Every year, European Association for the Education of Adults is searching for adult education projects from Europe and beyond demonstrating innovation and excellence in adult learning and education (ALE). EAEA Grundtvig Award calls attention to initiatives that realise new and innovative ideas, establish new partnerships, develop new methodologies and support a modern understanding of adult education. In 2023 the theme of the Award is Adult Learning and the Green Transition.

Original source: https://eaea.org/our-work/capacity-building/eaea-grundtvig-award/eaea-grundtvig-award-2023/

Theme: Adult Learning and the Green Transition

The real, observable impact of climate change and environmental degradation is raising imminent and future threats not only to the economy as a whole, but also to communities, farmers and citizens. Those existential crises also directly affect the adult learning and education (ALE) sector, which can contribute to the betterment of those crises.

As shown by EAEA in its Concept Paper on Adult Learning and the Green Transition, there is a strong correlation between sustainability issues and political participation: better-informed citizens not only engage more often at the personal level but also engage in collective climate action.

Over the past years, adult learning and education sector has been deeply afflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the financial implications that came with it for the ALE organisations. On top of that, the energy crisis is increasingly affecting the ALE sector, as learning centres in many regions of Europe are struggling to pay their energy bills and again have to reduce their learning offers or increase learner fees. This, in turn, has a negative impact on the inclusion of the most vulnerable groups of learners.

Against this background, EAEA is looking for innovative, creative and successful adult learning and education initiatives, programmes or projects that are dedicated to the green transition.

We are especially looking for initiatives which support giving adult learners a strong voice, promote policy coherence at all levels, provide support to ALE providers and organisations, build partnerships for ALE and the green transition, promote transnational approaches, focus on joint advocacy activities, and promote transformative ALE for green and sustainable change.

Main aims

We are looking for projects and initiatives that fulfil one or more of the following aims:

• Supporting a transnational approach and/or focusing on joint advocacy activities
• Promoting transformative ALE for a green and sustainable change
• Building partnerships for ALE and the Green Transition
• Building capacity for greening ALE and contributing to the EU objectives on the Green
  Transition
• Reach out to stakeholders and build new networks and/or impact policy at the national level

Why participate?

Participants gain:

• Certificate of attendance
• Appearance in the EAEA Grundtvig Award publication, which will be distributed on EAEA’s website, newsletter and social media channels (outstanding applicants filling the application criteria)

The winners gain:

• International visibility for the project on EAEA’s communication channels
• An invitation to the EAEA General Assembly 2022 and the EAEA Grundtvig Award Ceremony
• An EAEA Grundtvig award (a piece of art or handicraft)
• Key slot in the EAEA Grundtvig Award publication
• Appearance in EAEA’s media release

How to participate?

Categories:

We will award excellent adult education and learning initiatives that have demonstrated a strong and innovative approach to ALE and Green Transition.

You may apply under either of the categories below. Programmes can be from EU and non-EU countries (from the Council of Europe).

• Local, regional or national
  Projects, initiatives or partnerships delivered on a local, regional or national scale, that have successfully demonstrated the support of Adult Learning and Education & Green Transition, their implementation or the development of innovative approaches.
• Transnational
  Projects, initiatives or partnerships carried out transnationally that have successfully demonstrated the support of Adult Learning and Education & Green Transition, their implementation or the development of innovative approaches.

Eligibility

Projects, initiatives or partnerships can but need not be supported by the European Commission. They can, but do not need to be Erasmus+ projects.

The initiative, programme or partnership should be up and running for at least 3 months at the time of application. It must present evidence of outputs such as a report, website, or any other verification form. We also accept finished projects, but they should have ended within two years of the Grundtvig Award ceremony (June 2023).

Initiatives, programmes or partnerships can cover any relevant topic in adult education.

Criteria

The applications will be checked against the following criteria:

• Outstanding creativity and innovation of the idea, or innovative means of delivery.
• The initiative, programme or partnership and its outcomes being transferable to other regions will be seen as a bonus.
• Plans and capacity to upscale (where relevant) will be seen as a bonus.
• The excellence of initiative, programme or partnership presentation in terms of writing, summarising and supporting with pictures.
• Effectiveness of the initiative, programme or partnership (how the outcomes have been reached, or show promise of being reached).
• The initiative, programme or partnership must demonstrate how it aims at making a positive difference to, or impact on learners’ lives and the lives of their families, friends, colleagues and/or the community
• The presentation of testimonials from learners or trainers will be seen as a bonus.
• Focusing on one specific target group will be seen as a bonus, irrespective of the nature of the said group.

What do we expect?

Please fill in the form below with the following information:

1. A description of the initiative, programme or partnership:

• The main goals
• How did you approach ALE and Green Transition?
• What methodology did you apply to foster Green Transition in ALE?
• What are the outcomes for the learners/learning organisations/stakeholders?
• A breakdown of each of the steps/facets of the project
• Your target group(s)
• Main results

2. Explanation of the impact:

• How did your project foster ALE and green transition?
• How did you recognise and track success?
• How could this approach be applied by other AE providers or community learning programmes?
• What you have learned – what would you do again, and what will you change to develop the programme in the future?
• Plans to continue, upscale, or improve the programme in the future

How to apply?

You may submit a description of your project, initiative or partnership in English. Entries must be received by filling in an application form for the Grundtvig Award up until 25 March 2023. It is possible to send attachments (maximum file size 20 M) with the form.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact christin.cieslak (at) eaea.org.