Universities Association of Lifelong Learning (UALL) Conference

Universities Association of Lifelong Learning (UALL)

The University of Wolverhampton is a member of UALL. Dr Mary Mahoney who is the Head of Lifelong Learning at the University is currently Secretary of the UALL Committtee. The University always attends the UALL Conferences which are held at different Universities every year. In May 2018, Dr Mary Mahoney and Paula Harrison, University Centre Telford Coordinator attended the UALL Conference at the University of Cambridge and were honoured to receive the UALL Award for Highly Commended in the Innovation category. This was for the project 'University Centre Telford' and was in recognition of the exceptional work of staff who set up the Centre and for the ongoing work at the Centre. 

Hosting the UALL Conference (Universities Association of Lifelong Learning)
'Lifelong Learning and Innovation' - Wednesday April 10th - Friday April 12th 2019

In April 2019, UALL hosted a very successful conference in partnership with the University of Wolverhampton at the state-of-the-art Telford Innovation Campus. Drawing inspiration from this venue and the legacy of the Ironbridge Gorge – the birthplace of the first Industrial Revolution – our conference theme was Lifelong Learning and Innovation.

Over the 3 days, our packed programme included a mixture of workshops and papers, all peer-reviewed, exploring the theme and looking into subjects such as the impact of Lifelong Learning in Austerity, education within prisons and the legacy of the 1919 Commission on Lifelong Learning and what the future holds for Lifelong Learning during the fourth revolution.

The Conference was formally opened on the Thursday morning by the UALL Chair, The Reverend Canon Professor Peter Neil, and Professor Geoff Layer, Vice Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton.

We were extremely lucky to have not just one guest keynote speaker but three who were innovative, dynamic and insightful. Speaking on the Thursday and Friday, each speaker addressed one of our three programme strands:

• Innovation in Daily Life and Lifelong Learning: Professor Keith Grint, Professor Emeritus, Warwick University
• Lifelong Learning and Place: Mr Anthony Painter, Director of the Action and Research Centre, RSA
• Transformational Change:  Professor Mark Brown, Director of the National Institute of Digital Learning (NIDL), Dublin City University  

The Conference was very well attended, both with full conference and day delegates. We also had a strong international contingent of delegates, paper submissions and presentations. UALL would like to thank University Centre Telford who organised a visit with afternoon tea and presentations to welcome our delegates on the Wednesday.

We livened up the informal and social aspects of the Conference this year. For the first time, we enjoyed performances on the first night from the Telford Bulgarian Folk Dancers and also from Faye Yip, Tai Chi Master and Grace Tong from the Chinese Arts and Culture Centre. The formal Conference dinner was held in Ironbridge, with a photo opportunity at the famous bridge. It was a perfect setting for the concluding aspect of the dinner, the UALL Awards ceremony.

The UALL Awards have four categories celebrating aspects of Lifelong Learning: Innovation, Sustainability, Research and International. Compered by our colleague Pauline McManus, our winners and runner ups were presented awards and certificates by the UALL Chair, The Reverend Canon Professor Peter Neil.

Full details of the winners and runners up of the 2019 Awards can be found here.

The evening ended with a tribute by Professor Geoff Layer to Professor Sir Alan Tuckett from the University of Wolverhampton who received a special award from UALL in recognition of his extensive service to lifelong learning.