The outcome of a three-year work by a commission chaired by Jacques Delors, this report considers the requirements for an education for the twenty-first century capable of tapping and nurturing the rich potential for learning inherent in every individual. Education is viewed firstly in its social setting - in the light of the challenges of global interdependence, enhanced democratic participation and sustainable development. The report defines the four pillars of learning - learning to be, learning to know, learning to do and learning to live together - and reviews the tasks of formal and non-formal education in the context of the learning society. A series of pointers and recommendations complete a document that has become required reading for anyone with a professional or informed interest in educational matters.