COOPTERR : Education in Territorial Cooperation Practices through Culture and Social & Solidarity Economy in Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

COOPTERR : Education in Territorial Cooperation Practices through Culture and Social & Solidarity Economy in Europe

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal)

Project Summary

COOPTERR is a strategic partnership for Adult Education that aims at training people on key skills that are necessary for cooperation. Our approach associates cultural, social, economical and territorial dimensions. It brings together organisations that implement territorial cooperation through the mutualisation of means, collective events, shared-places, collaborative cultural projects or territorial networks regrouping social & solidarity economy organisations. They experiment cooperative approaches for local development, that are creative, evolving and innovative.

The project aims at developing training regarding territorial cooperation practices, in order to help professionals and volunteers of these organisations.

In a world that is changing and reinventing social involvement, personal development and ways of working, being able to cooperate isa key skill that everyone can assimilate, all throughout life. The context of the health crisis – how it shakes the work organisation and fosters the need to reinvest the territories – brings this to light.

COOPTERR brings together six European partners, for 28 months, involved in civic, cultural and social life: CRIES (Romania), Fekete Sereg (Hungary), Largo (Portugal), Solidarius (Italy), RIPESS Europe (Luxembourg), UFISC (France).

These non-profit organisations chose to share their experiences, practices and knowledge in territorial cooperation. They wish to foster networking between actors involved in territorial cooperation, and disseminate their practices and methods.

The assimilation of cooperation skills enables to develop a critical reflection on the world,on the professional organisation and reinforces civic implication altogether. It promotes a transformation of our behaviour, enhances capacities of each person, makes people more attentive to others and defuses competitive situations. The cultural, social and economic dimensions develop the aptitude of people to engage in multidimensional and transversal projects, and to animate collectives that include multiple stakeholders. These dimensions promote creativity and expression, and the ability to work as a team, in projects and within networks.

The partners co-constructed a programme consisting of six mobilities, four transnational meetings, and sessions of online collaboration, to share experiences within each partner country, meet local territorial actors and engage in theoretical and practical training. Each activity will be composed of 25 to 30 participants or more, on the occasions of public meetings and visits. Based on informal education methods, peer to peer and in real situation training, as well as shared-knowledge among the participants, the programme aims at improving adult’s skills. It will strengthen relationships and networks among the people and within the partner organisations. It will enable the creation of a learning community and the capitalisation of experiences, social innovations, and co-constructed tools and methods.

The various situations of cooperation will highlight the added-values inherent to the respect of human rights and sustainable development, and to a greater inclusion and equality. A fil rouge will emerge from experiences of cultural cooperation, lived through cultural events and festivals, and more particularly through the European Capitals of Culture framework, that several partners will experience. This theme will raise awareness of cultural diversity in Europe and on the necessary valorisation of cultural resources of people and European territories. The project, focusing on the transformations experienced by territories and social practices, will work on common references and values and facilitate the understanding of the European context and its evolution.

Aimed at people involved in the animation and transmission of methods of territorial cooperation, and at actors of cooperation, it will expand beyond to spread the culture of cooperation in Europe, through free, open dissemination of the project resources and results. This dissemination will take place over the long term through a website, public events and through the cooperative community. The expected impacts are to strengthen people’s capacities and skills, mutualisation, collective governance, shared-places, collective and territorial events…It will enable the partners to make recommendations in terms of adult education and public policies to social, private and public decision-makers.

The COOPTERR project is based on the shared thought that there can be no real economic and social transformation without a profound cultural transformation, a transformation of the imaginary with which we think our life, work, the society, our territories and through which we live our relationships. This strategic partnership wishes to partake in developing this cooperative, creative and innovative culture. Let’s learn together!

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 189118 Eur

Project Coordinator

Union Fédérale d’Intervention des Structures Culturelles & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Solidarius Italia s.a.s
• Fekete Sereg Ifjúsági Egyesület
• RIPESS EUROPE
• ASOCIATIA CENTRUL DE RESOURSE PENTRU INITIATIVE ETICE SI SOLIDARE
• SOU LARGO, crl