IFWEA's 18^th General Conference took place in Helsinki in August this year. It was attended by 110 delegates, representing 65 organisations in 41 countries. It was the largest IFWEA Conference ever held, reflecting how IFWEA has grown and changed particularly over the past four years. Delegates discussed and debated key issues of concern to the international workers' education movement and came up with proposals which will inform the priorities and activities of IFWEA for the next four years. The conference provided an excellent opportunity for affiliates to get to know each other both formally in workshop sessions and informally in the many cultural activities which took place in the evenings. IFWEA would like to thank TSL for all its hard work in hosting and organising the conference.

This special edition of Workers' Education tries to capture the range of issues and perspectives which emerged at the conference. Robert Lochrie provides a general overview in his article Looking Forward to the Future. The need to reach new constituencies is reflected in several articles on workers' education for migrant workers, the informal sector and women workers. IFWEA regional development is likely to reach new levels, as reported on by each of the regional co-ordinators in a series of short articles. Women delegates at the conference were active in ensuring that women's participation in IFWEA structures and programmes was strengthened. The decision to form a Women's Platform is explained in a challenging article by Saranel Benjamin from Workers' College in Durban, South Africa. As reflected in the proposals made by each workshop session, there are many expectations concerning IFWEA's Plan of Action. In order to build capacity to make this possible, Dave Spooner from WEA in Britain explains the thinking behind the creation of an IFWEA Projects Team.

For further information, including Conference resolutions and photographs, consult the IFWEA web site at www.ifwea.org