Standing with the Lifelong Learning Platform: Reflections from the 2026 General Assembly
As a proud member of the Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP), the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation was pleased to take part in this year’s General Assembly, held in Brussels on 29–30 June 2026. Over two intense days, the network’s membership came together to look back on the past year, take forward-looking decisions, and welcome new voices into the fold — and, as ever, to reaffirm what makes this coalition of civil society organisations such a vital space for shaping the future of education and training in Europe.
AI in education at the European Parliament
The gathering opened on 29 June at the European Parliament, with a high-level policy debate dedicated to a question that is increasingly central to our own work at MUS-E® and beyond: what does artificial intelligence mean for the future of learning? Hosted by MEP Victor Negrescu, Vice-President of the European Parliament and co-chair of the Intergroup on the Future of Education and Skills for a Competitive Europe, the debate brought policymakers and civil society together to grapple with both the promise and the risks of AI in classrooms.
Professor Rose Luckin of University College London and Educate Ventures Research set the tone with a keynote on the competences needed to navigate this new phase for lifelong learning. As she put it, “the competence AI makes most valuable is the personal one” — a call to protect and cultivate the richness of human intelligence even as we build new relationships with artificial ones.
A panel discussion followed, bringing together perspectives from the European Commission, Microsoft, and the teacher-education network ATEE, and the exchange with the floor pushed the debate further still. Speakers and participants alike returned again and again to the importance of transversal skills — critical thinking, analytical reasoning, creativity — as the ground AI cannot touch. Technology cannot drive curiosity or supply purpose and cannot act as a substitute for human imagination and agency.
For an organisation like ours, whose work is rooted in the idea that creative, human-centred practice builds the social and emotional skills no technology can replace, this framing resonated deeply. The message that emerged was clear: civil society is ready to engage with technological change, but only if it stays firmly anchored to a learner-centred approach — which for us means one where the arts, human connection, and inclusion remain at the heart of education.
Over the working lunch that followed, this reflection continued in a more hands-on form. The session fed directly into LLLP’s first Working Paper on AI in education and training. Participants worked through a set of guiding questions on how AI is already affecting their own fields, the competences it puts at risk of being overlooked, and the pedagogical approaches that have worked best in supporting learners to use it responsibly. Our contributions, like those of other members, will help shape a first draft expected by the end of July, ahead of the paper’s publication.
A network renewed
The afternoon of 29 June and the day of 30 June saw the formal General Assembly convene and three new organisations — Lie Detectors, Cooperatives Europe, and the GaragErasmus Foundation — joined LLLP as members, bringing fresh expertise and perspectives to an already rich and diverse coalition.
The first day’s proceedings also included a world café and plenary discussion that placed the network within today’s political context: what is at stake in the current attacks on NGO funding, what the next EU budget negotiations might bring, how the competitiveness agenda and the Union of Skills will shape education and training, and, more broadly, what role networks like ours can play in defending the sector through turbulent political times.
Why it matters for IYMF
Gatherings like this remind us why network membership matters so much for an organisation working across borders, languages, and education systems. The questions raised in the AI debate — how to keep learning human, inclusive, and centred on the whole person — are the same questions that animate our MUS-E® Programme in schools and the work with our artists. Being part of LLLP means our voice on arts-based, inclusive education is heard alongside those shaping the EU’s broader lifelong learning agenda, and that we, in turn, stay closely connected to the currents shaping European education policy.
We look forward to building on this momentum together with LLLP’s members, old and new, in the months ahead.
Pictures Credits: Lifelong Learning Platform
