Comenius University hosts the International Association of Universities of the Third Age

From 18 to 20 May 2017 the International Association of Universities of the Third Age (AIUTA) will hold meetings and a conference in Slovakia; these events will have a worldwide reach. The equality of opportunity in the education of senior citizens is the main theme of the AIUTA conference, which is connected to the 100th meeting of the AIUTA committee; these events will take place under the auspices of the Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Professor Peter Plavčan; and the Comenius University Rector, Professor Karol Mičieta.


17. 05. 2017 09.52 hod.
By: CU Public Relations Office

On 18 May 2017, the members of the association’s international committee will be welcomed to the university by Comenius University Vice-Rector, Dr Zuzana Kovačičová, as well as by the general secretary of the Slovak Commission for UNESCO, Edita Filadelfiová, during meetings in the university’s Scientific Council meeting room and in the Rector’s Hall. AIUTA was founded in 1975 at the University of Toulouse by Professor Pierre Vellas and is currently headed by his son, Professor Francois Vellas.

The AIUTA conference is being organized by Comenius University alongside the university’s Centre for Continuing Education in partnership with the National Institute for Continuing Education and the Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe. The conference itself will take place on 19 May 2017 in the Hall of Mirrors at the Primate’s Palace in Bratislava; it will involve the participation of fifty international guests out of 130 participants and will include university representatives from nineteen countries, including those from Europe as well as China, Colombia, Lebanon, Nigeria and Senegal. Participants will be greeted by the State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Dr Oľga Nachtmannová; Comenius University Rector, Professor Karol Mičieta; and international guests to the conference, including Carmen Stadelhofer, who is the President of Danube Networkers for Europe, which is focused on establishing a network of senior citizens’ institutions in Danube countries; and the President of the Association of Universities of the Third Age in the Czech Republic, Professor Roman Prokop. Iveta Plšeková, who is the deputy to the mayor of Bratislava, will welcome conference participants on behalf of the city.

The main presentation at the conference will be delivered by the head of the section for continuing education at the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Monika Korkošová. Participants will also be greeted by the head of the National Institute for Continuing Education, Dr Zuzana Štrbíková; the President of the University of the Association of Universities of the Third Age in Slovakia, Dr Lucia Hrebeňárová; and the chairman of the Senior Citizens’ Union in Slovakia, Dr Ján Lipiansky. Expert papers delivered by local and international participants will focus on spreading information, sharing experiences, and developing partnerships in the area of educating senior citizens in Europe and further afield. On 20 May 2017, the international participants will be greeted by the mayor of Pezinok, Oliver Solga, as a part of their Wine Trail excursion. Participants will also visit the Museum of the Small Carpathians in Pezinok and the Danubiana Gallery in Čunovo.
 
Dr Nadežda Hrapková, head specialist in continuing education and the university of the third age, the Centre for Continuing Education, Comenius University