Change and transition are prominent buzzwords in the discourse upon adult education. International conferences like the European ESREA triennial research conference 2013 in Berlin focused on these terms. But is to deal with change and transitions really something new for adult education? What is new? What has changed? Which kind of transitions do we experience and how can we systematically observe and analyse them as researchers nowadays? This anthology wants to stimulate an exchange beyond buzzwords and European perspectives and investigate what these terms could mean for research in terms of institutionalisation and professionalization in adult education in different national contexts. Therefore, distinguished scholars were invited to contribute to this anthology.

Bernd Käpplinger studied Adult Education and Social Sciences at Mainz (Germany), Nijmegen (Netherlands), Cork (Ireland) and Berlin. He is Junior Professor at Humboldt-University Berlin. Steffi Robak studied Adult Education and Modern Sinology at Berlin, Beijing and Nijmegen (Netherlands). Currently she is a Professor at Leibniz University Hannover.