HANDS up all of those who know the best way to beat boredom at work. Most of us recognise that the answer lies in updating skills and learning new ones. But lifelong learning isn't only beneficial to the individual - for enlightened employers it's also good for business.

According to the European Lifelong Learning Initiative (ELLI), lifelong learning is ''the development of human potential through a continuously supportive process which stimulates and empowers individuals to acquire all the knowledge, values, skills and understanding they will require through their lifetimes and to apply them with confidence, creativity and enjoyment in all roles, circumstances and environments''.

The establishment of ASCETT (Advisory Scottish Council for Education and Training Targets) in 1993, reinforced the message that the skilling of people and the development of human potential at every level is vital to the future of individuals, organisations and to the nation as a whole.

The targets stress the importance of the more philosophical approach, encouraging employers to invest in employee development, making education and training accessible to everyone, and developing enterprise, creativity and citizenship.

The GDA is concerned with developing Glasgow in the context of a Learning City and as part of the larger global learning industry. Ease of access to learning and flexibility of delivery are essential, so the focus is on providing a relevant learning infrastructure.

''GDA wants to take a new approach to its programmes and to move into lifelong learning. To achieve that we are going to do a Learning Inquiry and to look at a new monitoring framework for lifelong learning,'' explained Stephanie Young, ASCETT's director and the GDA's newly appointed Director of Lifelong Learning.

''The Learning Inquiry is not another strategy review. It is about dismantling the barriers to learning, like the difficulties customers face in seeing where they should be going and what they should be doing. We have been talking about those barriers for the past 10 years.''

There is an urgency about removing those barriers. A recent survey showed that 71% of adults recognise that learning offers the potential for a better quality of life. It also highlighted the fact that 63% of those questioned were unlikely to take part in learning over the next year.

''Learning is not about having an initial dose at school and expecting it to last throughout life,'' explained Young. ''We need individuals, and organisations, to recognise that they need to think in terms of continuous learning.

''If they don't then the organisations become less competitive and that affects the success of the economy.''

Lifelong learning builds on the foundation skills learned in youth and later come the job-related or community-based skills.

''As you get older you may start wanting to learn things for retirement. Learning is not just about education and training. It is about developing people's potential.''

In moving towards the concept of a Learning City, GDA has identified the route that learning should take, from cultivating specific skills, through continuous improvement, towards the learning organisation. Learning as an individual, as an organisation, as a city, as a world player.

There is potential for creating a Knowledge Industry in Glasgow that can serve not only organisations in the city but beyond.

With its reputation for being at the forefront of educational development and innovation, Glasgow could become a major producer of learning materials for the rest of the world.

Continuous learning is essential in the age of the 'half life of knowledge' where, for example, every 12 years, half of the knowledge a GP uses in his or her job is out of date, every eight years in the case of an engineer.

Investors in People provides a platform on which to develop lifelong learning and offers a way in which the quality of learning can be measured - an important step towards becoming a learning organisation.

With the advent of new technology, and the need to make learning ''user-friendly', flexible and accessible methods have been developed.

The idea that learning can be delivered in different places at different times through different mediums has provoked a great deal of interest. To sustain that interest, the focus will be on measuring, monitoring and marketing learning.

An open and accessible comprehensive labour market information system is also necessary for the effective delivery of learning or training.

As director of ASCETT, Stephanie Young was involved in compiling a report which was submitted to the last government. The report made extensive recommendations which were supported by the careers education and guidance community in Scotland.

''We recommended a national lifelong learning careers education and guidance framework supported by a modern labour market information system,'' she said.

''There should be a key group of employers interviewed on a regular basis about the changes they perceive, and that information should be fed back to the guidance community. Information is needed so that markets can be developed. Markets don't work in the absence of information.''

As well as labour market information, funding is also crucial for effective lifelong learning. It is anticipated that the cost of learning could be reduced considerably through the exploration and exploitation of new funding methods. The introduction of technology and the increased use of new media will automatically reduce the cost of delivery.

In addition, GDA plans to look at new ideas for funding such as a Learning Bank, Individual Learning Accounts and Pay As You Learn.

In the pursuit of a healthy economy, learning in the workplace is important but the broader aspects of lifelong learning add value to the whole community.

Learning should be promoted as a pleasurable and rewarding experience, and open to everyone, with the understanding that each individual is empowered to develop her or his potential and should value the learning experience.

''We know from studies like the Campaign for Learning that people value learning but whether they accept that they will have to do these things throughout life is still uncertain,'' said Young.

''We have to try making people see both the value of learning and make them want to do something about it. That will be our aim over the next five to 10 years because lifelong learning is a long-term programme,'' she added.

''It involves cultural change and while there is no reason why people should not be receptive to it, I think we still have to sell them the idea.

''We have to look at learning in all its different facets, from the individual and the organisational to the national perspectives.

''Learning is an investment in the future. It is about improving the quality of life, improving standards of living. That is our main priority at GDA.''