The overarching objective of 'Learning Inclusion in a Digital Age. To Belong and Find a Voice in a Changing Europe' is to develop country specific and pan-European cultures of learning inclusion and active citizenship in digitally joined-up educational eco-systems incorporating education policy and society (Level 1), the education sector and its institutions (Level 2) vulnerable adult minorities and educators, professionals and learners (Level 3). A range of innovative cultures of learning inclusion utilising distant, online and blended resources are created for the growing number of vulnerable adult minorities in Europe, particularly migrants and refugees. This group face health, employment, gender, cultural and educational challenges on arrival and even as second or third generations grow up in Europe. This is compounded by lack of access to the skills and competencies required to become socially included. All European societies face the risk that vulnerable adult minorities will remain spectators in society without the lifelong capacity to be active citizens capable of clearly expressing their needs, identities and sense of belonging. In LIDA, vulnerable adult minorities understood as refugees and migrants, and their teachers and associated professionals engage with these issues and learn how to create cultures of inclusion and a particular kind of voice expressing belonging and active citizenship supported by digital learning resources, such as digital narratives. The LIDA project outputs and resources are: policy and scientific publications, social media, digital stories, a repository of distant, online and blended resources, digital handbooks and reports. They are shared on an open assess, multilingual LIDA project website maintained after the project. Relationships built with associated partners, including European Association for the Education of Adults, UNESCO’s network of Learning Cities and Smart Cities Associations in European countries ensure the scalability, impact, sustainability and future dissemination of the project.
The LIDA Project sought to develop cultures of learning inclusion and active citizenship for minority groups experiencing vulnerability. The project wanted to achieve: • Raising social, political, and policy awareness around the challenges faced by vulnerable adults in learning situations across Europe. • Establish a sustainable hub of educational resources and methodologies to assess the quality and adequacy of these resources in fostering learning inclusion and active citizenship. • Empower and train adult learners, educators, and associated professionals through participation in learning communities. • Scaffold further research and interventions on learning inclusion and active citizenship. The project was informed by the experiences of adult refugees, migrants, and individuals experiencing social, economic, political, cultural, religious, physical, mental, age, or gender-related disadvantages. Through LIDA, we aimed to provide resources and frameworks to encourage, teach, and support inclusive learning and active citizenship in a digital world. We also sought to establish an infrastructure for ongoing practice and dissemination of learning inclusion activities.
We applied for this project (LIDA) to promote learning inclusion and active citizenship for vulnerable adult minorities in Europe. LIDA aims to empower adult minorities to become active, critically-minded citizens. The need for such initiatives is underscored by the increasing importance of digital learning, especially in a post-Covid19 environment. Yet, evidence suggests that adult minorities often experience exclusion and lack of social belonging in this digital space, which can negatively impact their wellbeing and violate their human rights. The project tackles barriers at policy, institutional and individual levels, aiming to challenge exclusionary attitudes, support sustainable learning organizations, and train educators. Our past work revealed similar barriers like language skills and cultural sensitivity. This project builds on these findings, and through LIDA, we strive to create a more inclusive digital learning environment, utilizing digital storytelling as a unique platform. Our goal is to foster active citizenship and social belonging among these vulnerable groups.