A panel of experts from the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission has selected the EAEA-coordinated Outreach, Empowerment, Diversity (OED) Grundtvig Network as a “success story”. The project that run between 2012 and 2014, tackled the need for outreach to marginalized groups, especially migrants and ethnic minorities, for the development of more diversity in adult education, and especially the inclusion of learners’ voices, and for the empowerment of its learners to become active European citizens.
“Success stories” are finalised projects that have distinguished themselves by their impact, contribution to policy-making, innovative results and/or creative approach and can be a source of inspiration for others.
OED project has also been marked as such in the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform, which is a database where one can find descriptions and results of projects supported by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ Programme, as well as its predecessor programmes.
An exemplary project
The choice of the OED Network as a success story was made on the basis of a selection process that match rigorous criteria regarding the quality, relevance and results of the project.
“I am extremely pleased with the acknowledgement we have received,” says EAEA Secretary General Gina Ebner. “I want to thank the whole project consortium and everyone who contributed to the OED project andmade it such a success,” she continues.
Reaching out to marginalized groups
OED Network, bringing together 17 organisations from 14 countries, provided adult education institutions tools and information on how to develop successful outreach and enhance empowerment and diversity activities.
Also two documents targeted at local, national and European policy-makers were published: ‘OED Policy Recommendations’ and ‘Engaging New Learners in Adult Education — Short guide for policy-makers and adult educators’. These documents are available in English, French, German, Bulgarian, Spanish, Turkish and Greek. Printed copies can be ordered at the EAEA office.
The work continuesA follow-up project kicks off next March with the three-years-long Implementing OED (implOED) project. This new project will implement the guidelines for adult education providers and the policy recommendations for national and European policy-makers. It will therefore continue to improve the engagement of disadvantaged adults in learning and to make education policies more effective for their needs.
Photos are from the OED final conference, held in Brussels in June 2014.
Article source: www.eaea.org