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ESREA brief History

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ESREA was founded in 1992 to support the advancement of adult education research, sustaining co-operation among

researchers to develop, disseminate, and publish their work, offering training and learning opportunities to PhD students and

early career researchers, and continuing professional development for all researchers.

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The first Steering Committee, convened by Barry Hake and chaired by Kjell Rubenson, agreed to establish a

democratically governed society with individual and institutional members and research networks to sustain active

cooperation through regular meetings and joint publications.

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From 1998 to 2012 the Steering Committee, chaired by Henning Salling Olesen, acted to extend ESREA’s scope, fostering

publications and participation, especially from Southern and Eastern Europe.

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In 2007 the Secretariat was brought to Linköping, with Andreas Fejes as Secretary.

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Since 2010, the publication of The European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults [RELA] has

celebrated the richness and diversity of the field, not least by adopting open access and inclusive linguistic policies.

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From 2013 to 2018, as a Chair, Laura Formenti has worked to reinforce the feeling of a community and to accompany ESREA in

a transition towards more connections to other worlds, e.g. outside the academy, outside Europe, and with non-academic

organisations.

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In 2018, Alexandra Joannidou was appointed as the new Secretary, and ESREA Secretariat moved to Bonn, under DIE – the  

German Institute for Adult Education.

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From 2019-2022, as chair, Andreas Fejes worked, together with the Steering committee members and network conveners, to

keep ESREA activities going despite the pandemic.

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Finally, in the autumn of 2022, it was possible to organize the triennial conference on site in Milan, face to face.

 

Since 2023, ESREA’s Chair is Marcella Milana, the Vice-chair is Fergal Finnegan and the Secretary is Susanne Lattke.

 

See details about the actual Presidium members at:  https://esrea.org/about-us/presidium/

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Visit also the 12 Research Networks as they are the lifeblood of ESREA: https://esrea.org/networks/

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Landmarks of the Policy Studies in Adult Education Network

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The network established in 2008 and is committed to contribute to the on-going dialogue by means of research and

scientific meetings on the topic of adult education policy and governance. It welcomes discussion from different

perspectives and research traditions on the state of art in this field, including theoretical, methodological, and

epistemological discussions.  

The PSAE network meets at least on a biennial basis (once every two years) to exchange andshare ideas and experiences.

Up until now, the PSAE network has organised several conferences:

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2021 (Serie of Webinars);

2019 (May), Charles University, Czeck Republic: Adult learning and learning policy in a world risk society;

2017 (June), University of Verona, Italy: Equality. Social justice and adult education and learning policy;

2014 (June), Aalborg University, Denmark: Interrogating sustainability in adult learning policy: European and global perspectives;

2012 (February), University of Nothingham, United Kingdom: Trans-nationalisation of education policy making: implications for

adult and lifelong learning.

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