To mark Olympic fever this summer lifelong learning charity, the Campaign for Learning is dedicating its national learning forum to the questions of what London and the UK will learn as they play hosts in 2012.
The key question will undoubtedly be whether the Olympics will raise the skills within London onto the winner’s pedestal but leave the rest of the UK behind in the starting blocks.
The full-day conference, entitled Will the UK learn anything form the Olympics? takes place on 2 July in Stratford, East London, and will raise questions and debate answers about the impact of the games on national and local skills, on East London and UK wide regeneration, and on community and national spirit and the prosperity of the capital and the country.
Mary Conneely, the LSC’s director of regeneration for London, will give the keynote speech. Experts in areas of regeneration, sport, education and skills will present their views, while representatives from organisations directly involved or effected by the games will share their experiences and predictions on the Olympics and its impact.
Lisa Vernon, Campaign for Learning’s head of policy and research, said, “As preparations for the Olympics come to a climax in Beijing, we are becoming increasingly aware of the learning required to run such huge projects. Whether it is schools developing interactive programmes like mini-Olympics or China’s extensive programme to teach the population English, the Olympics is an opportunity to increase skills on a national and local level. This conference will explore the skills needs and regeneration issues and their impact on schools, colleges and adult education and discuss whether or not we are making the most of these opportunities.”
For more information about the conference visit www.campaignforlearning.org.uk
The Campaign for Learning is also inviting people working in the fields of community development, education and regeneration to submit papers or deliver interactive presentations to join the debate. Anyone interested should e-mail Lisa Vernon at lvernon@cflearning.org.uk
