FutureLabAE project addresses two main issues: the situation of democracy in Europe, where an increasing number of citizens, who, discontent with the political establishment, start leaning towards xenophobic and populist parties or choose not to vote at all; and the alarmingly high number of people in Europe who lack basic skills, especially digital skills, leaving parts of the population unable to benefit from the digital transformation. Adult education has a role to play in supporting societies and individuals to cope with these two issues.
Challenges for adult education organisations and providers (including trainers) and possible solutions:
Adult education organisations are often compelled to be reactive rather than pro-active and change-oriented; education can have a three-way relation to change through:
a reactive activity – helping adults, organisations and society to adapt in the changes that has already taken place;
a proactive activity – helping to anticipate future situations, or
a change oriented activity – helping to create new competences and practices which are a necessary condition for any change and/or development to take place.
Adult education staff and trainers are frequently themselves not prepared for changes in societies. They are often busy to adapt to changes in society and have little resources and competences that are needed to reorganize training provision in a more change oriented way.
Aim and objectives of the project
FutureLabAE will provide adult education organisations, staff and trainers with:
resources
a space for discussing with and learning from each other
knowledge, expertise and tools to become more pro-active in order to develop innovative, change oriented provision which will have, on a medium-term, an extremely positive impact on low-skilled learners and the society as a whole.
Partners developed very concrete recommendations that will allow policy-makers to support the AE sector in the challenges above mentioned as well as to draft policy initiatives on digitalisation and democracy more coherent and impactful.
Outcomes
Increased knowledge on the challenges linked to digitalisation and democracy among AE organisations, trainers and policy-makers
Improved methodologies and practice of AE organisations and trainers
Improved advocacy capacity of adult education providers and organisations
Increased and improved involvement of providers and organisations in the shaping of policies at the European, national, regional and local levels
Strengthened cooperation among providers, organisations and policy-makers within Member States and across Europe.
Outputs
A collection and analysis of change-oriented practises in the fields of digitalisation and democracy, which is a source of inspiration not only for AE organisations, staff and trainers, but also to policy-makers at different levels
Two online courses (which include live and interactive webinars) on digitalisation/democracy and adult education addressed to AE organisations, staff and trainers
Guidelines for AE organisations and staff on how to work more pro-actively and more effectively with the topics, in order to successfully reach out to and support people with low digital and civic competences
Swiss Federation for Adult Learning (SVEB) – Switzerland –> Joined thanks to national funding
Change-oriented adult education
One of the tasks of FutureLabAE project is a collection and analysis of change-oriented adult education practises in the fields of digitalisation and democracy. The collected practices will be a resource for AE organisations, staff, trainers and policy-makers at different levels.
We are interested in all practices (courses, learning communities or other learning environments) and tools (books, games etc.) that help adults to learn new skills, attitudes, ways of thinking and behaving – in a more change-oriented way. Learning is the key point, no matter whether the learning process is planned or naturally occurring, formal or nonformal, work related or non-vocational.
How do we define change-oriented?
A good guideline are the following two types of change orientation (Picon 1991), describing two alternative change oriented roles adult education may have:
Improve the society, community and individuals and make the necessary adjustments for more equity and better society. For example course “How to become a critically aware social media user” aims giving the participant a deeper understanding of how Facebook algorithms work and strengthen the “bubbles” people live in, and learn to change own behavior accordingly.
A more radical structural transformation leading to considerable different new ways of thinking and acting (at individual level) and/or bigger change in community and society, whether by progressive steps or radical changes through “revolutionary” (but not violent) processes. For example: Social movement where citizens and social media experts develop a new type of social media, which works the opposite way than Facebook – helps to break the bubbles and engages people in authentic dialogue in social media.
We are looking for courses, seminars or webinars, informal learning practices (learning communities, discussion groups), community development programmes, training and learning methods, learning tools (games, apps) and materials.
Change-oriented adult education: Guidelines and recommendations
To foster the change-oriented approach in adult education, FutureLabAE project consortium has published guidelines for adult educators and education providers, as well as recommendations for policymakers on European, national and local levels.
The publication “FutureLabAE policy recommendations for change-oriented adult education” provides a list of recommendations for European, national and local policymakers who wish to foster and promote change-oriented adult education in their contexts.
The publication “Fostering change-oriented adult education – FuturelabAE guidelines for educators and adult education providers” supports in designing and implementing change-oriented adult education.
