Abstract:

The first Tempus project which primarily aimed at the institutional establishment of Lifelong Learning in Serbia, was a project called “DEVELOPMENT OF LIFELONG LEARNING FRAMEWORK IN SERBIA”. It was a national joint project carried out from 2008-2011. The participants were all state universities in Serbia as well as universities from the EU who had experience in the field of Lifelong Learning. The final state of the project has been reached and the results summarized.
The project has engaged with a variety of tasks and resulted in numerous outcomes. However, the paper reflects on some of these outcomes addressing the initial way of organizing university Lifelong Learning centers, linking the established centers in a national network of universities’ Lifelong Learning centers and connecting the national to the international network.
After the establishment of university Lifelong Learning centers on state universities, stategic goals have been identified for the establishment of the national network. These are the following: co-operation with national and international organisations, regional mission and regional characteristics, becoming an intelligent region, the realisation of the philosophy of Lifelong Learning and development and institutional support, the research and development of its conditions and resources, joining the existing international networks, the examination of learning/training demand by branches and areas, the measuring of existing financial, material, institutional, legal, informational, human, technical resources needfull for the support of learning and development, accreditation, quality control etc.
During the formation of the national network, numerous dillemas have been identified: Would the national networks be more efficient as an informal or formal network? What would be the mission of Lifelong Learning network? What would be the aims of Lifelong Learning network? How could the Lifelong Learning network be funded? The paper tackles results of conducted discussions and also points out the recognized advantages and disadvantages of different potential solutions and chosen one.
While investigating each potential solution, the relevance of networking for the conceptual development of Lifelong Learning framework has been recognized. This is valid on both national and international level. Therefore, the paper lays stress on the functions and importance of forming the national network. Furthermore, according to conducted research a short overview of international networks which affect the development of university Lifelong Learning centers is provided.

Keywords:

Lifelong learning, network, project, university, centre.