In times of increased immigration and the need for social inclusion in Europe, education and training are more in the spotlight than ever, as policymakers are looking for clear responses to challenges faced by EU Member States. The 2013 OECD report “Skilled for life? Key Findings from the Survey of Adult Skills, OECD” (p.16) stated that there is “a strong positive relationship between participation in adult education and skills proficiency”. Moreover, the results of OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies in 2017 clearly demonstrate the need to encourage and empower marginalised adults to improve their proficiency in Adult Education and it takes innovative approaches, community involvement as well as investment to reach out to disadvantaged learners. In this frame, KNOW-HUBs introduces the concept of “3M: Meeting point, Mediator and Motor” for adult education centres, coined by Prof. Gunnar Grepperud and Prof. Terje Thomsen (Grepperud, Thomsen, 2002) so as to become knowledge and innovation hubs. From the 3M perspective Knowledge Centres (KCs) function as a safe meeting point for young adults and members of the community, they act as a mediator between the needs and demands of the users which includes young adults, educators, trainers, employers and social structures and act as a motor for the generation of innovative approaches and ideas. In line with this, our partnership believes that the micro real world experience of the individual is often missed out in the theoretical discourse. There is a middle ground that can be used to bridge-the-gap between knowledge and skills, between the demands of the rural community and the individual needs for support and advice. In this context, the KNOW-HUBs project is strongly innovative as it will explore how knowledge centres may contribute towards addressing the local needs and demands of rural communities and regions by bridging for the first time the "3M: Meeting point, Mediator, Motor" approach with user centred Design Thinking techniques (co-creation) to better understand the needs of the adults and then led by volunteer mentors that will be specifically trained to promote, in blended environments, the engagement and participation of marginalised groups (young adults with low educational level, disadvantaged for various reasons, migrants and refugees) to bridge-the-gap between knowledge and skills, between the demands of the rural community and the individual need for support. The KNOW-HUBs partnership consist of 7 partners from SE, RO, ES, IS, DK, IE, and GR highly motivated in designing, testing and sustaining the project outputs, with complementary expertise and highly experienced in the project topics. The project will also engage, share knowledge and experience with staff from other 27 institutions as ‘organisations of interest’, to be involved during the field research and dissemination events. To meet the project goals KNOW-HUBs proposes to produce four intellectual outputs: 1. E-BOOK: KNOWLEDGE CENTRES AS ‘3-MS; MEDIATOR, MEETING PLACE AND MOTOR’ 2. TOOLKIT TO TRAIN AND SUPPORT ADULT CENTRES TRAINERS AS 3M-MENTORS 3. KNOW-HUBs B-MENTORING PROGRAM AND VIRTUAL SPACE 4. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS TO MAINSTREAM THE PROJECT RESULTS IN OTHER NATIONAL AND EU ORGANISATIONS. A total of 70 young adults will be directly involved in project activities, namely in co-creation workshops using design thinking techniques organised in the partner countries and 50 more young adult learners will be engaged in blended mentoring sessions using the KNOW-HUbs virtual space; 12 adult trainers will take part in the short-term transnational staff training and be trained as 3M mentors (gain skills to become 1) mediators, 2) pro-activity and employment facilitators and 3) social supporters) and 70 national trainers/mentors will benefit from the national hands on approach workshops. The KNOW-HUBs outcomes and results will directly reach a minimum of 700 experts and trainers/mentors via project activities, hands on approach workshops and outreach seminars, creating a very strong base for long term exploitation. We expect that all these adult educators to apply the KNOW-HUBs innovative approach and transform adult centers in effectively functioning 3M KCs on the long term in partner countries and beyond. We are is strongly convinced that the innovative KNOW-HUBs training materials, blended mentoring methodology and platform developed and tested by the project will be core part of the outreach and guidance service offer of organisations involved in the project. The KNOW-HUBs platform will be sustained for a min of 5 years will be largely promoted among adult education communities and beyond.
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