Together for change - Developing a more democratic society through change-oriented adult education
Description and participants profiles:
Together for change -online course introduces the concept of change-oriented adult education and the role it can play to further democracy and foster inclusion in our society. It is an opportunity to drive a discussion as well as peer learning on how adult education organisations could have a positive impact on learners and communities in times of increasing nationalism and xenophobia. The course was live during autumn 2020, but all materials and recordings are available so the course can still be completed on the Moodle platform.
The course provides examples of good practices as well as insights from trainers and learners who have experience in change-oriented adult education. It is mainly addressed to all adult education providers (adult educators, planners, managers, etc.) working in organisations, community development programs or associations, and policymakers, but open to everyone interested in the topic.
Structure and methodology:
The course includes 5 modules. The links lead to Youtube and Moodle platform, where you need to register to access the resources, learning tasks and forum discussion. Each module provides a mix of live webinars/podcasts/videos, resources, forum discussions, and self-study. The community aspect is one of the strongest elements of the course, so participants are invited to use the platform’s forum to exchange ideas, inputs, and proposals. The content planned and methodology used in this course has been shaped by a co-design survey circulated among partners’ dissemination channels.
Module 1: How can change-oriented adult education help face the challenges of democracy?
The first module provides information on facing the challenges of democracy through change-oriented adult education. Speakers at the webinar are Jyri Manninen, Professor of Adult and Continuing Education at the University of Eastern Finland and Licínio Lima, Professor of Sociology of Education and Educational Administration at the Institute of Education of Minho in Portugal. Manninen and Lima introduce discuss how change-oriented adult education can help face the challenges of democracy.
Module 2: Insights on change oriented-education and democracy
In this module guest speakers Ana Rita Ferreira and Mónica Rocha e Melo, a learner and a teacher talk about change-oriented adult education practices at Ubuntu Leaders Academy. Ubunto Leaders Academy is a non-formal education project geared towards empowering young people from vulnerable contexts.
Module 3: Media Literacy for more democratic societies
Module three introduces media literacy. Guest speakers Anne Tastula from KVS Foundation (Finland) and Buthayna Alsemeiri from Birzeit University (Palestine) give an insight on how to support media literacy development in the area of occupied Palestine and strengthen the prerequisites for civic society and democracy.
Module 4: Addressing and counteracting right-wing populism and racisms
Guest speaker at this webinar is Rubia Salgado who talks about the problems, challenges but also potentials of change-oriented adult education. Rubia works as a literacy trainer at maiz/kollektiv, an organisation that puts the learners’ interests at the core of its educational work while addressing and counteracting racism and right-wing populisms.
Module 5: Where change-oriented adult education could take place?
Final module talks about different spaces that adult education occupies. Guest speakers at this webinar are EPALE Ambassador Carlos Ribeiro who introduces the concept of third place learning, and Patrik Krebs who presents “Theatre with No Home”, an initiative working with homeless people and people with emotional, social or physical disabilities who develop their own theatre performances.
Design for change: how to use change-oriented adult education to solve digitalisation challenges?
Description and participants profiles:
Design for change -course introduces the concept of change-oriented adult education and how it can be used to manage the challenges of digitalisation in individual lives, communities, and society in general. It highlights the core pillars of the concept of change-oriented adult education, and offers practical tips on how and when to use its specific methods to address challenges caused by digitalisation. The course was live during spring 2020, but all the materials and recordings are available and the course can still be completed on the Moodle platform.
The course provides examples of good practices as well as insights from trainers and learners, who have experience of change-oriented adult education. It is mainly addressed to all adult education providers (adult educators, planners, managers, etc.) working in organisations, community development programs or associations, and policymakers, but open to everyone interested in the topic.
Structure and methodology:
The course includes 5 modules which are accessible on the Moodle platform. Each module provides a mix of live webinars/podcasts/videos, resources, forum discussions, and self-study. The community aspect is one of the strongest elements of the course, so participants are invited to use the platform’s forum to exchange ideas, inputs, and proposals. The content planned and methodology used in this course has been shaped by a co-design survey circulated among partners’ dissemination channels.
Module 1: What is change-oriented adult education?
The first module provides definition, purpose, theories and approaches to change-oriented adult education. Speakers at the webinar are Jyri Manninen, Professor of Adult and Continuing Education at the University of Eastern Finland and Irena Sgier, Head of research, development and innovation at the Swiss Federation for adult learning. Manninen and Sgier will introduce the concept of change-oriented adult education and present some examples of change-oriented practices.
Module 2: Which digitalisation challenges adult education providers are confronted with?
In this module we take a look at the challenges adults confront in their lives because of digitalisation. Guest speaker at the webinar is Birgitta Loucky-Reisner, a trainer at Saferinternet.at who supports internet users in the safe use of digital media.
