Emilia-Romagna is a highly developed Italian region, well-known for the strength of its industrial and social tissue, and its performance in the education and training field is also reputed to be of a high standard, not only for the national average of Italy, but also in a European perspective. However, the concept of Lifelong Learning as such is seldom utilised in Regional Policy and is understood only by a minority of people. The literal translation sounds like a condemn (Assonance with lifelong jail, “ergastolo”) and the Italian official translation “apprendimento nel corso di tutta la vita” sounds a bit better but still very artificial and abstract, not corresponding to concrete experience by the majority of citizen
The terms Educazione permanente and Formazione continua (the former referring to non-professional and the latter to professional learning for adults) have to be used also in the conversations with specialists. The concept of lifelong learning as an overarching concept also covering initial education is only understood by specialists having some exposure to international policies and organisations such as UNESCO and the EU institutions.
This means that, in terms of policies, the relatively weak point of the Region is a certain “segregation” of each lifelong learning sector in its own boundaries, corresponding to different governance structures and systems of stakeholders. Each sector is working relatively well, but the level of policy coordination is not as high as it could be, and this may cause gaps in offering integrated solutions/services to some groups who need flexibility and individual support to put together a personal learning path.