Make Nordic folkbildning UNESCO cultural heritage!
Could Nordic non-formal adult education be UNESCO´s cultural heritage, following the idea of adult education legend Gösta Vestlund?
Stockholm was warm that September, seven years ago. I was uncomfortable.
My work trip to Sweden was almost over, and I was anxious to catch the ferry home, across the gulf to Helsinki. My first-born was five weeks old and hospitalised because of an infection. It was an awkward moment to be away.
I nevertheless had one assignment before boarding the boat.
I was on my way to meet someone very special for a video interview. Gösta Vestlund is regarded the ‘grand old man’ of Swedish folkbildning, that is, the Nordic type of free non-formal adult education (see the box below).
Mr Vestlund, at the time, was 99 years old. Currently, at the time of writing this article, he is 106. Vestlund’s career in non-formal adult education as educator, administrator, author and prominent figure in public debates has spanned a staggering nine decades and continues to this day.
I made my way through Stockholm to my interview with tripod and camera in tow. I hailed a taxi that soon drove me softly through a leafy suburb. A few steps to Mr Vestlund’s door and soon I found myself engulfed in a sofa, mildly stunned by the fact that my centenarian host was smilingly serving me coffee and buns – refusing any help.
Our interview turned out to be one of the most pleasant and memorable encounters of my professional life. Mr Vestlund’s thoughts were gripping, the delivery eloquent. My restless mood dissipated the moment I stepped in the door to a most friendly, heartfelt welcome – and no titles and ‘sirs’ allowed here!
We talked well over an hour. It was a pain to cram the fascinating conversation into a 14-minute video later.
Video courtesy and copyright of Elm Magazine. www.elmmagazine.eu
The core of Mr Vestlund´s message was how folkbildning and democracy were deeply linked. Folkbildning’s core idea is to motivate people for self-development and society’s development, all the while building learners’ self-esteem. This respect of the individual, in Gösta Vestlund´s words, is also the basis of democracy.
The last thing he said has stuck most with me. He had a vision to pass on to adult educators everywhere.
‘What if folkbildning was included in UNESCO´s list of intangible cultural heritage?’
Vestlund went on to describe how inclusion in the cultural heritage list would be a nod to folkbildning’s role in democracy building but also very astute advocacy work in a time when state subsidies for adult education are waning in many countries.
Seven years on I keep thinking: what a great idea! A call to the EPALE community: could we make this a reality? Comment below!
Nordic “Folkbildning” in a nutshell Non-formal adult education of the Nordic type, ‘folkbildning’, or ‘liberal adult education’ is characterised by the following traits:
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Markus Palmen is a journalist, writer and audiovisual producer, and a freelancer. Since August 2017 he has been EPALE's Thematic Coordinator for Policy. For eight years Markus was the Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief for the European Lifelong Learning Magazine.