Module 3: Change-oriented adult education and digitalisation: practices, methods, and tools
Module three introduces change-oriented practices, methods and tools. Guest speaker at the webinar is Jasper Pollet, a trainer at Digital Storytelling at MAKS in Belgium. Pollet presents how digital storytelling can empower learners and contribute to changing society for the better.
Module 4: Experiences with change-oriented adult education, lessons learned
In the webinar Dearbháil Lawless, EU Projects Officer from AONTAS and Tara Farrell, Deputy CEO from Longford Women’s Link in Ireland talk about how adult education can foster social change and how community education provides inclusive change-oriented adult learning.
Module 5: Use of digital games in change-oriented adult education
Upon completion of this module you will understand how game design has a place in a change-oriented adult education. You will also gain knowledge of some creative strategies that allow you to apply game design to building change-oriented adult education activities. Guest speaker at the webinar is Oliver Šimko, Founder and lead gamification designer at Luducrafts, Slovakia.
FuturelabAE project has organised two workshops, one on the topic of digitalisation and the other on the topic of democracy. “How can we manage the challenges of digitalisation by using change-oriented adult education?” was organised 11 December 2019 in Helsinki. “Learners as Leaders: Developing Democracy through Change-Oriented Community Education in Ireland” was held online 1 March 2021.
Learners as Leaders: Developing Democracy through Change-Oriented Community Education in Ireland
The workshop Learners as Leaders: Developing Democracy through Change-Oriented Community Education in Ireland was held online 1 March 2021.
The workshop was aimed at adult educators, practitioners, academics, learners, policy makers and providers.
It showcased the Learners as Leaders change-oriented adult learning methodology, the Irish model of community education, and learner voice activities. This event was delivered as part of the Adult Learners’ Festival 2021 #BetterTogether.
Speakers included Professor Ted Fleming, Professor Jyri Manninen, adult learners and community education practitioners. Participants had explored and engaged in democratic methodology and discussed the values needed to foster an inclusive democratic society.
The workshop was organised by AONTAS and the FuturelabAE project consortium.
As an intellectual output of the event we have produced a description of the methodology used in the workshop. The aim of the methodology is to encourage participants to take up the methods and outcomes and transfer them in their home organization, as well as support other organisations to run similar workshops in their own contexts. The methodology is available in English and French.
How can we manage the challenges of digitalisation by using change-oriented adult education?
Adult education and digitalisation workshop was held in Helsinki 11 December 2019. The workshop showcased change oriented adult education practices and tools, and reflected how adult education could take a more proactive role in the digital transformation of our society.
The workshop used interactive methods and digital tools to reflect upon how adult education can help to manage the challenges of digitalisation, and discuss how these practices can be transferred to participants’ organisations and countries. Participants gained an understanding, what is change-oriented adult education and how to use a change-oriented approach in teaching and learning provision, and how it could be taken into account at the policy level.
The workshop was built around the following questions:
What kind of challenges and problems digitalisation causes for adults, communities and society?
What is change-oriented adult education?
What examples there are of change-oriented adult education?
How can we use change-oriented adult education as a tool to solve these challenges?
As an intellectual output of the event we have produced a description of the methodology used in the workshop. The aim of the methodology is to encourage participants to take up the methods and outcomes and transfer them in their home organization, as well as support other organisations to run similar workshops in their own contexts. Even if the whole concept can’t be applied, some of the change-oriented methods could be used.
Further information on the events in Helsinki: sari.pohjola(at)kvs.fi
FuturelabAE online events
FuturelabAE project organised two online multiplier events on change-oriented adult education: “Empowerment for change” showcased adult learning in Slovakia. Change-oriented adult education: from a local perspective to a European dimension (A educação de adultos orientada para a mudança: de uma perspetiva local para uma dimensão europeia) presented Portuguese adult education practices.
Change-oriented adult education: from a local perspective to a European dimension
The event was organised by FuturelabAE-project partners and EPATV 8 July 2021 and held in Portuguese language. The event presented several local and community projects to reflect the importance of adult education in transforming learning communities and territories. Professor Fátima Antunes from the Institute of Education of the University of Minho reminded there are still challenges we need to overcome to implement consistent public policies for adult education and to value the dimension of human and social development.
