Context: Learning does not just take place in schools, universities, vocational schools or at the workplace, but also in our surrounding community: knowledge and social skills development can be acquired throughout life in a modular manner and through different educational experiences such as the undertaking of projects and activities in our local community, through neighborhood help or local volunteer work. This form of informal learning resource is also known as “COMMUNITY EDUCATION” (CE). CE is a process of personal and community transformation, empowerment, challenge, social change and collective responsiveness. So therefore CE is significant for the promotion of learning and social development work, as well as for the social, economic, cultural, environmental and political development in local communities. Especially volunteer centers, intercultural centers and neighborhood-help centers are important providers of CE programs for individuals and groups in their communities as they offer a wide range of education programs, which are for free, easy accessible and address problems and opportunities on local and personal level. Through these learning, training and volunteer activities they support the capacity building of individuals and groups of all ages and backgrounds and improve their ability to participate in democratic processes. As their scope is much broader and less formal than educational institutions such as schools, colleges and universities, they reach large sections of the population, and therefore are taking out learning and development opportunities to socio-economically disadvantaged individuals and poorer areas within their communities. Partner and participants 6 volunteer/(inter)cultural/neighborhood-centers across the EU, working on local level but representing different traditions of volunteering in Europe, got together and formed the transnational partnership “VOICE: Volunteer Organizations‘ Input to Community Education”. At least 18 staff members and volunteers working in CE programs will be present in the transnational meetings. With their CE programs on local level, partners will reach at least 300 participants in total with at least 90 of them being disadvantaged. Additionally partners will involve other NGOs, (adult) education providers, stakeholder on local, national and international level. Objective As the current dominant discourse around education for the economy seems to ignore the value and impact of CE and its importance personal development and strengthening communities, partners want to address this important and innovative resource of learning. Therefore this transnational project wants to explore a) the value and impact of “Community Education”, b) the role of CE providers in local communities, c) the professional development of CE practitioners d) the success factors of CE programs, e) how CE increases the skills, confidence, networks and resources of participants, and f) how CE contributes to tackle problems and grasp opportunities, which occur within local communities. Methodology Within the VOICE-project the involved partners’ organizations want to explore the community education approach practiced by them, and want to exchange their expertise and experiences in providing non-formal learning and training opportunities for their local communities. They will meet 6 time, each partner hosting one transnational meeting. During each meeting partners will learn about the CE program of the host partner, and exchange their expertise the various aspects of implementing successful CE programs. Within this partnership partners want to show, how they support the sense of community, increase the participation of local inhabitants into learning and also how they encourage people taking responsibility about their own lives and community, become active citizens and thereby increasing their social capital. Results The result will be an eBook including an input about the community education approach in learning, practical tips on the implementation of community education programs in local communities, the role and success factors of volunteer/ neighbourhood/ intercultural centers as important providers of CE programs as well as a good practice collection of learning and training programs offered by the involved partners. This eBook will be disseminated on local, regional, national and international level in order a) to raise awareness for the importance of CE and its contribution to the education system and community development, b) to promote the staff development of CE providers and to strengthen the expertise and skills of CE practitioners c) to provide a useful resource to support the development of community education programs, and d) to inspire CE practitioners how to implement CE programs in practice or improve existing ones.
Context: The VOICE (Volunteer Organizations‘ Input to Community Education) partnership project was set up to follow on a major objective, namely: to promote Community Education (CE) and to showcase the input of volunteer and (inter)cultural centers to Community Education. As the current dominant discourse around education for the economy seems to ignore the value and impact of CE and its importance personal development and strengthening communities, partners want to address this important and innovative resource of learning. The partnership was founded by 6 volunteer/(inter)cultural/neighborhood-centers across the EU, working on local level but representing different traditions of volunteering in Europe. The VOICE partners use this Erasmus project to create a platform for exchange expertise among practitioners from different European countries. During project implementation, 6 transnational meetings were convened, involving at least 18 staff members and volunteers working in CE programs. Furthermore, each partner conducted CE programs at local level, and attracted at least 300 participants in total with at least 90 of them being disadvantaged. Additionally, partners involved other local NGOs, (adult) education providers, stakeholder on local, national and international level. The 6 transnational partnership meeting were used to explore and discuss a) the value and impact of “Community Education”, b) the role of CE providers in local communities, c) Professional development of CE practitioners d) Success factors of CE programs, e) how does CE increase the skills, confidence, networks and resources of participants, and f) how does CE contribute to tackle problems and grasp opportunities, which occur within local communities. Additionally host partners showcased good practices of them in the field of Community Education. All their discussions, results and lead to the creation of an EBook and pdf document with recommendations on how to implement Community Education programs, including partners experiences and expertise in form of ‘good practices’ collection. This eBook can be used as a guideline for promoting CE and to disseminate good practices of partners in order for others to copy them. And within this partnership most partners copied at least one good practice, which was presented by a different partner. It is published on the websites www.volunteertolearn.eu and www.professional-volunteering.eu to be used as a tool kit and inspiration for other NGOs to start their own community education programmes.It is available in English, German and Romanian. Methodology of the joint work: Tasks and activities of the project were undertaken as described in the methodology on the original project application. Upon approval, the ultimate work plan and time schedule were agreed on by the partners during the first transnational meeting (TM) in Passau-Germany when the project officially took off. A total of 6 TM were conducted, each partner hosting one TM. The transnational meetings were a platform for exchange of expertise and experience on CE between partners: The meetings also served as a think tank were ideas around providing, improving, supporting, harmonizing CE were discussed. The result was the joint EBook. Additionally, the meetings were used to monitor the progress made, plan future activities, allocate tasks and agree on the mode of operation and feedback.Parallel with the transnational meetings, partners maintain special web-section for VOICE within their designated websites. The web-section provides information about VOICE activities locally and transnational. Results of this partnership: The two year project has been successful implemented. The VOICE project met all the pre-set project objectives as presented in the original project application and within the agreed time. o The transnational meetings were convened as planned and each led to a chapter to the eBook. o Partners were able to exchange experience and expertise on CE with a potential of further improving and harmonizing CE across Europe. o Monitoring, evaluation as well as dissemination activities were conducted by partners as initially agreed in the original application. o An eBook on CE including an input about the community education approach in learning, practical tips on the implementation of community education programs in local communities, the role and success factors of volunteer/ neighbourhood/ intercultural centers as important providers of CE programs, as well as a collection of good practices of learning and training programs offered by the involved partners. This eBook was and will be disseminated on local, regional, national and international level in order: a) to raise awareness for the importance of CE and its contribution to the education system and community development, b) to promote the staff development of CE providers and to strengthen the expertise and skills of CE practitioners