The ISELE project has been designed to develop and disseminate new and innovative approaches to adult education that promote social entrepreneurial leadership training. It will equip educators and staff of CSOs and community organisers to empower and support more effective forms of active citizenship, building civil society capacities to respond to a range of key social and ecological challenges. Civic participation requires specific skills for motivating, energising and sustaining community based active citizenship and social entrepreneurship. Across our extensive networks, we see the lack of such skills and knowledge often undermining citizens initiatives. Therefore, this project responds to a perceived deficit in the skills and knowledge required to initiate and sustain effective community and citizen led initiatives – and a corresponding lack of educational knowledge and provision. It will produce new needs-based and demand driven educational opportunities to citizens, communities and civil society networks. The project gathers four organisations, constituting a cross-sector and multi-disciplinary collaboration, able to synergise experience and expertise in the service of innovation in educational provision: LABO vzw (Belgium), Zelena Akcija (Croatia), Ulex Project (Spain), and European Community Organising Network based in Slovakia. They bring pedagogical expertise, experience of community education and organising, civil society mobilisation, and skill in the professional development of educators. They are embedded in extensive grassroots, community and civil society networks, so that the combined experience and capacity will lead to the development of new, wide-spread, and high-quality learning opportunities for adults. This project will contribute to an increase in the quality and reach of educational opportunities across Europe. Our objectives include the development of conceptual and competency frameworks, an innovative curriculum and training methods, a repository of best practices, and blended learning resources, all aimed at supporting programmes for more effective social entrepreneurial leadership training. The central activities involve the production of six intellectual outputs. Each of these will function as a stand-alone output, whilst being designed to augment and enrich the development of each other sequentially. They are: 1. Research Challenges and Review of International Best Practice 2. An Educators DIY Tool Repository 3. A Social Entrepreneurial Leadership for Active Citizenship Competence Framework 4. A Social Entrepreneurial Leadership for Active Citizenship Curriculum 5. A Training of Trainers Handbook and Practice Guide 6. Blended Learning Course Resources In addition, staff training activities will enable an exchange of practice and equip an initial cohort of trainers able to roll-out a new educational programme across Europe based on the new curriculum. A programme of training of trainers will also be seeded by this activity. A wide range of associates will be enlisted to support trialling, provide feedback, and help to assure the quality and innovative nature of the project results. Our primary target groups are adult educators and community organisers working within CSO’s and voluntary organisations. Secondary target groups include change-makers, activists, civically engaged citizens, and disadvantaged learners and socially marginalised groups who can benefit from acquiring skills for social entrepreneurial leadership. The project will equip educators and staff of CSOs and community organisers to provide educational programmes that can empower and support more effective forms of active citizenship, building social capital and civil society capacities to respond to a range of key social and ecological challenges. The resources, conceptual tools, frameworks and curriculum will enable citizens across Europe to acquire new skills and competences related to social entrepreneurial leadership and active citizenship. The resulting upskilling of citizens will enable them to initiate, develop and sustain effective initiatives. The increased success, resilience and inclusivity of these groups will enhance motivation and inspiration in a way that perpetuates further recruitment to civic participation and community engagement. In this way, we expect the project to contribute to the revitalisation of local, national and European level civil society initiatives, including volunteerism and active citizenship. This will see communities better empowered to address key issues such as climate change, xenophobia, racism, social exclusion of various types, poverty, housing and health issues. This empowerment of community initiatives is expected to contribute to improvements in social and environmental conditions, social inclusion, cohesion and democratic principles.
This project has contributed to an increase in the quality and reach of educational opportunities across Europe. The objectives included the development of conceptual and competency frameworks, an innovative curriculum and training methods, a repository of best practices, and blended learning resources, which all were aimed at supporting programmes for more effective social entrepreneurial leadership training. We have built on the idea of “group-centred leadership” (Ella Baker) that can inform ‘leaderful movements’. These educational interventions were set out to promote community and active citizenship leadership which takes pride in being shared, accountable, clear and easy to spread. The methods were focused on the principles of inclusion, diversity and increased access for disadvantaged learners and socially marginalised groups. Our primary target groups were adult educators and community organisers working within CSO’s and voluntary organisations. Secondary target groups included change-makers, activists, civically engaged citizens, and disadvantaged learners and socially marginalised groups who could benefit from acquiring skills for social entrepreneurial leadership.
The background analysis for the ISELE project showed that to sustain and consolidate citizen-led initiatives, new thinking and learning for leadership development and innovative approaches to social entrepreneurship were needed. Despite the acknowledgment of adult learning's importance for up-skilling, re-skilling, active citizenship, and social cohesion in the EU 2020 Strategy Executive Summary, minimal effort had been made to grasp essential active citizenship competences & create targeted education programs. The project therefore addressed a perceived deficit in the skills, knowledge and competencies required to initiate and sustain effective community and citizen-led initiatives – and a corresponding lack of educational knowledge and provision for CSO’s, voluntary organisations, change-makers, engaged citizens & disadvantaged or marginalised groups seeking social entrepreneurial leadership skills. It developed and disseminated new and innovative approaches to adult education for social entrepreneurial leadership training and equipped educators and CSO and community organisers staff to empower more effective forms of active citizenship and to build civil society capacities to address a range of social and ecological challenges.