European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education

02/09/2026

📚 EASNIE at ECER 2026

How can education research inform action and contribute to more equitable, high-quality education systems?

At the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) 2026 in Tampere, Finland, Margarita Bilgeri presented EASNIE’s Learner Participation in Inclusive Education activity. She highlighted photovoice, using student photography and reflection, as a participatory way to capture learners’ social and emotional experiences, turning students into active research partners rather than passive data sources to build more inclusive education systems.

The presentation highlighted three key policy messages:

✔️ Make learners’ socio-emotional participation a key part of monitoring and evaluation.
✔️ Use participatory qualitative methods to generate concrete, actionable evidence from learners’ lived experiences.
✔️ Use learner perspectives to guide education policy development and implementation.

The conference also provided an opportunity to exchange ideas with researchers and partners from across Europe and strengthen collaboration around the future of inclusive education.

👉 Find out more about EASNIE’s Learner Participation in Inclusive Education activity and ECER 2026 here: https://www.european-agency.org/activities/LPIE

31/08/2026

💙 are back!

After a summer break, EASNIE’s 30th anniversary webinar series resumes on 24 September with a session on inclusive education and family participation.

Families are key partners in creating inclusive education systems. The upcoming webinar will explore effective ways of engaging parents and building strong home-school partnerships to support learners.

EASNIE Director João Costa will be joined by Elizabeth Gosme, director of COFACE Families Europe (a network of families and professionals advocating for strong social policies and equal opportunities across diverse societal issues), and Arja Krauchenberg, project co-ordinator of the European Parents’ Association, to share perspectives and practical approaches to family participation.

The series brings together leading voices in inclusive education to explore its present and future. Previous sessions have covered topics including artificial intelligence, learners’ voices, financing and teacher preparedness.

🗓️ 24 September

👉 Find out more about the webinar and register here: https://www.european-agency.org/about-us/easnie30/inclusion-talks/family-participation

🎥 You can also catch up on previous sessions via the Inclusion Talks webpage and EASNIE’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/

28/08/2026

📢 Help shape the future of education in Europe!

The European Commission has launched a Call for Evidence ahead of a new Education Package, to be announced this November.

The call focuses on three areas that are central to the future of education systems:

✔️ Basic skills: addressing declining performance in literacy, maths, science, digital skills and citizenship.

✔️ Teachers and trainers: supporting better working conditions, career development and a more attractive teaching profession.

✔️ Digital education infrastructure: modernising education systems as AI becomes increasingly important, while safeguarding human agency, inclusion and digital sovereignty.

At EASNIE, we know that inclusive education is shaped by the people and communities who make education systems work. This call is an opportunity for schools, teachers and trainers, education authorities, researchers, civil society organisations and others to share their knowledge, research and examples of good practice.

🗓️ Deadline: 8 September

👉 Have your say and contribute to shaping the future of education in Europe here: https://education.ec.europa.eu/whats-new/news/commission-launches-call-for-evidence-on-new-education-package



Erasmus+ European Commission

Working in school education? We want to hear from you!

We want to hear your views on the upcoming Education Package. Teachers, school leaders and education professionals are particularly invited to share their feedback.

We are looking for input on three key areas that matter: directly to schools and classrooms across Europe:
🎒 Basic skills
🧑‍🏫 Teachers and trainers
💻 Digital transformation in education

📅 Deadline: 8 September
🔗 Have your say: https://link.europa.eu/Vp6QkM

25/08/2026

💙 Pillar 3: Lifelong learning

What if education was understood not as a sequence of separate stages, but as a continuous journey throughout life? As Europe looks towards the future of inclusive education, EASNIE identifies lifelong learning as one of its Ten Pillars Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education.

Lifelong learning means creating coherent pathways that connect early childhood education, school education, vocational education, higher education and adult learning. When these stages are better connected, learners can navigate transitions more easily, build on their strengths, revisit choices and adapt their learning trajectories over time.

Flexible and accessible pathways are particularly important for learners who may face barriers during transitions. Education systems should support people to develop new skills, reorient their aspirations and continue learning as their circumstances change.

To strengthen this pillar, education systems should:

✔️ Ensure coherent and flexible learning pathways across all stages of education.

✔️ Strengthen adaptability, learner agency and opportunities to reskill throughout life.

✔️ Support smooth transitions through co-ordinated policies linking education, training, work and family engagement.

Lifelong learning is more than an economic strategy. It supports social mobility, participation and autonomy by ensuring that everyone has opportunities to learn throughout life.

👉 Learn more about the Ten Pillars Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education here:

https://www.european-agency.org/resources/publications/ten-pillars

20/08/2026

Meaningful learner participation goes beyond measuring attendance or academic achievement.

EASNIE’s Learner Participation in Inclusive Education (LPIE) activity has developed a new infographic: Monitoring and evaluating learners’ socio-emotional participation in inclusive education. This presents a model for gathering and using meaningful qualitative data to support more inclusive education policy and practice.

The infographic complements the toolkit developed in this project, which includes:
📌 Handbook for teachers/educators and school leaders
📌 Guidelines for analysing qualitative data
📌 A video on the photovoice methodology

🔗 Learn more about the LPIE activity, explore the toolkit https://www.european-agency.org/activities/LPIE and download the infographic https://www.european-agency.org/resources/multimedia/LPIE-infographic

14/08/2026

💙 Pillar 8: Inclusive governance and leadership

What makes inclusive education systems successful? Strong leadership and effective collaboration. As Europe looks towards the future of inclusive education, EASNIE identifies inclusive governance and leadership as one of its Ten Pillars Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education.

