International handbook of lifelong learning / edited by David Aspin ... [et al.]

Includes bibliographical references and index

Recent changes in the world effected by the transformations of information technology, globalization, and the move towards a knowledge economy over the last 30 years have been as radical and fundamental as the changes resulting from the invention of the wheel and the printing press. We are now living in a new age in which the demands are so complex, so multifarious and so rapidly changing that the only way in which we shall be able to survive them is by committing to a process of individual, communal, and global learning throughout the lifespan of all of us. A number of international bodies and agencies have taken cognisance of these transformations and the demands they impose upon societies and communities of the 21st century and have developed and articulated policies intended to enable all citizens of the world in the 21st century to face these challenges.