Wake-up! Intensyfikacja edukacji pozaformalnej młodzieży w Gminie Łobez poprzez strategiczne partnerstwa międzynarodowe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Wake-up! Intensyfikacja edukacji pozaformalnej młodzieży w Gminie Łobez poprzez strategiczne partnerstwa międzynarodowe

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 youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

The project ‘Wake Up! Promoting Non-formal Education of Youth in Łobez Commune through International Strategic Partnerships’ was carried out in the Polish-German border region in the West Pomeranian Voivodship. The organisations and institutions taking part worked towards a common goal: supporting the development of young people in the region by improving the quality of local education, training and youth work. The way to achieve it was by introducing non-formal teaching into local education processes, using methods devised together by international project partners to meet the needs of the local population. This goal was reached thanks to partner organisations from three countries, who contributed their knowledge and experience: Bonin Foundation from Poland, D Bonhoeffer International Centre for Studies and Events (Polish expert), Polish-German Initiative for Cultural Cooperation agitPolska from Berlin, the Association of the Trebnitz Castle Education and Exchange Centre (German expert), and Richter Foundation (Dutch expert).
The partners were selected so that each of them would contribute something different to the project, to achieve a synergistic effect. They are experienced in non-formal and intercultural teaching, fostering civic responsibility and participation, and organising cultural events. Most of them also deal with volunteering and entrepreneurship, which, during the project, led to exchanging ideas and experiences concerning agency as a key factor of youth work. Thanks to this cooperation, we prepared two complementary publications which can be regarded as the intellectual outcome of the project: a model strategy for developing non-formal education in Łobez Commune and a non-formal education manual called ‘A Guide to Pedagogy of Freedom’. The guide presents the idea of non-formal education and the work methods used by development facilitators in a novel way, including short training films accessible via QR codes. Hyperlinks present in the digital version of the guide allow instant access to these teaching aids. The guide is meant for teachers, trainers and other youth workers. It includes practical instructions for using non-formal teaching methods and tools, and describes the desired effects. All the suggested methods were tested with young people during two international summer events called ‘An Expedition into the Past and the Future’. Apart from staff training in new technologies, the youth exchanges constituted the main project activities. The influence of the project was visible already during the promotional events, such as a conference in Łobez (Poland) and Trebnitz (Germany), the Wake Up! festival prepared by the youth to mark the end of the second exchange, and the film & photo exhibition at Łobez Cultural Centre. Thanks to it, local authorities on both sides of the border became interested in the results of the project. The self-government of Łobez Commune changed its outlook on education, and the role of the Youth Town Council in Łobez increased. Łobez Commune became a model example for implementing new forms of youth work. Following local modifications, the model can be introduced in any area with similar socioeconomic conditions.
Owing to the fact that the project was carried out by an international team, long-term benefits for all the project partners became evident already during the stage of disseminating information about the results. Exchanging knowledge and experiences had a positive impact on the potential of each of the organisations. Preparing guidelines in form of a model strategy for rural areas and an instruction manual mark the beginning of change in the way non-formal education is perceived. The achieved results will make it possible to introduce non-formal teaching methods or modify existing ones in the long run, acting within the framework of broadly defined European non-formal education. This innovative approach to methodology was possible thanks to abandoning programme-focused thinking in favour of participation and self-organisation. Numerous discussions about youth work, exploring topics such as group dynamics, group processes, leadership styles, a culture of dispute resolution, applying consensus or familiarising oneself with one’s surroundings, allowed everyone to review their ways of working and to learn new skills. A good choice of partners and teachers combined with a possibility to test the proposed solutions initiated a process of dynamic change, supported by freedom thinking, for all participants of this experimental project. Thanks to it we also came up with ideas for further cooperation and the ways to introduce non-formal education into young people’s everyday lives – all according to the motto ‘the sky is the limit’.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 161341,66 Eur

Project Coordinator

Fundacja Bonin & Country: PL

Project Partners

• agitPolska Polnisch-Deutsche Initiative für Kulturkooperation e.V.
• Schloß Trebnitz Bildungs- und Begegnungszentrum e.V.
• Richter
• Fundacja Miedzynarodowe Centrum Studiow i Spotkan im. Dietricha Bonhoeffera