Ministry of Education & European Commission Working Group on Schools International Meeting TEIP 2017 “Continuity and Transitions in Learner Development”. His presentation was entitled, Addressing Continuity and Transitions in a Holistic, Multidimensional Way: Overcoming System Mismatch, Blockages in Communication and Fragmentation ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
INVITED PRESENTATION IN BRATISLAVA TO EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND SLOVAK EU PRESIDENCY MEETING OF DIRECTORS-GENERAL FOR SCHOOLS ACROSS EUROPE
Dr Paul Downes gave a two and a half hour workshop on Structural Indicators for Inclusive Systems in and around Schools to Directors-General for Schools from Education Ministries across all EU member states at the European Commission and Slovak EU Presidency Meeting of Directors-General for Schools on December 13-14th, 2016. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION AT SERBIAN EDUCATION MINISTRY AND UNICEF CONFERENCE
Dr Paul Downes gave the opening keynote presentation, Developing inclusive systems in and around schools for early school leaving prevention: The importance of emotions and relationships, at the Serbian Education Ministry, UNICEF and Centre for Education Policy Conference, Combating early school leaving in Serbia through effective dropout prevention and intervention measures at the school level, November 28th/29th 2016, Belgrade, Serbia. ACCESS THE PRESENTATION HERE
On September 15th 2016, Dr Paul Downes gave the keynote presentation for the meeting of the new ET2020 Working Group on Schools, European Commission, Directorate-General, Education and Culture, Rue Joseph II, Brussels. The ET2020 Working Group on Schools is focused on issues of school governance and quality. It is composed of senior education ministry officials from all EU Member States, supported by EU Commission officials. The meeting was opened by Sophie Beernaerts, Head of the School and Educators Unit of the European Commission. Dr Downes' presentation was entitled, Developing a School System Governance Framework to Promote Quality for Transitions: Key Issues to Consider for a Differentiated, Holistic Strategy for Transitions. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
THE INTEGRATION OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL PROGRAMS WITHIN EDUCATION SYSTEMS: EXTENDING THE GLOBAL DIALOGUE INTO LATIN AMERICA AND MIDDLE RESOURCE COUNTRIES
Dr Paul Downes gave an invited presentation, Integrating Student Services for Inclusive Systems to Support Learning, Health & Development: A Proposed Policy Direction in the Global White Paper, by skype, at a session of a meeting, The Integration of Health and Social Programs within Education Systems: Extending the Global Dialogue into Latin America and Middle Resource Countries, Curitiba, Brazil, May 22-25, 2016. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION, BY DR. PAUL DOWNES, EUROPEAN PARENTS' ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE
Dr. Paul Downes gave a keynote presentation, Future horizons for parental involvement and family support in and around schools in Europe: An agenda for system reform at the European Parents' Association Conference, School as the Training Ground for Active Citizenship for Parents and Children. The conference took place on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th April 2016 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
BUILDING A TEACHER-POWERED EDUCATION SYSTEM
Monday 25th January 2016 in the Great Room Auditorium, RSA House
Speaker: Professor Andy Hargreaves
Panelist: Fiona Collins, Principal, St Francis CBS
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION AT THE 1ST NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHILDREN'S WELLBEING, MALTA
Dr. Paul Downes gave a keynote presentation at the 1st National Conference on Children's Wellbeing, organised by The President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, and the Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health, University of Malta, October 23, 2015, Verdala Palace, Malta. The title of his presentation was A holistic differentiated approach to bullying prevention: The role of students for inclusive systems. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
EU PRESIDENCY SYMPOSIUM LUXEMBOURG JULY 8th TO 10th 2015
