In the context of the COVID crisis, but also in a world where digital technology occupies an increasingly important place, we are led to imagine new routes for players in the cultural sector and in the adult training sector, but we are not all equal when it comes to these tools. Working during this period of crisis requires us to master a hybrid environment, on site and in virtual form. Not only to use the tools and to have access to them, but also to be able to carry out activities by adapting our modes of action and relationship to overcome the limitations of online and remote work. We therefore wish to work together on the question of how to form a community at a time of the isolation generated by this crisis, and thus allow cultural actors, actors of training or ordinary citizens to share their history, their knowledge, their environment and their heritage. The HOPE in US project aims to strengthen cooperation between the sectors of culture and adult education by creating a virtual third place. Confidence, benevolence, non-judgment and respect for cultural rights are the basis of this project. Thanks to it, we develop in learners their ability to give meaning to their actions, to become responsible for what they can change and to be resilient in the face of what they cannot avoid. We are 5 partners associated with the project from Belgium, Spain and France and we contribute in our activities to one or more European priorities such as social inclusion, digital innovation, civic engagement, creativity and culture . We have defined together 3 main work objectives: - Conceive new methods of creation / dissemination / mediation for players of European arts and culture - Invent interactive teaching formats for adult education stakeholders - Make learners' skills explicit and make their creative potential visible To achieve these goals, we have decided to create two innovative educational resources: - a toolbox that will allow you to experiment and learn how to be resilient, as well as to train and use digital technology. Each user can use all or part of the tools offered to meet their needs or the needs of the groups they support. - a Web TV which will be a virtual third-place for following and creating different programs. It will be designed as a meeting place between users, a visibility platform for cultural players, a place for the exchange of ideas, practices, knowledge, a place for training, online workshops. Adult learners from the different countries of the partnership will be involved throughout our project in order to build these digital resources for and with them. This co-construction, in which social service students will also be associated, will help to change the way we look at these people and to recognize them in their wealth, their creative potential, their innate talents. Accessible online, our productions can be used throughout the European Union, well beyond the field of adult education. The project will have an impact on the education and training system, as it aims to improve training systems in the adult education sector and more broadly in supporting this audience. The place given to the artistic creation sector will help learners and professionals to acquire transversal and digital skills and competences, contributing to reinforce creativity in education. Thanks to this project, we want to stimulate the innovative and creative potential of all, of course contributing to the resilience of the cultural and creative sectors, but also to creating hope and a feeling of European belonging.
The principle of third places in which different publics can meet, share, work, contribute, train, and exchange answers this idea. In addition to the third places that exist in many European territories, we wanted to create a European digital third place in which all European actors or citizens could be contributors and/or beneficiaries. Creating a European digital third place has allowed us, for the actors of arts and culture, to invent new modalities of creation/dissemination/mediation and for the actors of adult education to go beyond the too often top-down learning logics to invent more interactive pedagogical formats. We had set ourselves 3 objectives for this project and we have largely reached them, even exceeded them: - To conceive new modalities of creation/dissemination/mediation for the actors of the European arts and culture - Inventing interactive pedagogical formats for adult education actors - To make explicit the learners' competences and make visible their creative potential
The global health crisis has caused considerable upheaval in the cultural and adult education sectors, which have found it difficult to adapt because their actors, often used to working collectively with the public, have found themselves isolated behind their doors or computers. The question posed by this project was how these two sectors and their actors could be resilient. Resilient in the face of the Covid crisis crisis, but more generally in the face of an ever-changing world where digital technology is becoming more and more prevalent. We decided that this crisis was finally an opportunity to reflect more broadly on the issue of physical and geographical impediments. It was also an opportunity to enter into a process of resilience, taking care of ourselves and others, building with others and for all a broader approach to community where the experiences of some enrich those of others.