I am pleased that this newsletter is released, which makes the EAEA's information and communication strategy a living practice. In the information deluge, it should provide a comprehensive set of relevant information from the point of view of our network. Presenting the editorial gives a distinct opportunity each time to highlight one or more topical issues.

Now it is the report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation. The World Commission was created by the ILO in 2002 and it worked with world wide expertise, organised 19 national, 7 regional dialogues and 9 consultations with different key actors. The two co-chairs of the Commission were Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland and Benjamin William Mkapa, President of the United Republic of Tanzania. The full report was released in February, and can be downloaded at: www.ilo.org/public/english/wcsdg/

Readers from the educational world could not be satisfied with the quantity or details of the analyses and recommendations on learning even though one of the key messages of the report states that education and skills are at the centre of a fair and inclusive globalisation.

It seems to be true concerning our field learning what one participant noted in a dialogue dealing with the whole issue: "the outside world can do without us; but we can't do without it".

It is notable that the World Commission encourages actors to build wide spread awareness on the report and consider appropriate follow-up actions in their own spheres of responsibility. This I consider as an invitation for the EAEA, which we may accept together with our friends at ICAE, ASPBAE, and CEEAL. I personally agree with one of the statements of the report, which says: "The potential for a more participatory and democratic system of global governance lies today more in the future evolution of the expanding networks of people and institutions, rather than in blueprints for world government or institutional re-engineering."

Let's catch on this!

Janos Sz. Toth

President of the EAEA