Outreach, Empowerment and Diversity (OED)

The identified need behind the project was the urgent need for outreach to marginalised groups (especially migrants and ethnic minorities), for the development of more diversity in adult education, and for the empowerment of its learners to become active European citizens.

The network improved approaches in reaching out to disadvantaged groups as well as in promoting diversity in organisations. It contributed to better teaching methodology and enhanced active citizenship by advocating for participatory education and tailor-made learning. The network also supported the development of better policies aimed at integration and lifelong learning.

The OED project had an impact on the participating institutions, teachers, trainers and (managing) staff in adult education, learners, especially from disadvantaged groups, other stakeholders in lifelong learning and policy makers.

Objectives:

The objectives of the network were:

• better integration of disadvantaged groups
• a stronger intercultural understanding of the diverse groups for each other
• more empowered and active citizens based on their learning and development
• more diverse adult education institutions, which will help them be more effective instruments of integration
• the stronger involvement of a diverse group of learners, which will on the one hand improve the participation in lifelong learning, but also the active citizenship and the integration of learners´ voices.

Target group:

The main target groups were roma people and adults with low education levels.

Outcomes:

The network:

• Provided a collection and analysis of good practice examples from across Europe that tackle the overlap of social inclusion and active citizenship;
• Analysed outreach strategies to marginalised groups and provided information to other adult education institutions how to organise this;
• Developed empowerment strategies based on good practice and experiences of the network in order to activate learners from disadvantaged backgrounds;
• Improved teaching methodology for diverse target groups that empowers them and published methodology guidelines for trainers;
• Organised a workshop for trainers and experts on the use of the above-mentioned methodology guidelines;
• Provided policy recommendations that tackled the integration of marginalised groups, their empowerment and participation in lifelong learning;
• Organized a European conference in Brussels to present the results.

Meetings:

Kick off Meeting- Brussels, 23-24 January 2012

Second partner meeting – Bonn, 15-15 June 2012

Third partner meeting – Vienna, 17-18 January 2013

Trainers workshop – Malmo, 16-18 April 2013