Brigadier General Gundars Ảbols, the Commandant of the Baltic Defence College, participated in the 37th annual Conference of Commandants, organized by the NATO Defence College and chaired by the NDC Commandant, Lieutenant General Wolf-Dieter Loeser, held in Toledo, Spain on 21-22 April 2008.

The conference entitled "Supporting a Comprehensive Approach to Security - the Role of Educators" brought together the Commandants of national defence colleges of NATO and PfP countries to exchange views on academic philosophies and educational methods. Brigadier General Ảbols spoke in "Thinking Platform Two" entitled "New challenges and approaches in strategic-level education, key studies, ADL, feedback and responsiveness to the Curriculum" which was chaired by Brigadier General Janusz Krecikij, Commandant of the Polish National Defence University. Brigadier General Ảbols presented the challenges of the implementation of new educational tool advanced distance learning (ADL) at the BALTDEFCOL which was highly supported by all of the Commandants.

A number of "Thinking platforms" and discussions were used to address different subjects during the meeting. The main topic, "Supporting a Comprehensive Approach to Security - the Role of Education"