On September 18th, 2014 the launch of ECIL Conference took place in Sofia (Bulgaria) under the theme “Learning to make society for all generations”. Around 60 participants from different EU countries spent a whole day looking at ways in which intergenerational learning may be a powerful resource to strengthen communities and workplaces.

During this Conference, our keynote lecturer Dr. Alan Hatton-Yeo highlighted the importance of mutuality and relationships behind intergenerational practices enabling people to grow together and build meaningful relationships. Likewise, Dr. Hatton-Yeo underscored the need to develop structures (such as the European Certificate in Intergenerational Learning and Age-Friendly initiatives at all levels), facilitating the setting up and sustainability of intergenerational practices able to break disadvantage cycles in our societies.

Conference attendees were provided with a detailed presentation on the new European Certificate on Intergenerational Learning, as it was officially launched. The five European organizations responsible for the Certificate believe that without a coherent, life-course approach to intergenerational learning it will not be possible to create a model where the labour market and communities are sustainable for all ages. However, this cannot happen without the development of Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems competent to provide life-long training opportunities that promote skills exchange and understanding between the generations.

ECIL partners explained that to achieve this it is essential to create a workforce of professionals and volunteers who have the skills to develop opportunities for mutual exchange of learning, support and resources across the generations. This can only be attained if the European VET system is able to offer accessible and effective training as part of its approach to continual professional development leading to organisations, communities and infrastructures that are ‘generationally intelligent’.