EPIMORFOTIKI KILKIS IMPLEMENTS ANOTHER LLP – GRUNDTVIG Learning Partnerships

 

The Project is entitled “Sharing Learning in Communities” (SLIC) and it will be implemented in the biennium August 2012 – July 2014.

The INSTITUTIONS making part of the PARTNERSHIP are:

1. Endorsement and Quality Standards Board for Community Development Learning (ESB) – (UK)
2. Eur.adi.po.net – Rete Polesana delle istituzioni educative a dimensione europea (IT)
3. August Horch Akademie GmbH (DE)
4. Civil Kollégium Alapítvány (HU)
5. Cyprus Youth Clubs Organization (CY)
6. Stowarzyszenie Centrum Wspierania Aktywności Lokalnej CAL (PL)
7. Medgeneracijski center “Hudinja” Celje (SI)
8. EPIMORFOTIKI KILKIS Single Member llc (GR)
9. Seinäjoen ammattikorkeakoulu [Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences] (FI)

Short DESCRIPTION of the project

The project will provide opportunities for community educators to share new, innovative and practical ideas and methods within a changing society about how to engage people from disadvantaged communities, vulnerable social groups, and of different ages to use learning for active citizenship. Specifically the project will focus on:-

• The informal, non-formal and formal learning for active citizenship that arises from people being engaged in community activities;
• Providing adults with progression pathways to improving their knowledge and competence in community development learning and for active citizenship;
• Τaking lifelong learning into changing, diverse communities with host, and migrant populations and new arrivals in the European context;
• Encouraging learning in an ageing society e.g. using intergenerational work;
• Delivering anti-discriminatory training and learning to meet the Gruntdvig horizontal themes;
• Involving learners who have been engaged by different learning methods to evaluate their effectiveness;
• The use of new learning technologies to engage learners and educators;
• The cultural and linguistic diversity of many communities and how this enhances mutual learning;
• New and effective ways to challenge forms of discrimination, prejudice and xenophobia within diverse societies and tackle inequality between men and women and the generations, and to bring those who are marginalized into the mainstream;
• Increasing the amount of mutual co-operation in the community development sectors across Europe to maintain the vitality of lifelong learning in an ageing, diverse and complex society.

Expected IMPACT on persons (pupils/learners/trainees and staff) and on the

participating institutions

The immediate impact will be on staff, the community educators who will:

• Apply approaches to active citizenship learning to their own contexts
• Develop and deliver active citizenship training;
• be better able to overcome the barriers to engaging those who traditionally  do not get involved in education, especially in poorer communities and the most diverse communities
• Use different new approaches and techniques to promote equality and challenge discrimination within lifelong learning;
• Act critically to consider new and old methods for adaptation to their different contexts, particularly  examining the role of ICT in learning and supporting participants and educators;
• Continue to develop new learning methods through dialogue with partners and other practitioners;
• Continue to contribute to sharing understandings of what works and why it works from the educators and the adult learning participants’ perspectives

A longer term impact will be seen when the new techniques are used within the most deprived communities, with individuals and community groups. We expect people, to develop political and economic literacy, and become more active citizens with the skills developed to engage more in society. We will see a greater appreciation of diversity within communities, the resilience of communities in times of crisis, especially in relation to the many and complex forms of discrimination faced by the members of such communities.

The participating institutions will have access to continuous professional development opportunities, be part of different community development learning networks, and have developed a new set of approaches and ethos to work within diverse, marginalised and excluded communities. There will be improved practice through dissemination of new ideas, and there will be a generation of new ideas through critical professional discussion which includes learners.

The work will be integrated into  all partners practice of continuous professional development for their staff, and enable them to remain up to date with new ideas dealing with ever changing social circumstances, whilst allowing them to consider undertaking new areas of work.