Dr Paul Downes, Director of the College’s Educational Disadvantage Centre, gave an invited presentation at the recent Luxembourg EU Presidency Symposium, Staying on Track: Tackling Early School Leaving and Promoting Success in School. His presentation was entitled, ‘Promoting Smooth Educational Pathways: Universal Strategies for Early School Leaving Prevention and to Promote Educational Success’ ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
ENSEC (EUROPEAN NETWORK FOR SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE) CONFERENCE SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING AND CULTURE LISBON on JULY 1st TO 4th JULY 2015
Dr Paul Downes gave a presentation at the 5th Annual ENSEC Conference. His presentation was entitled From Individual Resilience to Inclusive Systems: A Cross-Cultural, Spatial-Phenomenological Dimension to Agency in Developmental Psychology ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
GLOBAL FORUM, INTEGRATING HEALTH & SOCIAL PROGRAMS WITHIN EDUCATION SYSTEMS: A GLOBAL DIALOGUE JUNE 1st to 3rd 2015
Dr. Paul Downes gave an invited presentation at the Global Forum, Integrating Health & Social Programs Within Education Systems: A Global Dialogue, June 1-3. This Forum was jointly organised by the following four international associations: UNESCO-Education International- International School Health Network (ISHN) -Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). The Forum took place at the Offices of la Mutuelle Générale de l’Éducation Nationale, Paris. Paul Downes’ presentation was: Overcoming nine system ‘blockages’ to develop inclusive systems and integrated services across Education, Health and Social sectors for early school leaving prevention. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
Please click here for Forum presentations and agenda
EU COMMISSION SCHOOLS POLICY GROUP JUNE 4th and 5th 2015
Paul Downes attended the meeting of the EU Commission Schools Policy Group June 4-5, 2015 at Rue Joseph II, Brussels, as an advisory expert to the group. The Schools Policy Group for the EU Commission is composed of senior education officials across EU Member States. It is focused jointly on the issues of early school leaving and initial teacher education. Dr. Downes gave an invited presentation to the group: Quality labels and structural indicators for social inclusion in schools – including relational systems for parental involvement and one-stop shop community centres. The Group is developing a Policy Statement for Schools across the EU in relation to Early School Leaving and a web-tool for schools regarding early school leaving prevention issues. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
EU COMMISSION PRESENTATION ON SOCIAL INCLUSION IN EDUCATION APRIL 28th 2015
Dr. Paul Downes, Director of the Educational Disadvantage Centre in the College, gave an invited presentation, Quality labels and structural indicators for social inclusion in schools and higher education institutions to 40 EU Commission officials from its Directorate General, Education and Culture. This took place at the Commission’s Philippe le Bon building, Brussels, on 28 April 2015. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
Summary of 2015 Invited presentation given to 40 Commission officials at the Commission’s Philippe le Bon building, Brussels, on 28 April 2015. ACCESS SUMMARY HERE
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION AT AUSTRIAN NATIONAL EDUCATION MINISTRY SYMPOSIUM JANUARY 19th 2015
On January 19th 2015, Dr Paul Downes, Director of St Patrick's College's Educational Disadvantage Centre, gave a keynote presentation, The neglected shadow: European perspectives on emotional support for early school leaving prevention at the Austrian National Ministry for Education Symposium on Early School Leaving, Ene, mene, muh, und raus bist du...Padagogische, soziale und strukrurelle Dimensionen von Bildungsbenachteiligung und Schulabbruch.
Access the Pädagogische Hochschule Salzburg website here
WHO IS EUCIS-LLL?
The European Civil Society Platform on Lifelong Learning (EUCISGLLL) is an umbrella association that gathers 36 European organisations active in the field of education and training, coming from all EU Member States and beyond. Currently these networks represent more than 45 000 educational institutions (schools, universities, adult education and youth centres, etc.) or associations (involving students, teachers and trainers, parents, HRD professionals, etc.) covering all sectors of formal, non-formal and informal learning. Their members reach out to several millions of beneficiaries.
