Léargas is the Irish National Agency for the management of national, European and international cooperation programmes in the areas of primary and post-primary education, adult education, vocational education and training and youth work.

The Lifelong Learning Programme
The European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme (2007-2013) enables individuals to avail of learning opportunities throughout Europe at all stages of their lives.

Upcoming deadlines for Actions under the Comenius and Grundtvig sectoral programmes of the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme are:

31 January 2008
Comenius Assistants and Host Schools

31 January 2008
Comenius and Grundtvig In-Service Training
(for training starting between 01 April 2008 and 30 June 2008)

15 February 2008
Comenius Partnerships; Grundtvig Partnerships

31 March 2008
Comenius and Grundtvig In-Service Training
(for training starting between 01 July 2008 and 30 September 2008)

30 June 2008
Comenius and Grundtvig In-Service Training
(for training starting between 01 October 2008 and 31 December 2008)

30 September 2008
Comenius and Grundtvig In-Service Training
(for training starting between 01 January 2009 and 31 March 2009)

European Award for Languages - The Language Label 2008
The European Award for Languages – The Language Label recognises creative and inventive ways to improve the quality of language teaching and learning.

Schools, colleges, universities, businesses and other institutions engaged in language initiatives are invited to apply. Applications should be innovative, effective and replicable. The priorities for 2008 are: Intercultural Dialogue; Languages and Business; Language Learning and Technology. These priorities are not exclusive and applications from all kinds of language projects will be welcome.

The Language Ambassador of the Year Award 2008
2008 has been designated the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Language learning is a powerful tool for building an inclusive multicultural society. It develops an awareness of cultural diversity and an understanding of different values and beliefs.

The purpose of this award is to recognise the achievements of those individuals involved in the teaching and promotion of languages from any sector, for example, someone running conversational classes in their free time, a person who encourages language learning within their community, or someone who creates awareness of other languages in society. 

Closing date for applications for both awards: 31 March 2008

For application forms and further information contact:
Ivanna D’Arcy,
Léargas
189 Parnell Street
Dublin 1
Tel: (01) 887 1258
Email: languages@leargas.ie
Web: www.leargas.ie/education

The Europa Diaries
The Europa Diary is a unique and interactive resource that  promotes citizenship education in schools. It covers areas such as consumer rights, environmental responsibility, career planning, European and world studies. It aims to help students make independent and informed choices and become more resourceful European citizens. All content is reviewed for relevance to students in Ireland and the content is in both Irish and English.

The Europa Diary: It’s Your Choice, and its accompanying Teacher’s Guide are provided free of charge by the European Commission in all Member States.

All post-primary schools are informed about the Europa Diary and given a unique order number that allows teachers to order free diaries for all the TY students in their school. Schools will receive the diaries before the end of the 2007-2008 school year so that they can be distributed to students in September 2008.

You can order online at www.generation-europe.org.
The deadline for ordering online is 25 January 2008.

You can find more information at www.leargas.ie/diary.

If you don’t have an order number, contact Léargas at diary@leargas.ie or
(01) 873 1411. You may also order from Léargas, by fax or post. Stocks are limited, however, and orders will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.