Long-term unemployment is at record levels in the European Union with nearly half of those out of work jobless for more than a year. These latest figures mean that long-term unemployment in the EU 28 Member States is the highest it has been for at least a decade. Long-term unemployment as a percentage of total unemployment has risen sharply from 33.5 percent in 2009, to 47.5 percent last year. It is widely accepted that when European labour markets emerge from the current economic crisis they will be profoundly changed. If those who are long-term unemployed are to have any chance of finding quality employment they must be given the tools to successfully adjust to this new reality. Support agencies working with the long-term unemployed are struggling to come to terms with the situation as many of their target group have been removed from education for a number of years. Developing key competences like learning to learn, digital competence, social and civic competence, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship and cultural awareness and expression are key first steps that need to be taken if many of the long-term unemployed target group are to be reintegrated into the workforce. ARiS is a project about promoting and developing the concept of an ‘encore career’ where long-term unemployed persons in their prime working age – 35 to 50 years old – can access re-training opportunities to add new skills that are appropriate to the knowledge-intensive economy and re-launch their careers at a higher skilled, more sustainable level. In Europe today 70% of those who will comprise the workforce in 2020 have already left education. For those long-term unemployed over 35 years old the task of finding new employment is extremely difficult as even ‘old’ jobs now require ‘new’ skills. While many of this cohort have been outside the education system for over 15 years and more; in the knowledge-intensive economy it is almost irrelevant to focus on one’s past disposition towards learning; it is ones present disposition towards continuous learning that counts most. As lifelong learning is the key to the modern era it is more important to start today than reflect on why you didn’t start 5 years ago. The knowledge-intensive economy is very demanding but also very forgiving, in that the most sought after skill-sets are the latest skill-sets. Start the journey to an encore career today and playing catch-up in the modern era can be a relatively short process. Participation rates of adults in learning remain very low in all European countries. In particular marginalized parts of the population, including the low-qualified, unemployed and migrants, continue to be absent from learning opportunities. It is a commonly experienced phenomenon that those who could benefit most from education and training are the ones less likely to engage. We need to start again and build the basic key competences of those displaced by the economic crisis. This project is about developing appropriate tools to achieve that. There are two primary target groups addressed by the ARiS project namely; long-term unemployed persons over the age of 35 years and adult education organisations and their staff. While it is more than likely that the proposed key competence resources to be developed will be relevant to learners of all ages the project is specifically targeting the 35+ age group and will ensure that the learning tools are customized to suit the learning habits and learning preferences of this target group. A significant emphasis will be placed on developing the digital competence and the learning to learn competence. From partner experience it is clear that the older cohort of long-term unemployed are less likely to have good ICT skills which are essential in almost all employments today. Europe is slowly but steadily emerging from its darkest economic period in recent memory. Economies are beginning to show signs of growth and confidence is slowly returning to financial markets and the business sector. Although employment is always a lag indicator where economic recovery is concerned an improvement in the outlook for those currently unemployed is on the horizon. However, there is a significant cohort of people over 35 years old, experiencing long-term unemployment for the first time, who have become so detached from the workforce that the only chance of re-integrating them into the workforce depends entirely on the provision of targeted supports and programs to restore their self-esteem and confidence; build their key competences and encourage them to re-engage as active and productive members of society.