EUROPEAN CIVIL SOCIETY PLATFORM ON LIFELONG LEARNING (EUCIS): ACCESS TO EDUCATION IN EUROPE: A FRAMEWORK AND AGENDA FOR SYSTEM CHANGE
December 10th 2014, Dr. Paul Downes has given an invited presentation, Access to Education In Europe: A framework and agenda for system change, at the EUCIS-LLL (European Civil Society Platform on Lifelong Learning) Seminar and Launch of the flagship initiative on ‘Inclusive Education. Fighting inequalities in education and training’, University Foundation, Rue d’Egmont 11, Brussels. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
AWW-Inform Wintersemester 2014/15 Nr. 49 (See page 6)
EUROPEAN COMMISSION ET2020 WORKING GROUP ON SCHOOLS POLICY
December 5th 2014, Paul Downes has given an invited presentation, Priority Issues for Early School Leaving Prevention for ET2020 Working Group on Schools Policy, to European Commission Directorate General, Education and Culture, Experts’ Workshop on Early School Leaving, Rue Joseph 11, Brussels. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
EU COMMISSION FORUM PRESENTATION ON PROMOTING EQUITY, SOCIAL COHESION AND ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP
October 9th – 10th 2014, Dr Paul Downes gave an invited presentation to provide the introductory overview for Workshop 5 at the Forum, Promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship. His presentation, Nine Challenges to Promoting Equity, Social Cohesion and Active Citizenship, involved an analysis of international quantitative research findings from the OECD Education at a Glance Report 2014, as well as PISA, TALIS (The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey) and PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) findings. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
3RD EUROPEAN EDUCATION TRAINING AND YOUTH FORUM: FUTURE PRIORITIES OF THE ET 2020 STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR EUROPEAN COOPERATION IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING AND SYNERGIES WITH YOUTH POLICY.
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION AT THE EU PARLIAMENT, QUALITY OF CHILDHOOD WORKING GROUP SESSION
September 9th 2014. A keynote presentation was given at the EU Parliament in Brussels by Dr. Paul Downes to the 48th session of the Working Group on the Quality of Childhood (QoC) The presentation is entitled Developing inclusive systems across Education, Health and Social Sectors for early school leaving prevention. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
CEDEFOP (THE EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING) WORKSHOP, THE ROLE OF VET IN REDUCING EARLY LEAVING FROM EDUCATION AND TRAINING
On June 4th 2014, Dr Downes gave an invited presentation at the Cedefop Workshop, The Role of VET in Reducing Early Leaving from Education and Training, in Thessaloniki, Greece. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
URBACT PREVENT PROJECT
June 3rd 2014, as part of the Urbact PREVENT project, Dr Downes facilitated a session, Towards a Differentiated, Holistic and Systemic Approach to Parental Involvement in Europe for Early School-Leaving Prevention, in the Department of Education and Sports, Bayerstrasse, Munich. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
UNGA IN STAFF NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN STOCKHOLM.
May 26th 2014, Dr Downes gave the keynote presentation, Towards a holistic, integrated approach to motivation in working with socio-economically excluded groups, at the Unga In Staff National Conference in Stockholm. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
UNGA IN (YOUTH INTEGRATION) NATIONAL CONFERENCE, FRYSHUSET, STOCKHOLM
May 27th 2014, Paul Downes gave a keynote presentation at the Unga In (Youth Integration) National Conference at Fryshuset, Stockholm, entitled Towards a differentiated, holistic and systemic approach to engaging socio-economically excluded groups. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
OPENING ADDRESS AT THE EUROPEAN NETWORK OF EDUCATION COUNCILS (EUNEC) CONFERENCE ON EARLY SCHOOL LEAVING IN THE LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENT (SEIMAS).
On November 18th 2013, Dr. Downes gave the opening address at the European Network of Education Councils (EUNEC) conference on Early School Leaving in the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas). The title of his presentation was, ‘A Holistic Approach to Early School Leaving Prevention in Europe: Key Strategic Priorities for System Level Development’. This conference was organised by EUNEC, in conjunction with the European Commission and the Lithuanian Government (Ministry of Education and Science) in the context of its EU presidency. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
Press release from the Lithuanian Ministry of Education and Science
3RD EUROPEAN EDUCATION TRAINING AND YOUTH FORUM: FUTURE PRIORITIES OF THE ET 2020 STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR EUROPEAN COOPERATION IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING AND SYNERGIES WITH YOUTH POLICY.