Programme
09:30 – 09:40 Welcome words
Francisca Borges, EPATV
09:40 – 09:55 Presentation of the FutureLabAE project’s results
Rosa Vieira, EPATV
09:55 – 11:50 Presentation of the Portuguese case examples
9:55 – 10:15 Associação PELE – Maria João Mota
10:15 – 10:35 «Som da Rua» – Jorge Prendas
10:35 – 10:55 «Giro» – Anna Silva
10:55 – 11:10 Break
11:10 – 11:30 «iCreate» – Vera Carvalho
11:30 – 11:50 «A avó veio trabalhar» (Grandma came to work) – Ângelo Campota
11:50 – 12:00 Let us talk about … (Q&A activity)
12:00 – 12:20 From a local perspective to a European dimension
Prof. Fátima Antunes, University of Minho
12:20 – 12:30 Discussion, questions and answers
12:30 – 12:35 Closing notes
Francisca Borges, EPATV
Empowerment for change – Practices and principles of change-oriented adult education
The seminar was organised by FuturelabAE-project partners and the Association of Adult Education Institutions in Slovakia (AIVD) 17 February 2021.
The seminar clarified the concept of change oriented adult education, showcased change oriented adult education practices and tools, and gave a chance to reflect how adult education can take a more proactive role in the times of the covid-19-pandemic and the digital transformation of our society.
Moderator: Andrea Kutlíková
Programme
09:00 Welcome words
Regina Ebner, Secretary General of the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA)
Klaudius Šilhár, president of Association of Adult Education Institutions in Slovakia (AIVD)
09:15 What is change-oriented adult education and why do we need it?
Jyri Manninen, Professor of Adult and Continuing Education, University of Eastern Finland What is change-oriented adult education? How and by whom the need for change (peaceful or radical) is defined? What kind of learning is change-oriented?
Dušan Martinčok, Zrejme How to contribute to intergenerational cooperation and dialogue, integration of the eldery people into the family, community and society. The topic of aging, regardless of gender or skin color, concerns us all.
11:20 Discussion in break out rooms: How adult education can take a more proactive role in the times of pandemic and the digital transformation of our society?
Change-oriented adult learning and education for digitalisation and democracy
FuturelabAE final conference took place online on 23 June 2021 from 10.00 to 13.15 CEST. More information on the conference programme and speakers is available below.
Fergal Finnegan is a lecturer at the Department of Adult and Community Education, National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Before becoming an academic he was a community adult educator and literacy worker and these experiences have strongly shaped him. Finnegan’s research interests include biographical methods, social class, access and equality in higher education, transformative learning, and democratic education as well as critical realism and Pierre Bourdieu. Finnegan is an active member of the European Society Research on Education of Adults (ESREA) and currently a co-convenor of the network on Active Democratic Citizenship and Adult Learning. He is one of the editors of the Journal of Transformative Education and also the European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults.
Olivier Magnin is Director of Image’In, Pole Education on Image, Media and Information at la Ligue de l’Enseignement. He joined the branch of Seine-Saint-Denis at the la Ligue de l’Enseignement after his studies in the Design and implementation of cultural projects and the implementation of actions within the network of French Institutes in Morocco. Sensitive to the values of popular education and eager to contribute to the innovation and renewal of image and media education, he was the coordinator of the project “Les veilleurs d’info”.
Panelists:
TatjanaBabrauskiene – Head of International Relations, Lithuanian Education and Science Trade Union
Tatjana Babrauskiene is a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). Here she represents the International secretary of FLESTU (Federation of Lithuanian Education and Science Trade Unions) and she is part of the EESC Workers’ Group. She is currently the rapporteur of the EESC opinion on the “European Agenda for Adult Learning 2030”.
Niamh O’Reilly – CEO of the National Adult Learning Organisation in Ireland (AONTAS)
Niamh O’Reilly is an educationalist with expertise in educational equality, learner voice, community education, policy analysis, organisational development and governance. Her work at a European level includes acting as the designated national coordinator of the European Agenda for Adult Learning in Ireland.
Carlo Scatoli – European Commission
Carlo Scatoli is Senior Expert Skills and Qualifications in the European Commission, Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. He has been active in the policy area of skills and vocational training since the mid-1980s. After joining the Commission, he has been responsible for Europass, the European Qualifications Frameworks, ECVET, and other networks, tools and projects in the areas of guidance, validation and lifelong learning.
Repository of practices and tools
Name of the resource
Type
Topic
Short description
Links, resources and developers:
#somtu
Material (article, report, other document)
Democracy & digitalisation
Any member of the Facebook group #somtu shares link for a discussion that is currently taking place on the mainstream Facebook page or site and is predominantly in the group. Others who have time and space and consider it important can join the discussion. We use #somtu in all our comments.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/somtu/about/ ; Veronika Pavlíková Klindová and team, Slovakia
123Clic.be
Material (article, report, other document)
Digitalisation
This 1,2,3 click! website has been designed as a family media education tool in response to the increasing use of digital media by young children, their parents, to solve many questions about how to supervise and support that use, and the lack of guidance and tools specifically dedicated to these issues for the 3-6 age bracket.
www.123clic.be Exists also under the form of a physical booklet. https://media-animation.be/Comment-accompagner-les-usages-numeriques-de-nos-enfants.html ; Média Animation asbl - Belgium
About Us!
