| Choosing the theme for this dissertation was based, to a great extent, on the fact revealed by bibliographical research that both the history of adult education and international adult education have been largely neglected in research. Since the theme chosen also indicates the role given to adult education in post-World War II Europe in its re-building, as well as its incipient unification process, the dissertation's topic fulfills the requirement of relevancy for a meaningful research project.;The major sub-themes covered in this study are the following: (1) The state of Europe at the outset of the period considered in this study (Chapter IV: Post-World War II Europe: the Phoenix Rising from Its Ashes); (2) The activities of the European Federalist Movement and the establishment of the European Bureau of Adult Education (Chapter V); (3) The Meeting Europe courses (Chapter VI-VII); and (4) The continuation of the course tradition in the form of the "Meeting in Finland Seminar"(Chapter VIII).;The emphasis of the treatment will be on the 44 Meeting Europe courses that were organized in different Western European countries in 1963-1970. The purpose of these courses was to cultivate internal support for the unification of Europe. Altogether, 1.200 participants attended the courses. To facilitate participation the European Bureau provided extensive sponsorship, which was possible because the Bureau's sponsoring bodies were also ready to finance the organization of those courses.;The European Bureau, headquartered in the Netherlands, functioned as the main organizer of the courses. These were set up in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, West Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden. The Bureau also operated in collaboration with national organizations in these countries, each of which joined the program for its own reasons.;The major findings of this study are the following: (1) The European Bureau of Adult Education was not founded by diverse national umbrella organizations but by an outside body, the European Cultural Centre. (2) Consequently, at its outset, the Bureau intended to support European unification rather than adult education. (3) However, a number of new national adult education associations were founded in order to promote activities at home and to join pan-European efforts, such as Meeting Europe courses. (4) The European Bureau was ahead of it time. For example, it facilitated the dialogue and cooperation between Western and Eastern parts in Europe, and, by doing so, set the stage for political detente on the continent. (5) The idea of furthering European unification by means of the Meeting Europe courses was not a great success but, as an experiment of international education, it deserves a place in the history of European adult education. |
