Demographic trend conducts to an increasing proportion of older people in many European countries ("Employment in Europe" ; EC, 2001) and places in front of a risk with the financing of pensions, as well as in front of significant and growing skill shortages ("The Social Situation in Europe" ; EC, 2001). In that context, the development of active ageing policy and the combat against discrimination in employment recommended by the European Union are priorities for the member states, and a new challenge for education. Life long training has been strongly developed during the previous three decades. However, the current situation renews the approach of the question when focusing on the overs 50s. What is concerned is less the issue of their continuous training, than the ones of their specific competencies, to keep them employed; and of the transmission of knowledge built on experience, for the benefit of new generations of active persons. So, facing the considerable discrimination against older people seeking employment, some companies recruit old employees previously dismissed, when becoming worried of protecting a capital of knowledge that measures taken in an objective of immediate profitability had worsened. Somewhere else, as in certain hospital departments, the human resources managers interrogate themselves about the means to articulate new entrants training and conservation of the institution intellectual gains. On the other hand, classical studies on human cycle of live, as synthesized by Huberman (1989), shows at the end of the career, a tendency to get along a disengagement phase that social expectations concerning people over 50s more or less reinforced. The different psycho-dynamic analysis of adult life phases tend to agree with an evolution toward withdrawal into oneself. If this evolution is compatible with a better understanding of the self, including a better understanding of the person particular qualities, it seems to be less compatible with an involvement in a process of training. This presentation considers the insertion of the problematic of the involvement of over 50's in training, in a network of partners grouped by the concern to approach the " Strategies to overcome barriers to employment of the over 50's " and recognized by an EU funding under the LEONARDO program. It will describe the international network, which involves five countries (France, Norway, Poland, Spain and UK), and the French sub network. Report of the first results relating to the concern of mapping over's competencies and to the concern of experience built on knowledge transmission within the Project progress will also be made. As the project will be nearing the end of its first year at the time of the conference we would welcome comments and suggestions from the conference audience on our progress so far.