The European Manifesto for Inclusive Learning project aims to develop an innovative Advocacy Toolkit for Adult Educators working with migrants and refugees as a result of the exchange of practices and perspectives among 8 organizations in 7 countries. In September 2017 the Italian EPALE Unit organized a national seminar on inclusive learning (formazione accogliente) in La Spezia: during three days more than 150 adult educators from all around Italy worked together and were asked to collaboratively produce a "Manifesto for inclusive learning" based on sharing of experiences and visiting local inspiring projects. The Manifesto (already available on the EPALE platform and attached to this proposal in the existing Italian version) has been perfected at distance in the following months and launched for subscription in February 2018, having collected in less than a month, and without a systematic dissemination campaign, over 70 subscriptions among all walks of adult education practitioners. The Manifesto will be the heart of the advocacy tool for adult educators to develop skills to advocate for inclusive adult learning in formal, non formal and informal settings dealing with migrants and asylum seekers. This project will make possible to mainstream a European dimension through development of an innovative toolkit and exchange of practices in international meetings and 2 short staff trainings. Aware of the profound differences among countries and the mobility phenomena that affect them, be economic migration and/or asylum seeking, we recognize that there are many available good practices in Europe to be shared and contaminated in the involved partner's countries in order to develop educators' competences and inspire them for action. The Manifesto has two main parts: I) general principles II) recommendations for promoting inclusive learning for three distinct population targets: 1) migrants and asylum seekers 2) adult educators and other professionals that works on integration of migrants (for instance social workers, legal and health professionals just to mention a few) 3) local communities at large, than need to be informed and involved in shaping successful modalities of living together The concept of adult education that the Manifesto, and the project, puts forward refers to open learning environment that overcomes borders between formal, non formal and informal agencies. The adopted methodology is a mix of design thinking and action research and learning. Concretely we intend to respond to the training needs of adult educators that work with migrants and asylum seekers in terms of: - an advocacy toolkit connected to the Manifesto for inclusive adult learning with an European dimension - an increased knowledge and contamination to good practices of adult education of migrants and refugees/asylum seekers in EU countries - increased skills of networking, advocating and designing at the local and EU level The expected results of the project are: - an advocacy toolkit (IO1) including the European Manifesto for inclusive learning, adapted and scaled to an European dimension translated into each partner's language, that will help adult educators to transit from the traditional approach of schooling to teach and learning in an open learning environment, involving all possible and fruitful stakeholders' networks, including local communities. - a consolidated network of 8 partners coming from 7 countries and from different formal and non formal educational agencies that share experiences and co-construct new knowledge and competences for inclusive adult learning targeting migrants and asylum seekers/migrants - at least 60 adult educators involved in five international meetings and in two short-term joint staff training events on that exchange practices on adult education methodologies differentiated according to the selected targets of the Manifesto: migrants and asylum seekers; educators and other professionals that work and interact with migrants and communities at large. - at least other 500 signatured to the Manifesto collected - an increased visibility through dissemination of EPALE network and platform in the involved countries, especially among adult educators. The transnational dimension guarantees that a locally born process can scale up to a genuine EU dimension, valuing also the difference of background of partners: Universities (IT, NL), Adult Education Agencies (IT, PO), Civil Society Associations (UK, EL, DE) and an Anthropology Museum (FI).
The world has changed since we launched in Italy the Manifesto for Inclusive learning (Manifesto della Formazione Accogliente) in September 2017: the refugee wave decreased in Europe (with the exception of Greece) and the Coronavirus pandemic changed our ways of life and fed our fears. These historical changes accompanied and impacted the implementation of the project while many hypotheses of the original formulation had to be adapted. All in all, we indeed achieved the expected results of the project and reached a certain maturity of reflection on adult education, that had not been foreseen at the beginning. Using the theory of change (impact, outcomes, output and resources plus hypothesis and risks) we resume the final situation of the project as follows; Impact: A multi-stakeholder community of practice in seven European countries that can influence change and foster innovation in adult education in their own local networks of action through evidence-based adult education practices. Outcomes - Translation, not only in language but also in meaning and context, of the original Manifesto in partners' languages. This operation posed the first challenge: the original formulation was very much influenced by the Italian situation at the time of writing (Fall 2017) and the common objective became to make it "European". We were able to achieve that through dialogue, comparison of different national situations (let's only think on who refugees are in our territories: from Sub-saharian African young men in Italy to Ukranians adults in Poland, to Sirian families in Greece, to Afghan or Somali in Finland, just to mention a few) and shared research. To that aim, international meetings, in particular learning activities in Berlin and Helsinki, were particularly enriching. The lessons learnt from this ongoing community of practices have been reported in the final evaluation, that is in itself and extra intellectual output of the project. - Advocacy Tool Kit. The process of drafting the toolkit was in itself a good practice, to be replicated and upscaled. We created a research protocol and a tool for the collection of good practices (5 for each partner) and continued with the analysis of each practice and the identification of categories of interest. The aim of the advocacy toolkit broadened during the project lifespan and was defined in the last months of the project. We therefore enlarged our reflection on to how to use our lessons learnt to innovate inclusive education not only for migrants but for all adults with special learning needs. We launched a set of new principles, as an extra result of the project Output Stakeholder mapping for each country Collection of 44 good practices on adult education for migrants, geo-localized on Lacanet Formulation of an advocacy toolkit Realization of a training on advocacy skills in Berlin, in April 2019 Clustering in 3 areas of interest: language learning, transition to the labour market and community learning 2 learning activities and 2 international meetings (the third was realized only virtually due to the Coronavirus Pandemic) with the participation of over 70 adult educators and activists from different European countries Dissemination of the Manifesto to over 500 recipients in different countries in Europe (we decided not to collect signatures to the original document, but to concentrate on the creation of new principles instead, that could be useful for a wider public) Realization of a participatory evaluation process at the end of the project that outlined and well described the learning dimension of the project Resources: Erasmus funds Own funds of the participating organizations Each partner’s existing networks for collection of practices and dissemination (in the academic, educational, cultural, religious and entrepreneurial sectors) Previous experiences, knowledge and skills of participants Hypothesis confirmed There is a need, and an opportunity, to exchange good practices and lessons learnt on adult education in a fragmented, but innovative, panorama. Stakeholders are ready and eager to do that but need dedicated tools Adult educators and adult education activists are interested and open to innovation in their methods Advocacy is a strategic approach to promote change and raise awareness on the role of education and training for a more inclusive society Risks The Coronavirus pandemic poses a threat to replication of many practices collected, since forced physical distancing can hamper participation and in presence learning. There is an urgent need to rethink "virtual" participation and grass-root activisms in these times of restriction of movement Human mobility, within Europe and from overseas, became more dangerous and migrants are more vulnerable. The thematic itself is not considered a priority anyone in times of profound economic recession. Opportunity Next Generation EU bets on upskilling and reskilling citizens and the toolkit can provide inspiration.