Sustainability and Widening Access to Adult Learners in Higher Education

The relation between sustainability and widening access to adult learners in higher education is both well comprehensible and highly vague. Accordingly, and following the arguments of Seghezzo (2009) and Foster (2001), the paper aims to complement academic discourse on widening access of higher education by showing the benefit of using the concept of sustainability not merely as an operational measurement index or a learning topic content-wise. Rather, a different understanding of sustainability may serve as a catalyst to revisit the mandate of higher education institutions in providing lifelong learning opportunities and to identify gaps in adult education research. References to the University of Hamburg serve as an example to illustrate the multilayered facets of alternative entry routes to higher education for adults holding VET qualifications and awards.