The project aims to connect non formal educational trainers who work in the field of democratic culture, diversity, intercultural learning and related topics and to offer a profound exchange of experiences in working in an online-environment. A handbook containing best parctices in online or blended learning will be developed.

Project background

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on education. Lockdowns, closure of educational institutions, new or changed learning situations such as distance learning and home schooling are just some of the changes that Covid-19 brought along. Since then, adult education has been confronted with new and, in some cases, more difficult conditions. Training courses that were previously offered in face-to-face events have shifted to the digital space. Especially in topics like intercultural competence, anti-discrimination, human rights education or democracy education, we are confronted with new questions and challenges:

– How can topics whose didactic principles are based on direct contact between people be facilitated in the digital space?

– How can such content be conveyed interactively, in a way that is varied and suitable for the specific target groups?

Training providers developed new methods and training content to adapt to the new conditions. Different educators used different methods and forms of learning to pass on their content to the target groups. In some cases, however, training courses were cancelled because the educators did not have the resources to develop new implementation options for the digital space or did not have the necessary knowledge and know-how.

Furthermore, there has hardly been any reflection on the experiences in the digital space or quality assurance of the digital offerings in the area of diversity and inclusion. The project addresses these points and is dedicated to the design and quality assurance of digital methods that enable these socially relevant topics in adult education.

Project partners

• IZ – Verein zur Förderung von Vielfalt, Dialog und Bildung (Austria) – coordinator

IZ implements projects to promote civic engagement, social inclusion and municipal development in the key regions of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Southeastern Europe as well as in Austria. In Austria, IZ offers counseling and educational activities in the field of diversity and intercultural skills for different age groups. Project coordinator: Petra Haderer, Petra.Haderer@iz.or.at

• IIT – Intercultural Institute Timisoara (Romania).

IIT works in the areas of intercultural education, human rights education and education for democratic citizenship. It offers trainings and educational materials to teachers and young people, with a respective focus on each group. Other topics and fields of activity are media monitoring, intercultural communication trainings, civic society development, Roma inclusion and integration of migrants.

Project activities

• Partner meetings in Vienna and Timisoara for project implementation and planning/preparation of activities
• Development and implementation of a survey (approx. 100 trainers in adult education), which collects methodological concepts, online tools and didactical principles. 
• Selection of 10 experienced trainers responsible for content, methodological and didactical development in the digital space.
• Methodology Lab: Three-day even with 30 trainers, providing space for exchange of experiences and for joint development of new didactic principles and methods based on the survey
• Testing the proposed methods in online/blended learning settings
• Development of a Handbook  

Project duration

October 2022 – January 2024

The project “Digiversity” is funded by the European Union as part of the Erasmus+ Programme.