Beyond Learning

What if our space for learning could turn into a living room, a café – or an island?
In the first episode of the new season, we pass by Vienna to begin our exploration of learning, identity and belonging.
We meet with Margit Lindner from the magdas hotel, a social enterprise that supports learners with a refugee background. Margit takes us on a tour of the hotel and tells us what it means to create a safe space, and to run a business that’s focused on people, and not on profit.
We also talk to Alisa Cela-Goldgruber from Verein Piramidops, a community centre that works with migrant women. She shows us around the neighbourhood, and shares how adult learning can create new spaces for exchange between communities, both physical and metaphorical.

Who makes – and owns – a language? In Linz, we meet with Rubia Salgado, language teacher and co-founder of das kollektiv, a collective of migrant women. As we walk along the Danube, we talk to Rubia about who belongs in public spaces, what it means to be open to change, and why learning about migration can’t be reduced to trying out new dinner recipes. We discuss what grammar and syntax in a language have to do with power and who constructs a language. Rubia also tells us about the benefits of chewing the words – and why poetry can help.

It’s time to change the vocabulary,” says one of the guests of this episode. In Budapest, we visit two civil society organisations that challenge existing narratives. We first talk to Teréz Pataki and her colleague from Mira Haz, a community centre that welcomes migrants and refugees. We discuss intercultural learning and why an integration course isn’t a factory. We also meet with Róbert Kepe from the Shelter Foundation, which supports homeless people. Róbert introduces us to the Hungarian Street Paper, where all contributors – no matter their experience or background – have their art published on the same page. In the meantime, we get advice on where to best learn to fly a kite as an adult, and find out why vending machines in Budapest sell books.

Who has the power to create public spaces?

We first ask the question to Katarina Popović and Maja Maksimović from the University of Belgrade. We sit down in a kafana in Belgrade to talk about cultural identity, practice dark Eastern European humour, and reflect on the value of a stolen Yugoslavian passport. We also do some experiential learning around the concept of Dionisian socialism.

We then meet with Iva Čukić and Jovana Timotijević the Ministry of Space, a collective that reflects on the future of cities. Iva and Jovana tell us how collective practices can recreate a sense of community, and what it means to fall in love with an abandoned building (relationship status: it’s complicated).

This episode also features discussions about the Serbian model of gentrification, the Turkish approach to slow food, and the German take on nostalgia.

Is radio a thing of nostalgia?
In the new episode of our podcast, we revisit the past as we open closets, cupboards and drawers with Maja Maksimovic, our host in Belgrade. While talking about personal memory, we also learn how to make Turkish coffee (and read the future).
We then take a walk in a park with filmmaker Marija Stojnic to discuss “Speak so I can see you”, her documentary about Radio Belgrade. Marija shares with us why radio is an accessible means of learning, and how you can get goosebumps from listening to archives. We also reflect on how to connect with the past without romanticising it.