Inclusive education depends on governance that is transparent, collaborative and centred on shared responsibility. Leaders play a vital role in connecting schools with families, health and social services, and communities to create learning environments where every learner can succeed.

Effective leadership also means building trust, supporting collaboration across schools and sectors, and ensuring that policies and practice work together to promote equity and inclusion.

To strengthen this pillar, education systems should:

✔️ Strengthen distributed and collaborative leadership that drives equity and shared responsibility.
✔️ Build coherent and transparent governance that aligns policy, practice and accountability for inclusion.
✔️ Promote networked collaboration across schools and sectors so institutions work as connected ecosystems.

Inclusive education is strongest when leadership is shared and everyone works towards the same goal: ensuring every learner has the opportunity to thrive.

👉 Learn more about the Ten Pillars Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education here: https://www.european-agency.org/resources/publications/ten-pillars

12/08/2026

💙 Well-being is at the heart of inclusive education.

The European Commission’s self-assessment tool on inclusion and well-being aims to help schools across Europe reflect on how inclusion and well-being are experienced in everyday school life. Insights from more than 1,000 completed questionnaires show strong progress in creating positive school climates, while also highlighting opportunities to strengthen well-being monitoring, teacher support and meaningful participation for learners and families.

These findings closely reflect EASNIE’s understanding of well-being as a multidimensional concept that goes beyond academic achievement. Well-being is about quality of life, belonging, participation, mental and emotional health, and the opportunity for every learner and teacher to flourish.

This vision is embedded across EASNIE’s Ten Pillars Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education. From learner well-being and belonging, to teacher development and well-being, the pillars recognise that inclusive education depends on environments where everyone feels supported, valued and able to participate.

Inclusive education is not only about improving learning outcomes. It is about creating schools where every learner and every teacher can thrive.

👉 Explore the European Commission’s self-assessment tool on inclusion and well-being: https://school-education.ec.europa.eu/en/discover/news/whole-school-approach-inclusion-and-wellbeing-key-insights

👉 Learn more about EASNIE’s Ten Pillars Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education: https://www.european-agency.org/resources/publications/ten-pillars

10/08/2026

💙 Pillar 10: Financing and resource allocation

How do we build inclusive education systems that last? It starts with investing in people, schools and communities. As Europe looks towards the future of inclusive education, EASNIE identifies financing and resource allocation as one of its Ten Pillars Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education.

Inclusive education requires sustainable, equitable and transparent investment. Resources should strengthen teachers, school leaders and multidisciplinary teams, support innovation, and ensure that every learner has access to high-quality education. Strategic investment also means directing resources where they are needed most and ensuring that partnerships always support the public good.

To strengthen inclusion, education systems should:

✔️ Ensure sustainable and equitable investment that supports innovation, inclusion and long-term system capacity.
✔️ Allocate resources strategically to strengthen inclusive practice and meet the needs of learners and communities.
✔️ Control private companies in education so everyone gets a fair, high-quality schooling.

Investing in inclusive education today builds stronger, fairer and more resilient societies tomorrow.

👉 Learn more about the Ten Pillars Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education here: https://www.european-agency.org/resources/publications/ten-pillars

06/08/2026

🤖 AI in education should empower people, not replace them.

The Council of the European Union has adopted conclusions calling for an ethical, safe and human-centred approach to artificial intelligence in education. The message is clear: teachers remain at the heart of learning.

The conclusions recognise AI’s potential to make education more inclusive, accessible and personalised, while also highlighting the need to address risks such as bias, misinformation, unequal access and data protection. They call for stronger teacher training, equitable access to digital tools and AI systems that support, rather than replace, professional judgement.

These priorities closely align with EASNIE’s Ten Pillars Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education. The sixth pillar, focusing on ‘Digital Transformation and AI’, highlights that digital transformation must reduce barriers, strengthen inclusion and ensure technology serves learners through ethical governance, accessible design and high-quality professional learning.

As education systems continue to evolve, digital innovation should always strengthen human agency, inclusion and well-being.

👉 Read the Council conclusions and learn more about Europe’s vision for AI in education: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/05/11/ai-in-education-council-calls-for-human-centred-approach/ #:~:text=The%20conclusions%20approved%20by%20the,and%20learners'%20well-being

👉 Explore EASNIE’s Ten Pillars Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education: https://www.european-agency.org/resources/publications/ten-pillars

04/08/2026

🌍 Advancing inclusive education takes global collaboration – and brought it to London.

This week, the second London International Conference on Inclusive Education brought together researchers, policy-makers, practitioners and other education stakeholders from across the world to discuss current international research and practice in inclusive education.

EASNIE Director João Costa joined the programme with a keynote on turning inclusive education policy into meaningful change in schools and classrooms.

Drawing on the EASNIE’s work with member countries and the Ten Pillars Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education, he shared key messages on the importance of:

🏛️ Coherent governance
🤝 Effective collaboration across sectors
🧭 Strong leadership
👪 Learner and family participation
📈 Quality assurance for continuous improvement

👉 To learn more about the conference visit https://www.licie.co.uk/