{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.0239656912209889, 'fraction_numerical': 0.018415741675075682, 'mean_word_length': 5.521381578947368, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 1, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 2, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
The stepping- stones of lifelong learning policies: politics, regions and labour markets

The present special issue looks at lifelong learning through the lens of policy studies. The articles explore an array of official strategies that have attempted to deliver varied forms of lifelong learning in Europe and Latin America. These strategies have to do with adult education and learning, vocational education and training, higher education and employment policies. All of them focus on how decision-makers have designed and implemented certain policies in these areas. Policy agendas around the world set the priorities that are at stake in political debates at a certain moment. Increasingly, the ultimate references of these debates are becoming similar across the world, particularly within world regions like Europe and Latin America. Certainly, all educational authorities do not necessarily make the same decisions, but they share some common concerns on what is important and what kind of actions must be undertaken. The editors invited the contributors to this special issue to scrutinise the implications of lifelong learning policies in a variety of states and localities to explore the interplay between commonalities and differences within and across Europe and Latin America. A rapid look at the SustainableDevelopmentGoals, thewidening intervention of the EuropeanUnion (EU) in the educational field, and the working of UNESCO in Latin America easily documents the relevance of lifelong learning in global policy agendas. Thus, the SustainableDevelopmentGoal 4 (SDG4) expects to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’ (United Nations General Assembly, 2015, p. 14). In the same vein, the EU has enacted a policy framework that encourages its member states to expand education to all age groups. The European Council has issued a series of recommendations on early school leaving, adult education and learning, and vocational education and training. A relevant recommendation urges member states to implement aYouthGuarantee Scheme (YGS).All these initiatives encourage national and sub-national governments to provide education beyond the ages of compulsory schooling (European Council, 2013). In Latin America, the regional vision of UNESCO has argued that current socio-economic transformations have transformed lifelong vocational education and training into an indispensable policy (UNESCOOficina Regional de Eduación para América Latina y el Caribe, 2016). In this view, this policy is an optimal instrument to address the simultaneous challenges related to the demographic bonus and the middleincome trap. This special issue draws on the outcomes of several wide-ranging research projects that have recently investigated which programmes attempted to deliver lifelong learning on the ground. Thus, most articles report on findings of two projects that received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Particularly, ENLIVEN: Encouraging Lifelong Learning for an Inclusive and Vibrant Europe studied interventions in adult education markets and how these can be made more effective (Grant Agreement No. 693989); whereas YOUNG ADULLLT: Policies Supporting Young People in their Life Course undertook a comparative analysis of lifelong learning and inclusion in education and work in ninemember states of the EuropeanUnion (Grant Agreement No. 693167). Two more contributions on LatinAmerica enrich the geographical and institutional scope of this special issue. One such contributions draws on the project RCUK-CONICYT Governing the educational and labour market trajectories of secondary TVET graduates in Chile, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council through the Newton Fund (Grant Agreement No. ES/N019229/1). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFELONG EDUCATION 2020, VOL. 39, NO. 1, 1–4 https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2020.1747589