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This article focuses on evidence regarding cross-national patterns of participation in adult education and an interpretation of these patterns from an institutional and public policy perspective. The interpretation follows from the perspective that sustaining high and widely distributed levels of investment in the development and maintenance of skills over the lifespan of individuals is to a large extent interconnected with a high-level of non-market coordination via institutional arrangements and/or specific public policy measures. Such arrangements and measures are seen to alleviate coordination problems that otherwise lead to underinvestment in skills and/or inequity in the distribution of access to education and training and hence skills. Consequently, it is argued that institutional contexts and public policy measures condition participation patterns in adult education, and are thus worthwhile to understand better for the purposes of informing policy. (Contains 4 figures and 3 tables.)

This study considers the extensive critique of the impact of the "market" or "neoliberal" model on learning and its outcomes in the light of alternative models. The purpose is to consider the potential impacts of the market on learning and its outcomes and to contextualise critique by considering alternative coordination regimes. Three alternative regimes to coordinating economic activity and various aspects of education and adult learning systems (market-dominated, state-dominated and stakeholder-dominated) are contrasted by highlighting the weaknesses and strengths of each with regard to learning and its outcomes. In turn, these regimes are linked to the varieties of capitalism and welfare state literature. Comparative data are used to briefly consider the link between alternative regimes and the level and distribution of adult learning.

We present the results of a study on the climate forcing effects of replacing coal for power generation in the United Kingdom (UK) with wood pellets produced in northern Ontario, Canada. Continuous wood pellet production from two biomass sources were considered: fiber from increased harvesting of standing live trees (stemwood scenario) and from harvest residue provided by ongoing harvesting operations (residue scenario). In both scenarios, biomass was collected from harvesting operations in two forest management units (FMUs) with contrasting harvest residue treatments: natural decay of slash piles in the Hearst FMU and slash pile burning in the Kenora FMU. Life cycle emissions associated with wood pellets were assessed for production, transportation, and combustion to replace coal at a hypothetical power generating station in the UK. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals in wood pellet and coal scenarios were assessed using two methods: global warming potential (GWP)-based mass balance and dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) approaches. In the stemwood scenario, climate change mitigation from replacing coal with wood pellets was not achieved within the study timeline (2020–2100). In the residue scenario, immediate climate change mitigation was achieved with fiber sourced from the Kenora FMU where the current practice is to burn slash piles; for the Hearst FMU, where slash is allowed to decompose in the forest, climate change mitigation occurred 11.6 and 3.1 years after biomass collection began, as assessed by the mass balance and dynamic LCA methods, respectively. Factors affecting mitigation potential in the studied scenarios are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative and qualitative findings on barriers to participation in adult education are reviewed and some of the defining parameters that may explain observed national differences are considered. A theoretical perspective based on bounded agency is put forth to take account of the interaction between structurally and individually based barriers to participation. The Bounded Agency Model is premised on the assumption that the nature of welfare state regimes can affect a person's capability to participate. In particular, the state can foster broad structural conditions relevant to participation and construct targeted policy measures that are aimed at overcoming both structurally and individually based barriers. Features of the Nordic model of adult education and empirical results from the 2003 Eurobarometer are discussed in relation to this theoretical perspective. (Contains 3 tables, 3 figures, and 1 note.)

Investigates the broad effects of learning on economic and social well-being in several countries, focusing on adults age 25-55 years. Results suggest that people who devote more time to learning for job-related reasons than learning for personal-interest-related reasons experience higher levels of economic well-being. Time devoted to personal-interest-related education contributes to higher levels of social well-being. (SM)

The article focuses on emergence of the Northern Powerhouse as a proposal to boost economic growth of Great Britain. Topics discussed include attempts to untangle Gordian knot of urban development; use of devolution deals granting greater control over strategic planning for housing need, local transport and policing; and a series of grand policy challenges to instigate another round of governance reforms.

An introduction is presented in which the editors discusses various reports within the issue on topics including assessments in higher education learning outcomes (HELOs), changes in educational policies and importance of interdisciplinary model in education.