4-6 December Rapid and far-reaching change, stimulated by technological innovation and global competition, is refashioning the economic and social organisation of the planet and forcing us to rethink the relationship between education, training and work. Each year, at least 10% of all jobs disappear and are replaced by new, different jobs in new processes and new enterprises, requiring higher or broader skills. The old mass-production system, in which the professional development of the individual is a linear progression - a single career based on the same qualifications and skills - is disappearing fast, and is being replaced by a more knowledge-based economy, where information and technology play a crucial role. What will the situation be like ten years from now, when 80% of the technology we use today will be obsolete? This challenge must first be met by the educational system, which can no longer limit itself to turning out people who have been "educated" once and for all. It must instead form individuals who are able to continue to learn new skills in continuously evolving situations. In the words of Unesco experts, the emphasis must be on "learning to be, learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together". But how, and how much, must educational systems change to reach this goal? Another challenge that our changing society must meet is to provide people with the means for lifelong learning. Lifelong learning has become an essential part of enabling workers to adapt and, above all, anticipate the evolution of technology and work, following flexible and personalised learning paths. This regards young people, those who already have jobs and, first and foremost, the unemployed, who without new and appropriate skills are unlikely to re-enter the active labour force. Despite the cost society bears to support them - 200 billion ECU per year in Europe alone - the unemployed are not learning anything new; in fact, they are de-learning. How can we transform this unproductive expenditure into investment in human capital that will enable people to escape the trap of unemployment? Can we develop a model of development that reconciles economic growth, full employment and an adequate welfare state?

Transdisciplinary and transnational academic education and its impact Thursday 5 June 1997 For an evaluation of the effectiveness of academic education one is well advised to first draw a picture of what employers expect from their employees with academic education. In private enterprises as well as in the public administration this includes both a solid anchorage in a specific discipline and a wide competence for interdisciplinary collaborative work with colleagues formed in other disciplines. The University should align its educational schemes such as to satisfy these requests. Complementary transdisciplinary education as well as interdisciplinary experience in which problem-solving with the involvement of different disciplines is exercised can satisfy these requirements. The author will comment on his personal experience in this context. This includes transdisciplinary teaching to initiate students of other disciplines into strategies, methods and main concepts of a specific discipline. This can then serve as a basis to carry out interdisciplinary dialogues and fruitful collaborative research on complex problems of our time. Particular emphasis will be given to transnational collaborations, wich have recently been initiated with this aim in the fields of biotechnology, both at the levels of undergraduate and graduate education. The collaboration towards an Eurodoctorate in Biotechnology may fulfil a pioneering role on the way to ensure scientific competence and prospective as well as responsible innovation in Europe.