2. international project meeting – Erasmus+ Project "PROMOCITI"

At a second working meeting in Biskops Arnö Nordens Folkhögskola, Sweden, the results of the project so far were compiled and analyzed.

In the past months, houses inside and outside the ARGE BHÖ were interviewed about their activities in the field of voluntary engagement and citizen participation. The comparison with the international partners shows that success factors and challenges are often similar everywhere. A strong network of partners and open listening are important foundations for the success of active civic participation. The lack of funding in most houses nationally as well as internationally is an obstacle. A more detailed analysis on this will be published in fall 2022.

A second component of PROMOCITI is a train-the-trainer course designed to enable educators and education officers to establish their institutions as advocates and promoters of civic participation. The project team prepared the training and is looking forward to testing it with 15 people from Poland, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Spain. These 15 people were able to get to know each other in a first meeting via Zoom. The motivation and the great interest in the topic of citizen participation promise a great further course of the project. From Austria, employees from the educational institutions Retzhof, St. Hippolyt and the Federal Institute for Adult Education (bifeb) will participate.

As strong European partners we are working together with the Federació d'Associacions Culturals i Educatives de Persones Adultes (FACEPA) from Barcelona (Spain), the Heimvolkshochschule Färnebo Folkhögskola from Österfärnebo (Sweden), the Bildungshaus SPES Zukunftsakademie from Schlierbach and the two associations of Bildungshaus from Germany and Poland, Verband der Bildungszentren im ländlichen Raum and Ogólnopolska Sieć Uniwersytetów Ludowych.

Erasmus+ projects are always international in nature. A lively exchange with the project partners from abroad means a great opportunity for the Association of Education Centers in Rural Areas, the participating education officers and two hundred other committed people to look beyond their own nose and get to know other concepts of home adult education work and active citizenship.

 

Links:

Facebook page of the Project

ARGE BHÖ's information page on the project