Great discussion, would like to be able to listen full discussion. 

Art and culture in my consideration is very important for expressing themselves, giving opinion in artistic way about the world issues. Also, I think adults can learn a lot from artists how to express themselves, how to look different at things. 

We organized  little project to get adult involved as beginners in art, to encourage participate. Many adults are usually more scared then kids, if asked to do something new. Project title "The Art to be a beginner" , "Māksla būt iesācējam"

We had 4 different online lectures (3 of them practical), first was a lecture by local Tukums museum on famous artists from the area. Next week activity was a sketching course "Draw easy" or "Zīmē viegli". Sketches were colored  with watercolors. Next, was a lecture by artist (Grafikas Akadēmija) on lithography. It was a little historical introduction and a practical activity "a kitchen lithography". For a couple of participants working with oil paint was for first time, and it was good to learn that oil paint can be taken off from hands with oil, but not with water...As final activity was chosen a calligraphy with  brush pen, considering that is it the easiest way to capture the idea of calligraphy. The result of the activities can be sees in this video Virtuālā izstāde I Māksla būt iesācējam 2022 - YouTube 

The project was funded by local municipality trough program for little projects. Each participant received the package of  materials before the activities. 

I believe the diversity of cultures is a rich resource for maintaining democratic values. Everyone can share their cultural perspective, thus enriching everyone. It creates an environment in which cultural diversity is accepted and respected.

Идеите са прекрасни.

To everyone who participated in today's event, my sincerest thanks.

It was a pleasure working with Sara, Claudia and meeting and discussing the themes of today's discussion with Niels and Rasha.

I look forward to seeing an ongoing discussion emerge on this platform over the next few days and will keep in contact... 

Helen 

Hello everybody, big thanks to the organizers of the discussion for choosing this very important topic. I am especially pleased as in couple of months, we are organizing a networking visit to Netherlands, visiting some Dutch cultural institutions, museums, galleries etc. to get to know the best practice in cultural education, promoting of cultural education in cummunities, social cohesion and other themes. The visit will enable to share best practice between people working in Czech cultural institutions and the Dutch ones. All this within EPALE project. We have a great partner in Holland, the National Centre of Expertise for Cultural Education and Amateur Arts from Utrecht, so if you intend to focus on Dutch cultural and educational system, this is a good pick for a partner.

Next year, we are also planning another networking visit - within EPALE and the same topic - to some other EU country with high expertise in cultural education but we haven´t ´picked this one yet. If you have any recommendation for a partner, please go ahead.

Martin, the Czech EPALE

Thank you very much for the interesting discussion! Creativity, culture and art should be seen as a powerful way to deal with various themes and to be strong part of education. At the KSL Study Center in Finland, we have thought a lot about the possibilities of creativity and culture in relation to activism and civic activity. This year we also published a publication in English about craft activism in Finland, where the activists themselves reflect on their own relationship with activism, craft and art. The publication can be viewed here and is available for free download or delivery abroad until the end of this year.
https://www.ksl.fi/julkaisut/craftivism/

In my opinion, the publication also opens up well how, through crafts and creativity, people feel they can influence global challenges and participate in the discussion.

Riina Näsi Culture producer, Art educator

Is lifelong learning belonging to our culture? Are we possessing learning as our cultural value? Do we convey the message of lifelong learning to our younger generations in families, schools, and local communities? I come from a green and creative country – Latvia. We have a strong tradition of folk dances, choir singing, and cultural heritage preservation across generations and years. Lifelong learning is becoming more and more popular in my country and across EU. Why? Because we need new 21^st skills linked with digitization and globalization. We learn these skills by doing. Creativity and cultural diversity is also promoted across lifelong learning. I do believe that lifelong learning should be part of our culture now-a-days.

Here is a link to the manifesto by RISE network for artists who are working with refugees and asylum seeks. 

https://www.riserefugee.org/10-things-you-need-to-consider-if-you-are-a…

This is an interesting and important point. It would be interesting to know what is preventing the introduction of culture and multidisciplinary culture spaces..

Thank you for interesting topic for discussion. Fully agree with speakers about the power of cultural institutions in challenging thinking, educating, reminding about the values, raising awareness about important issues.
It is wonderful to hear about examples of museums which are actively trying to be relevant, reach out to the community, and are actively attract students.

As a mum of small children I really enjoy when cultural institutions, libraries and museums make sure they are family-friendly. This ensures both, developmental opportunities for children and also opportunity for parents to visit this place. E.g., National Museum of Arts of Latvia has a "bag for children" with various interesting tasks for children that makes sure they are busy during the visit, e.g., searching certain character in paintings.

