Magdalini Trantallidi

Magda Trantallidi has contributed significantly to the development of adult and continuing education policy at national, EU and international levels, for nearly four decades. As former head of the departments of international and European cooperation of the Ministry of Education in Greece, she has provided a central point of reference for improving national policy and performance in adult learning, within the European objectives and international policy frameworks.

At the same time, as national representative in boards, committees and working groups of European and international institutions concerned with adult learning, she has advocated for the policy development, through European cooperation, in an inclusive, holistic and lifelong learning perspective.

In all her roles, she has played an active and engaged part in European processes, facilitating to make adult learning visible among policy makers in order to adopt relevant policies and programmes that increase participation in and promote access to adult learning.

Trantallidi’ s career in adult education began in the mid-eighties when she started working in the General Secretariat for Adult Education at the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs in Greece. She served from 1988 to 2014 as Head of the Department of International Cooperation, where her extraordinary contributions led to the modernization of the Greek adult education system and its gradual internationalization. From 1988 onwards, she participated in the efforts of numerous European and international bodies to make visible the strategic importance of Adult Learning policy development at all levels (international, EU, national and regional) in a changing social and economic context. 

She was actively involved in committees and technical working groups on adult learning of the European Commission, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (CONFINTEA V and VI) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (PIAAC programme). To join forces in her advocacy work, she has collaborated actively with European and international non-governmental umbrella organizations concerned with adult learning, namely the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA) and the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE).

Trantallidi worked as head of the European Union policies Department in the Directorate for European and International Affairs of the Ministry of Education, from 2014 to 2015, and then as the Acting Director in the same Directorate until 2017. In that role she assisted in the preparation of the European Council (Concilium) for Education and in the negotiations within the Education Committee. She concluded her illustrious career in 2019, as head of the Department of EU Programmes and the national authority for ERASMUS+ Programme in Greece, and as a member of the ERASMUS+ Committee of the European Commission.

A highlight of Trantallidi’s commitment to furthering adult education in Greece is that her work led to the Greek Ministry of Education hosting the first European Union Conference on Adult Education in 1994. The Athens Conference brought together key players from a variety of backgrounds including ministries, local governments, adult education NGOs, universities, and the social partners.

The highly collaborative method Trantallidi employed as project manager for the Athens conference greatly impacted the way successive Presidential EU conferences on adult learning were approached. Throughout those conferences, Trantallidi made key contributions, often as keynote speaker, chair, or rapporteur, safeguarding the methodology of cooperation for a common goal. Thus, six years after the inaugural conference, the advocacy work done by the gatherings moved forward the policy agenda by overcoming challenges, in a step-by-step approach, that finally led to the adoption of adult learning policy in 2000.

Since 2000, Trantallidi has actively participated in the consolidation of the EU policy agenda and the promotion of funding opportunities for adult learning. She contributed to the conceptualization of adult learning during the extensive debate in Committees of EU government officials. In addition, she assisted to the approval of several key policy documents, including the Council of the European Union’s “Resolution on Lifelong Learning” in 2002, the European Commission’s  Communications “It Is Never too Late to Learn” (2006) and “It Is Always a Good Time to Learn” (2007), the first Action Plan on adult learning (2008-2010) and the European Council’s Resolution on a renewed “European Agenda on Adult Learning” in 2011, which consolidated the EU policy in the adult learning field.

In addition to contributing to the development of adult learning in Greece and Europe over the course of her career, Trantallidi has served as a model adult learner, supporting her policy work with academic knowledge and continuing education. She holds a law degree from the Law School of Athens University and a postgraduate Diploma in Adult Continuing Education from the University of Florence. To further develop her expertise in lifelong learning strategies, she attended courses in lifelong education at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.