The document discusses the importance of information literacy in various educational sectors and provides recommendations for policymakers based on findings from two conferences held in 2012. Key recommendations emphasize the need for information literacy development at local and national levels, publicizing its significance, and adopting a strategy based on small projects rather than a centralized approach. The aim is to foster autonomous learning and enhance information competencies across Europe.

1. Empowering Autonomous Learning through Information Competencies
Information
Literacy
in
the
four
learning
sectors
(school,
higher
education,
vocational
education
and
training,
and
adult/lifelong
learning)
Non-­‐sector
specific
recommendations
to
Policy
Makers
made
by
final
conference
participants
EMPATIC
hosted
two
events
for
policy
makers
and
representatives
of
education,
national
and
international
institutions
to
verify
findings
and
recommendations.
The
first,
the
Department
of
Educational
Studies
of
Ghent
University
in
cooperation
with
the
EMPATIC
and
EMSOC
teams
organized
the
International
Conference
“Literacy
and
Society,
Culture,
Media,
&
Education”
(http://www.literacyconference2012.ugent.be/),
held
9
-­‐
11
February
2012
in
Ghent,
Belgium.
The
second,
that
of
the
Final
Conference
was
held
in
conjunction
with
EMMILE
(the
European
Meeting
on
Media
and
Information
Literacy),
Milan
27
-­‐
29
February
2012.
As
a
result
the
following
general
recommendations
of
both
strategic
and
tactical
nature
have
been
formulated:
1. Information
Literacy
is
vital
for
the
today’s
society
in
Europe
and
as
such
should
be
developed
and
promoted
in
different
contexts
and
by
various
means.
2. The
importance
of
Information
Literacy
needs
to
be
publicized
not
only
to
governments,
ministries
and
policy
makers
at
national
and
EU
levels
but
also
to
local
authorities,
businesses,
small
social
groups
and
all
citizens.
3. The
strategy
of
IL
development
should
encompass
two
main
lines
of
action:
a. IL
awareness
building
among
authorities
and
governments
at
national
and
European
levels
b. Substantial,
real
work,
“step
by
step”,
“project
by
project”
on
the
local
level
by
individual
schools,
universities,
libraries,
etc.
4. Most
participants
expressed
the
feeling
that
“slow”
strategy,
based
on
“small
projects”
addressed
to
different
target
groups,
communities,
professions,
etc.
would
be
more
effective
than
having
a
central
EU
body
responsible
for
the
IL
development
or
the
formal
European
IL
policy
directives.
Thus,
the
“IL
awareness
building”
and
“central
goals”
approach
clearly
prevailed
over
the
“central
steering”
one.
Also,
having
clearly
stated
Information
Literacy
goals
(national,
European)
may
help
to
convince/influence
local
authorities
to
support
IL
development
programmes.
5. “Incentives
work
better
than
orders”,
meaning
that
IL
development
policy
based
on
incentives
for
those
who
introduce
IL
(teachers,
librarians,
businesses,
local
authorities)
would
be
an
effective
strategy.
6. EMPATIC
had
started
a
process
for
the
identification
of
past
experience
and
development
of
case
studies
of
good
practice
through
EC-­‐funded
programmes.
However,
this
approach
should
be
extended
to
all
known
IL
and
Information
Competencies
projects.
This
is
important
for
policy
makers.
The
main
purpose
of
the
EMPATIC
recommendations
is
to
stimulate
action
www.empat-ic.eu
Project funded by the European Commission
under the Lifelong Learning Programme