Culture is one of the brightest manifestations of human civilization.

I believe that culture is becoming extremely important for the inclusion of individual communities within the national culture and existing cultural diversity to an extent that makes sense of the results of smart growth pursued by the European Union through investment in education, creativity and innovation.

Not only adult educators play a key role in fostering creativity. For example, in our country, it is NGOs that play a major role in promoting the creativity of adults by organizing art, etc. events for different target groups. The operation of several social enterprises also includes activities that promote creativity.

Mind the gap: Exploring the power of storytelling

Can our gaps bring us closer to each other? Storytelling has the power to build human bridges beyond any cultural or socio-economic barrier.

Did you already read Rasha Shaaban's blog post on EPALE?

https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/blog/everyone-living-gap-exploring-power-storytelling

Claudia (EPALE Moderator)

The programmes mentioned by Helen O'Donoghue:

Collaboration with Universities of Sanctuary movement

https://imma.ie/whats-on/visual-voices-bok-gwai/

https://imma.ie/magazine/stories-of-hospitality/

https://www.dcu.ie/sanctuary

SPICE European Funded programme currently with IMMA

https://imma.ie/whats-on/spice-partnership-research/

Cultural institutions have a high potential to reach people. If educational institutions appeal with logic, with the help of reason, cultural institutions appeal through emotions. This allows better access to at-risk adults. Cultural institutions also have the advantage of being physically closer to people. In Latvia, every village has a cultural center, but not every village has an educational institution. Cultural centers involve adults in choir singing, which is very popular in Latvia, in dance groups and amateur theater performances. It is an opportunity for people to express their activity, creativity, self-realization, which is the basis of a civic attitude. Cultural centers organize meetings with writers, actors, public workers, which broadens the horizons of community members and creates impulses for local activities. The best results are achieved when cultural institutions cooperate with educational institutions. Such cooperation networks are formed by active adult education coordinators in Latvian municipalities.

To learn more about our guest speakers' institutions and commitment:

The Danish Centre for Arts & Interculture (CKI): https://www.cki.dk/

The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA): https://imma.ie/

The Gothenburg National Museums of World Culture: https://www.varldskulturmuseet.se/en/

Claudia (EPALE Moderator)

Culture and arts are the most important ways that meaning is made and taken on. In the digital world, we live in now, arts can offer new ways of looking at things beyond specific solutions. Through the variety of intellectual and emotional experiences they offer, arts can teach people about complexity while also adding to the positive experience of being different. In this way, arts are an important way to deal with the cultural, social, economic, and religious tensions that exist inside and outside of Europe.

Creativity involves different ways of thinking, breaking the established pattern of valuing and creating. Divergent thinking is particularly important as it can generate ideas that are innovative. In order to think outside the model, one needs the freedom to become aware of the existing frameworks and boundaries of the model in order to be able to step outside them. People are much more creative if there is a chance that our ideas will be implemented, albeit at a later stage, thus seeing that our ideas can be useful. This sense of usefulness can be enhanced by clarifying goals: what we consider useful and what we want to achieve.

The live stream has started!

Do not miss the live discussion, and feel free to post your questions to the speakers.

Claudia (EPALE Moderator)

One of the most important aspects of our century is social cohesion.Social cohesion is a challenge of the century we are going through. In the post-corona era, the role of the family and school is called to be redefined. But are we, the teachers, ready to face this challenge?

Civic engagement and democratic participation starts from home and school. If we as parents and teachers do not cooperate, we cannot be role models for our students. Schools which thrive and develop practise -  on an everyday basis - understanding, social inclusion and acceptance of the "different other", cooperation, respect, teamwork and solidarity. In other words quality education, can be practised only in a workplace where self reflection and development is a priority. 

Hello EPALE community!

We are 30 minutes away from starting the live discussion. At 10 a.m. we will start the live stream!

Thank you for the already vibrant contributions, and keep on commenting and asking questions.

Claudia (EPALE Moderator)

Even though everyone understands the importance of creativity in creating new ideas and solving complex problems, many adults feel barriers to engaging in creative activities. The audience can feel embarrassed and unwilling to open to new ideas/perspectives. We often hear comments that creative activities are more suitable for children. One of the obstacles is the disbelief that I can succeed. Educators can help adults make sure that everyone can develop creativity. Adult education has great potential for developing creativity through the appropriate hands-on and experiential teaching methods. 

At any age, creative thinking is priceless. For example, our imagination can help us to understand complex ideas. Using imagination and creativity leads to innovations, understanding, and development of theories in any profession. We can use various creative-artistic activities in adult education, for example, “Turn Your World Upside-Down”.