The transnational project CROSS focusing on the changed basic conditions in adult education is carried out within the scope of ERASMUS+ as a Strategic Partnership for exchanging good practice, presents and interchanges examples of “best practice” as implemented by various providers of adult education. New concepts for cooperation between public libraries and facilities offering adult education are also presented, in which case the main focus is on the “Third Place” (Ray Oldenburg) approach. This approach is chosen to reach people which never use public libraries and/or facilities offering adult education to improve their knowledge or skills. Content and Objective: The following altered social framework conditions constitute the content of the project: - Demographic change and the shift in the circumstances of senior citizens are presenting a new challenge throughout Europe. This includes increasing educational activities for elderly persons in a life-long learning perspective (formal and informal learning) into old age. - Individualisation processes allow people to learn very individually, not only in social groups and not only at one place (also people with low education background). - Digitalisation, generally speaking, promotes co-existence as well as the combination of analogue and digital adult education opportunities. There are, for example, great differences in the digital equipment of both libraries and further education facilities. - Migration: To enhance the integration of migrants, they should be introduced to extracurricular educational and learning options. The direct target group consists of employees, managerial staff, decision makers responsible in libraries and facilities offering adult education. The indirect target group includes all customers of libraries and facilities offering adult education, especially seniors, people with educationally disadvantaged backgrounds and migrants. Corresponding with the target groups, the chosen programme priorities are “Supporting educators” and “Social inclusion”. “Third Place”: The concept of a third place emphasises a distinction to the first location (at home) and the second location (at work). In our case, the third place is a third option for learning settings and/or communication as informal as possible. This encompasses, e.g., cafés, restaurants, pubs, bars, book-shops, sports clubs, neighbourhood centres and similar facilities from the private sector and/or from the world of clubs, associations or public social culture. Duration and Structure of Project: The project runs from September 2019 until September 2021 (24 months). Local conferences are held at the project partners’ venues. The conferences are prepared by transnational project teams. Each conference has a different main focus, each of which is defined by all the project partners at a “kick-off meeting” in September 2019. After the individual conferences have been held, the project will be concluded in a final conference in September 2021. A steering committee is appointed for control and management purposes. Results of Project and Communication: Results are local/regional-Third Place”-adult education-concepts (best/good practice) and a tool-box how to develop, establish and run such locations and/or concepts. These results are easily adaptable by other organisations. Therefore, the results and conference reports are provided on a website where they will be at least 5 years available to other national and international adult education facilities as well as to other interested parties. Further, results are promoted via the EPALE-website, by press releases and a summing-up brochure (when the project ends). Project communication sees externally a communication strategy and internally, e.g. exchanging documents as well as using Meistertask, a browser-based project and task management tool on the web. Sustainability throughout the duration of the project is ensured by the participation of project partners from the European countries involved who are utilising the project results for long-term concepts in their local public libraries and training facilities for adult education e.g. by offering seminars to their own staff.
The term Third Place was invented by the American sociologist Ray Oldenburg. He used it to distinguish between the first place (at home) and the second place (at work). Third Places enable (in)formal meetings and exchange, are visited regularly and voluntarily, are neutral and low-threshold. Third Places have a high community-building function and promote mutual understanding. However, the use of Third Places requires adapted, partly novel concepts of customer approach and learning experience in adult education. Educators and managers must be prepared and qualified for this. We wanted to achieve: (1) To define the framework conditions for Third Places in adult education and to improve them in individual cases. (2) The improvement of digital competences for employees and users as well as the local coordination of the offers of adult education institutions. (3) Strengthening the educational activities of senior citizens as well as the conceptualisation of intergenerational concepts. (4) The conception of low-threshold offers/new learning space concepts for individual learning also for people from educationally disadvantaged milieus. (5) The improved integration of migrants through out-of-school education and learning offers.
We applied for this project because we have observed in our everyday work that the demands on adult education institutions have changed among users, or that users no longer visit our institutions. The project focused on the concept of the "Third Place" under the changed social conditions (demographic change, individualisation, digitalisation, migration) and their effects on adult education offers in public libraries and further education institutions: How can libraries and further education institutions develop concepts for Third Places? We have addressed two central needs: Firstly, the project should enable educators, institution and study leaders, and lecturers to conceive and implement new innovative concepts in the context of Third Places. Secondly, to strengthen the possibilities of social inclusion of Third Place user groups: Through educational activities and the implementation of new concepts, senior citizens, people from educationally disadvantaged milieus and migrants, among others, should be given better access to further education opportunities. This enables a strengthening of social, civic, digital and intercultural competences.