INTRODUCTION

In 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy right after being elected President announced that school zoning regulations would be first relaxed and then dropped altogether. This action was presented as a measure to foster the free choice of families and to create new opportunities for families from lower economic backgrounds, living in decayed urban areas. Surprisingly, this measure was also part of the programme of the socialist candidate. In the following lines, the text first discuss how this consensus raises issues about the context that made the end of school zoning so tempting for both the right- wing party and the left-wing party (I). Second, it also raises questions as to the aims of such a decision (II). Finally, the text discusses a number of aissues concerned with the consequences of this decision for the French school system (III).

On 14th and 15th October 2010, the Youth and Society Postgraduate Studies of the Spanish Distance University (UNED) have carried out an International Congress in Madrid, in the famous Círculo de Bellas Artes. The congress targeted experts from Europe and Latin America: professionals who work in the youth area, experts on youth studies, members of youth groups and associations, young people engaged in collective projects, and students interested in questions related with young people’s lives. It offered a discussion platform on the capacities and limits of young people to transform the world in which they live.

The keynote lecture held at the GOETE kick-off meeting, Tübingen, 29 January 2010, gives Michael Young's reflections on developments that influence education policy-making.

In April GOETE started a new sub-study that aims at analysing Educational governance with a view to understanding governing discourses, policies and practices and how they shape and regulate educational trajectories, especially at each transition point. This sub-study seeks to answer questions such as: What decisions are made and practices initiated by whom, at what levels, with what consequences? What are the roles of actors at national level (government, national school administration, professional organisations, employers’ associations, policy consultants) in relation to local actors (schools, local economy, policy makers, administrators, social and youth services)?