PR2-FLECSLAB Business Models-Final version-25-11-2024

The report was prepared by Prof. dr. Ivan Svetlik from University of Ljubljana.
The FLECSLAB project documentation announces that a business model for lifelong learning will be
developed as part of work package 2. It is assumed that EUTOPIA member universities, as public
institutions, have focussed primarily on the education of full-time students. The organisation of
teaching and learning processes has been adapted to the young population, who have few other
commitments apart from their studies and also little work experience. The lifelong learning business
model aims to get universities to place a greater emphasis on continuous educational activities and
to involve a greater number of adults in their learning programmes, as called for by the Council of
the EU (2021).
The term ‘business models’ should be viewed with caution. It only partly refers to a typical market
situation in which learning services are offered and purchased by a large number of market agents.
EUTOPIA connected learning community (CLC) offering its services may have few or no competitors.
On the other hand, a buyer of a CLC’s services may be an organisation that buys services for its
members or employees, rather than individual buyers themselves. The model will elaborate several
steps of the organisation of learning opportunities and is not limited to narrow business aspects.
The business model is elaborated from the perspective of CLCs that are located in the university
environment and are supposed to offer their services to different target groups, especially adults.
The focus is not on the perspective of the individual learner, although one of the main issues is how
to motivate and engage them. It is a concern of CLCs and universities to organise learning in such a
way that learners play a central role, rather than the concern of individual learners.
The business model presented here should be seen as a work in progress. It has been developed
from the bottom up, mapping the practices of individual CLCs, and from the top down, adapting the
overall business model to the university's lifelong learning environments and practises. It was
developed halfway because it could not accommodate all variations of CLCs. Only when a larger
number of CLCs apply it, test its usefulness and provide feedback, can it be developed into a more
mature version.