(Community) development program
Democracy
Over a period of two weeks the diversity of the city of Zurich shall be made tangible and celebrated with artistic projects and activities supported by the city's residents. A diverse program will invite all citizens from all over Zurich to join in. The heart of these intercultural weeks are the community arts projects, which are chosen through a public call. In between, events shall take place at regular intervals in Zurich's neighborhoods, inviting people to engage with Zurich's diversity.
http://about-us.ch/englisch-startseite/ ; Association About Us, on behalf of and financed by the City of Zurich.
Abortion Rights Campaign
Informal learning practice
Democracy
The ARC is an inclusive campaign that fought for abortion rights in Ireland. They aimed to be representative of the most marginalised and vulnerable groups of women in Irish society by placing a particular focus on their stories and their involvement in the campaign. This learning practice provided free and factually correct information, materials, workshops, during the REPEAL, the 8th movement and referendum in Ireland in 2018.
https://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/2016/11/21/abortion-rights-campaign-values-and-inclusivity-statement/ ; The Abortion Rights Campaign, Ireland
Bad News game
Learning tool (game, digital app etc.)
Digitalisation
In this game the user takes on the role of fake news-monger. "Drop all pretence of ethics and choose the path that builds your persona as an unscrupulous media magnate. But keep an eye on your followers and credibility meters. Your task is to get as many followers as you can while slowly building up fake credibility as a news site. But watch out: you lose if you tell obvious lies or disappoint your supporters!" Game is developed by the DROG, which is a multidisciplinary team of academics, journalists and media-experts. They conduct research, give talks, offer workshops and educational programmes and create innovative tools that help people build resistance to disinformation.
Baztille is an online tool created for French citizens willing to reinvent democracy. Everyday Baztille ask users opinion about a specific issue so they can vote for the best solution of their choice. The solution that gets the most votes will be defended by Baztille. Baztilles candidates are presented at all elections. Once elected they have only one commitment: apply all decisions taken by users through votes.
http://baztille.org https://www.youtube.com ; /watch?v=0924vDZGu9A&t=5s ; Grégory Isabelli: Production and design Thibaut Villemont: Technic production and development Thomas Boureau: Artistic concept.
Campus Demokratie
Informal learning practice
Democracy
Campus Demokratie is a national platform that aims to promote political education and participation throughout Switzerland and thus strengthen democracy. It connects people and organisations, offers courses and events and provides an online information platform and carries out projects to promote public dialogue and democratic values.
https://campusdemokratie.ch
Change Makers Project
Course
Democracy
Change Makers Donegal aims to raise awareness of local and global development issues with adults across County Donegal. We have done this through a range of activities, including workshops, accredited learning, ETB tutor education, community arts projects, horticulture and environmental projects and more. The range of workshops we now offer is extensive and includes Climate Justice, Fashion and Consumerism, Gender Equality, Womens Reproductive Rights, Human Trafficking, Maternal Health, Human Rights, Environmental Workshops (bees, seeds and water), Zero Waste, Fairtrade, Migration and Refugees. In spring each year we have our annual seminar which celebrates what we have done each year and gives our project participants the opportunity to meet up and share their experience and knowledge. We currently offer three accredited learning opportunities: QQI Level 4 in Local and Global Development Awareness, QQI level 5 in Intercultural Diversity and QQI Level 6 in Global Development. We are currently in the process of developing a further module in Social Justice Principles at level 5.
https://changemakers.ie/
Clic@r na melhor idade
Informal learning practice
Democracy & digitalisation
It is a project that aims to promote digital inclusion through the provision of equitable access to digital technologies and the development of digital skills in order to access and select appropriate information and to communicate or interact securely on the web.
https://www.facebook.com/incluirmais/
Collaboratio Helvetica
Informal learning practice
Democracy
This non-profit association wants to create spaces for open dialogue, experimentation and collaboration to create the Switzerland we want to live in. Their work is related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and aims to create new ways of working and living together. The activities are: Dialogue Evenings, Social Labs (journeys to bring together unlikely allies), Community Platform (where people can contribute resources or hand in projects related to SDGs).
https://www.collaboratiohelvetica.ch/ ; Collaboratio Helvetica, a non-profit organisation in Switzerland.