November 14th 2013, Dr. Downes’ keynote presentation was for the European Commission’s, European Social Fund (ESF) Conference, Tackling Youth Unemployment in Europe: Building a Better Future for Young People, in Vilnius. His presentation at the plenary session focused on lifelong learning issues, together with approaches to prevention of early school leaving, ‘Giving early school leavers fresh opportunities: Prevention and second chance measures’. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
ACCCESS FINAL CONFERENCE REPORT HERE
URBACT PREVENT PROJECT
June 2013, Paul Downes gave two presentations Potential structural indicators for a systemic approach to parental involvement for early school leaving prevention (June 6th) and Engaging parents from marginalised groups, including ethnic minorities: Outreach and system change for early school leaving prevention (June 7th)at the PREVENT URBACT project meeting in Gijon, Spain.
NESET SEMINAR ON CROSS-SECTOR POLICY SYNERGIES, BRUSSELS
May 28th 2013, the European Commission published its NESET (Network of Experts on the Social Aspects of Education and Training) report, by Professor Anne Edwards and Dr. Paul Downes, Alliances for Inclusion: Cross-sector policy synergies and interprofessionalcollaboration in and around schools. The foreword to the report is by Jan Truszczynski, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education and Culture. Building on this independent report authored for the European Commission, Professor Edwards and Dr. Downes conducted a seminar on May 28th in Brussels, for over thirty European Commission officials from its Directorate General, Education and Culture and Directorate General, Research and Innovation, entitled, Cross-sector policy synergies and inter-professional collaboration in and around schools: Examples and evidence. ACCESS SEMINAR PRESENTATION HERE
URBACT PREVENT STOCKHOLM MEETING
March 21-22 2013, P.Downes & U.Hagglund, gave a presentation,Towards a system level review process of cities’ approaches to parental involvement for early school leaving prevention: Key issues in the development of a matrix of structural indicators. Stockholm meeting of URBACT initiative, PREVENT
EU2020 ESTONIAN CIVIC FORUM TALLINN
Paul Downes gave an invited presentation on March 6th 2013 at the Estonian Civic Forum, Tallinn, entitled Key issues regarding early school leaving prevention for the EU2020 headline target, Estonian Civic Forum, Tallinn National Library. The invitation was funded by Tallinn Foreign Ministry, Estonia. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
5TH MEETING OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE (DG-EAC), THEMATIC WORKING GROUP ON EARLY SCHOOL LEAVING, BRUSSELS
Dr Paul Downes gave an invited presentation on January 28-29 2013 entitledDeveloping multi-agency and cross-sector synergies in and around education, at the 5th meeting of the European Commission, Directorate-General for Education and Culture (EAC), Thematic Working Group on Early School Leaving, Brussel. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE (DG- EAC) MEETING IN BRUSSELS
27th September 2012 Dr Paul Downes was a speaker at a European Commission DG EAC meeting in Brussels. His presentation was entitled The prevention and reduction of social exclusion (related to LLL and adult education) through public policies: Opportunities and obstacles for systemic change through incentivisation ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
LAUNCH OF A NEW ACCESS TO EDUCATION INITIATIVE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MALTA
9th November 2011, Dr. Paul Downes was the keynote speaker at a public seminar entitled 'Promoting Resilience in Education: Increasing access to post-secondary and tertiary education in Malta' organized by Dr. Carmel Cefai, Director of the European Centre for Educational Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health at the University of Malta. Dr Downes' presentation,was based on his research report on behalf of the Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick's College presented this year to the EU Commission. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
EDUCATIONAL DISADVANTAGE CENTRE AND EUROPEAN POLICY ON SOCIAL INCLUSION IN EDUCATION
June 9th 2011, Paul Downes, on Erasmus exchange, spoke at the Special Education Department of the Pedagogical University of Cracow. His paper was entitled Child-Centred Research to Promote Engagement with School: Issues for Early School Leaving Prevention in the Irish context and Internationally for Polish Educational Policy to Consider? ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
EU COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL EDUCATION SEMINAR FOR COMMISSION POLICY OFFICERS
May 17 2011, the Centre Director, Dr. Paul Downes conducted a seminar in the Commission, Place Madou, Brussels, on structural and process indicators for assessing national and regional authorities' contribution to access to education for traditionally marginalised groups. The seminar was attended by DG-EAC Commission policy officers in a range of areas including lifelong learning, school education and Comenius, higher education, social inequalities, vocational education and training, and statistics.
