Spaces for Intercultural Learning Erasmus Project

Project Title

Spaces for Intercultural Learning

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 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Creativity and culture; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Context and objectives of the project:
Intercultural competences are crucially needed in our globalised world because of the increasing diversity and the pressing global challenges we face in our societies. In the year 2015 while planning the project there was the sudden flow of asylum seekers to Europe. We found an urgent need in the adult education sector to learn new ways and methods of how to teach newcomers in intercultural settings.
This project aimed at promoting intercultural learning by developing arts-based and action-oriented methods and by producing new material for intercultural teaching and learning. Moreover, the project’s objective has been to enhance educators’ capacities to shape intercultural awareness and teach intercultural competences in culturally diverse settings.
Participants and activities:
During the project, we created, tested, taught and evaluated a variety of methods in the six adult education institutions in Finland, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Italy, Romania and Poland. Each partner piloted different arts-based and action-oriented methods in their local groups. These pilot groups were culturally diverse and there were learners from a variety of backgrounds. For example, participants included deaf people, minorities, refugees and people with different socio-economic backgrounds.
As intercultural competences consist not only of knowledge but also skills and attitudes such as empathy and active listening, learning beyond the book is vital. That is why we were exploring how different kinds of arts-based and action-oriented methods can be effectively applied in multicultural settings. By combining creative practices with theories on intercultural competences, we developed new insights on how to create spaces for intercultural learning.
During the last quarter of the project the partners implemented dissemination events with different kinds of themes for representing the variety of content of the guidebook. All the outputs collected to the guidebook are so comprehensive that they need an own event or own workshop in one event. All partners have also made the dissemination work by informing their stakeholders in their newsletters, web sites and social media channels
Results, impacts and long term benefits:
The project results brought new approaches to the choice of the methods for intercultural learning activities. The main output of the project is a digital guidebook for teachers, facilitators and educators, which contains all the materials developed through the project. The book provides new theoretical approaches on intercultural teaching and learning as well as practical methodological tools for educators. It also introduces an innovative reflection method to be applied by the educators and how to use game-like elements in intercultural learning. In addition we created the e-book for all people who are interested in intercultural learning. It is an interactive online tool that can be interesting for anyone to “challenge” their own intercultural competences and learn new point of view.
The results of the project are available for all who are interested of intercultural learning and ways of promoting it. The guidebook and the e-book are open for everyone and easily accessed since it is published in a digital format. Guidebook is published in PDF format and it can easily be printed entirely or partly for present needs. The books can be benefitted by all kinds of educators, facilitators, instructors, social workers, community pedagogues and youth workers. In addition to the adult education field, the project results are useful for other sectors working with culturally diverse groups, such as NGOs and cultural organisations.
Investing in educators’ capacity building yields long term benefits because they play an in important role in fostering enlightened, creative and interculturally competent global citizens. The project has brought new perspectives to actual and important themes, as intercultural competence is a prerequisite for community dialogue, civic engagement and inclusion, community building, problem solving, celebrating diversity and finding common ground.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 244075 Eur

Project Coordinator

Sivistysliitto Kansalaisfoorumi SKAF ry. & Country: FI

Project Partners

• STICHTING HOGESCHOOL ROTTERDAM
• Training for Women Network Ltd.
• Dom Kultury Kadr w Dzielnicy Mokotów m. st. Warszawy
• Orizont Cultural T
• ISTITUTO DEI SORDI DI TORINO