Life-long learning is becoming a prerequisite for the sustainable development of individuals and societies in a dynamic and rapidly changing world. However, traditional forms of education and curriculum planning often lack flexibility and the ability to respond quickly to the current needs of the population. In this context, I propose to use the concept of the wisdom of crowds as an innovative tool for identifying public learning needs and strategic content planning in lifelong learning systems. The wisdom of crowds, the collective intelligence of large groups of individuals, has been shown in certain contexts to have a surprisingly high degree of accuracy and relevance in predicting trends, finding solutions to problems, or identifying priorities. This phenomenon can be effectively used as a participatory approach to mapping topics that society currently considers important, pressing or insufficiently covered by formal education. Through well-designed crowdsourcing platforms, open calls or digital voting, the general public can actively co-create the content and structure of educational programmes, both at a general level and at specific levels (e.g. municipality, region, state, EU). The proposed approach brings several advantages: it allows flexible and adaptable planning of educational offerings, ensures precise thematic targeting reflecting the real needs of the public and increases the legitimacy and attractiveness of educational activities thanks to the participation of target groups. In addition, it enables the analysis of needs within specific demographic groups - by age, education, occupation or economic activity - thus increasing the relevance and effectiveness of individual courses and programmes. Ultimately, this approach can significantly strengthen not only the lifelong learning system itself, but also public trust in educational institutions and their ability to listen and respond.

Keywords: Wisdom of the crowd, life-long learning, adaptive educational systems, demand-driven education.