Working together to develop local solutions to the barriers faced by adult learners

Date: 29 November 2023 
Time: 12:00 – 3:00
Location: Catalyst, The Innovation Centre, Queen's Road, Belfast BT3 9DT (map)

In June 2023, Ufi VocTech Trust and Learning and Work Institute (L&W) committed, in the VocTech Challenge: Skills for an Economy in Transition White Paper, to work together across six workstreams to support the adoption and deployment of technology to help every adult in the UK get the skills they need to participate and benefit from our transitioning economy. At the core of our partnership is our commitment to co-create a new programme of place-based collaboration to identify and overcome local barriers to adult learning for work.

Our ambition is to:

• Identify four locations across the UK where there is a need for greater participation in adult learning and skills, desire from local leaders to work collaboratively, and a network of partners able to deliver a programme of work;
• Work together to identify the key local barriers to adult participation in learning, and to consider what actions we can take together to address those barriers; and
• Support the development and deployment of a range of tech-based solutions that can transform adult participation in learning, utilising the full range of expertise and resources that Ufi and L&W have to offer.

After meeting individually with a wide range of local stakeholders, it is clear how our work fits into Northern Ireland’s strategy for a 10x economy. We now want to bring these initial connections together for an in-depth discussion of the local barriers to participation facing adult learners and to explore how we can directly support solutions across the city.

Please join us for a networking lunch, to learn more about the VocTech Challenge programme, and to take part in a facilitated workshop with local leaders, stakeholders and practitioners with a deep understanding of the skills challenges facing their learners. Together, we aim to build productive partnerships across the city, to support the development of solutions to address the challenges we identify together and, ultimately, to help get more adults learning.

Date: 29 November 2023 
Location: Catalyst, The Innovation Centre, Queen's Road, Belfast BT3 9DT (map)

12:00: Arrivals and networking
12:30: Lunch
13:15: Introduction to Ufi and the VocTech Challenge programme
13:30: Facilitated workshop
15:00: Close