PREFACE The international landscape Contemporary trends encountered by the Centre are also being felt across the international landscape. The need for more experiential, collaborative and sustainable learning opportunities has been expressed. The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness 1 in 2005 reinforced by the Accra High Level Forum in 2008 communicated several key recommendations to guide responsible and effective development practices. In Berlin, in 2008 to concerned group of development training and learning institutes met to formulate their response and action plan to address the challenges presented. The seven messages endorsed by the High level Forum on the Effectiveness of International Development Training2 were as follows:
1. Address training and learning in the context of capacity development; 2. Establish guidelines for development learning programmes; 3. Identify good practices to monitor and evaluate training and learning results; 4. Strengthen local training institutes; 5. Align training and learning to local capacity needs assessment systems; 6. Harmonize training and other learning practices; and 7. Join efforts and collaborate at different levels to share information and resources. As an expression of institutional commitment to the common agenda, the ITC ILO proposed to organize a joint learning programme. The Turin 2009 Learning Link 3 was the result. Participants from 34 institutions and countless countries attended the weeklong event to address five fundamental themes. Partnerships were established and practices were shared. The success of the event contributed to the visibility of the Centre within an extended community of potential partners as well as the development community at large. The Compass contains several answers to the questions posed and seeks to reconcile this responsibility with the Centre‟s economic reality. More information on the Turin 2009 Learning Link, as well as the 2011 edition can be found at the official website. In 2009, the Belém Framework for Action: Harnessing the power and potential of adult learning and education4 recognized:
“the key role of adult learning and education in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Education for All (EFA) and the UN agenda for sustainable human, social, economic, cultural and environmental development, including gender equality (CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action).”
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Both the Declaration and Agenda for Action can be found at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/11/41/34428351.pdf 2 Full statement may be reviewed at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/WBI/Resources/BerlinStatementonInternationalDevelopm entTraining.pdf 3 Review results, as well as information for the 2011 edition at: http://link.itcilo.org/ 4 Review the complete framework at: http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/INSTITUTES/UIL/confintea/pdf/working_docum ents/Belém%20Framework_Final.pdf