COMENIUS REGIO CONFERENCE – CREATING EUROPEAN NETWORKS OF REGIONS, BORDEAUX
May 11-12 2011, Paul Downes was an invited speaker at the workshop, Inclusive, supportive and motivating learning environments for all and how to prevent Early School Leaving, as part of the Commission's Comenius Regio Conference – Creating European Networks of Regions, in Bordeaux. Dr. Downes' presentation was entitled, Beyond the OECD 10 Steps to Equity in Education: A Systems Focus on Emotions and Community to Prevent Early School Leaving ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE.
ACCESS THE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME HERE
ADULT ACTION LEARNING PLAN, WORKSHOP 5
March 8th 2011, Catherine Maunsell gave a presentation at the final conference on the Adult Learning Action Plan, Workshop 5: Opening Higher Education for Adults Theme 2: 'One Step Up': Enhancing Adult Competences It's Always a Good Time to Learn in Budapest. Her presentation was entitled Access to Higher Education for Traditionally Marginalised Groups in Europe ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
LLL2010 FINAL CONFERENCE
February 8th 2011, Paul Downes gave a presentation at the LLL2010 Conference in Leuven entitled LLL2010 SUBPROJECT 5 A Systems Level Focus on Access to Education for Traditionally Marginalised Groups in Europe: Comparing Strategies, Policy and Practice in Twelve European Countries.
February 8th 2011, Catherine Maunsell gave a presentation at the LLL 2010 Conference in Leuven entitled Lifelong Learning for All? Policies and Practices Towards Underrepresented and Socially Excluded Groups ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE.
NORDIC AND BALTIC STATES - SEMINAR AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
November 26th 2010, Paul Downes, invited speaker at the 'Health and Welfare in the Nordic and Baltic States' seminar at University College London. His presentation was entitled Social Exclusion, Ethnicity and HIV in Estonia: A Case for a Visit from the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health?
BELGIAN EU PRESIDENCY CONFERENCE
September 28-29th 2010, Paul Downes, invited speaker at the Belgian EU Presidency Conference, Breaking the cycle of disadvantage – Social inclusion in and through education which took place the University of Ghent, Belgium. Dr Downes spoke at the workshop: Pupils at risk of social exclusion: overcoming school failure and reducing school drop out. His presentation entitled 'It's the heart stupid'. Emerging Priority Issues for Prevention of Early School Leaving: A Solution-Focused Approach. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
EU TEMPUS PROJECT
December 15th 2008, presentation by Dr Paul Downes on the Educational Disadvantage Centre at University of Pristina, Kosovo as part of EU Tempus Project.
EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
September 22nd 2008, The Challenges of Conducting Surveys with Adults who have Experienced 'Educational Disadvantage' . Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, 'From Teaching to Learning', by Dr Jane Carrigan in Gothenburg, Sweden.
September 22nd 2008,Lifelong Learning in the Workplace for Traditionally Disadvantaged Groups in Ireland Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, 'From Teaching to Learning' by Catherine Dooley in Gothenburg, Sweden.
FORUM FOR THE ADVANCEMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION
March 2008. Paper presented at the FACE (Forum for the Advancement for Continuing Education) Conference York, England by Dr Jane Carrigan ENTITLED Exploring Prisoners' Experience of Education in Ireland: A Life History Approach. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE - CENTRE FOR RESEARCH IN LIFELONG LEARNING
June 2007, Strategies for the 'New' Educational Transition: Addressing the Lifelong Educational Needs of Young Foreign Nationals in Ireland. Paper Presented at the 4th International Conference hosted by the Center for Research in Lifelong Learning, University of Stirling, Scotland by Dr Catherine Maunsell
June 2007, Paper presented at the 4th International Conference hosted by the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning, University of Stirling, Scotland by Dr Jane Carrigan entitled School for Scandal? Learning and the Penal Experience in Ireland. ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE