Karen Evans was recognised for her lifetime achievements in education and lifelong learning at the 2024 International Adult and Continuing Education (IACE) Hall of Fame ceremony held in the University of Florence, 8th November. The IACE ‘honors outstanding leaders in the fields of adult learning and continuing education who are distinguished as a scholar, practitioner, or policymaker.’ Annually, around ten adult and continuing education leaders from around the world are selected for induction, reflecting the great diversity of adult and continuing education practice and scholarship and the increasingly global leadership community.
She was presented for induction by Professor Arne Carlsen, former Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. The citation paid tribute to Karen’s contributions ‘as an adult educator, author, researcher, and academic leader over the course of five decades. Now emeritus professor of education at University College London (UCL), she has throughout her career brought fresh approaches and understanding to the relationships between human agency and adult learning, to work with youth, to lifelong education and international development, and to workplace and professional learning.’
In Karen’s presentation and acceptance speeches she paid tribute to inspirational research partners and friends around the globe, with special thanks and appreciation to long-standing colleagues and friends in LLAKES Centre for Learning and Life Chances, EPS and all corners of IOE.