RELIGION, BELIEFS, AND LAICITY IN CULTURAL HERITAGE TO FOSTER SOCIAL INCLUSION IN ADULT TRAININGS Erasmus Project

Project Title

RELIGION, BELIEFS, AND LAICITY IN CULTURAL HERITAGE TO FOSTER SOCIAL INCLUSION IN ADULT TRAININGS

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; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Ethics, religion and philosophy (incl. Inter-religious dialogue)

Project Summary

REBELAH is a two year strategic partnership involving 6 organizations in 4 countries: Storytelling Centre (NL), University of Groningen (NL), Elan Interculturel (FR), Kepes (HU), Ibn Battuta Foundation (SP) and La Xixa Teatre as project coordinator (SP).

CONTEXT AND NEEDS
Exclusionary narratives that surge throughout Europe are entering the learning environments, negatively affecting religious and ethnic minority learners. In a training group with 15 adults: in Spain, 3 participants would feel uncomfortable with a Muslim or a Roma peer; in France 2 and 3 respectively, in the Netherlands, 1 each; and in Hungary more than half the group would be uncomfortable with either a Muslim or a Roma peer. In such a context, cultural heritage is an essential tool for both trainers and learners to recover Europe’s plural past in favour of inclusive and safe learning spaces.

OBJECTIVES
In the context of adult trainings, we will:
– Foster inclusion, diversity and non-discrimination, particularly in regards to religious minorities
– Promote the social and educational value of European cultural heritage and its potential to generate interreligious co-existence
– Extend and develop competences of adult trainers to foster inclusion through their teaching practice, particularly in multicultural learner contexts.

PARTICIPANTS
REBELAH’s main target group are adult trainers. Secondary target groups are adult learners, activists, community leaders and local minorities. Policy makers, heritage and adult trainer organizations will also be targeted by the project to assure increased impact of project activities and outputs. We expect to involve 444 participants from the different target group in project activities, and disseminate the project to the over 50,000 people that compose our consortium’s social network base.

ACTIVITIES
The project main activities are:
– Continuous management, assessment and dissemination of project progress, quality and impact, including 4 transnational partner meetings
– Development of 2 multimedia outputs to promote inclusive learning environments
– One joint staff training
– 8 local pilots to co-construct project outputs
– An international final conference

METHODOLOGY
Partner experience in adult education shows that the Critical Incident Methodology, Forum Theatre, Process Work, Storytelling, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Metacognitive Therapy are methods which allow for a profound transformation of the learning environment, and are useful in building trainer and learner skills on how to comprehensively address conflicts, discriminatory behaviours and cultural shocks. We will bring these embodied methodologies into the field of cultural heritage, to generate an innovative approach to inclusive adult learning environments, in particularly for minority learners.

RESULTS, IMPACT AND LONG-TERM BENEFITS
We will develop two intellectual outputs jointly with the target groups, produced in English, Hungarian, Spanish, French and Dutch, and made available through the project website and the Erasmus+ Results Platform:
– IO1: “Fostering inclusive learning environments through cultural heritage: Tool-kit for adult trainers.” The toolkit is composed of an interactive map with multi-format narratives about cultural heritage elements, infosheets, and an activity handbook with related teambuilders.
– IO2: “Inclusion, religion and beliefs in secular adult learning environments: a train the trainer handbook.” The handbook contents include a theoretical introduction on the educational value of cultural heritage to generate inclusive learning environments with special attention to religion and beliefs, followed by modules on different tools that are relevant for the trainer to gain intercultural competence in their teaching practice. Each module should work as a “learning journey/path of self-discovery” where trainers can gain awareness about their heritage, their identity, how this impacts their teaching practice, and how to make their teaching practice more inclusive.
Additionally, over 400 participants will be trained in REBELAH methods, and over 20 organizations will be involved in the project through stakeholder committees.

In terms of impact,
– adult trainers will experience and acquire new methodologies to promote inclusive learning environments
– minority learners will acquire tools to reappropriate their experience in relation to their territories of residence
– involved organizations will be able to incorporate innovative trainings and methods, and expand their networks to promote inclusion, religious diversity and European cultural heritage

We will develop strategic guiding tools such as a dissemination and stakeholder plan, and an evaluation framework which will serve to assess the progress, quality and impact of all project activities and results.

Outputs will be credible, valuable, accessible and adaptable to our target groups to assure the sustainability and long-term benefits.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 232950 Eur

Project Coordinator

Associacio La Xixa Teatre & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Fundacion Ibn Battuta
• RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN
• Storytelling Centre
• ELAN INTERCULTUREL
• Képes Alapítvány – a szociális és érzelmi készségfejlesztésért