PortuguêsWithin the scope of the Erasmus+ Programme – Adult Education (Key Action 1: Individual Mobility), Citizenship Academy developed, throughout 2023 and 2024, a European project focused on capacity-building and cooperation, aimed at strengthening its educational practices and developing the skills of its members.
This project was integrated into the association’s strategy to promote active citizenship, civic participation, and community empowerment, contributing to the continuous improvement of its adult education programmes.
Framework and Objectives
The project had the following main objectives:
- To strengthen Citizenship Academy’s capacity to support citizens and communities in responding to social and environmental challenges, namely climate change, social exclusion, and inequalities;
- To integrate new pedagogical approaches that promote civic participation and collective action;
- To develop the skills of the association’s members in educational methods oriented towards community-based responses, pro-environmental civic initiatives, and practices of care, well-being, and resilience in contexts of collective action;
- To promote European cooperation through the exchange of practices with other organizations working in the field of adult education.
Activities Carried Out
Within the framework of the project, participants took part in international training activities held between March and September 2024:
- Conflict — March 2024
- Active Solidarity & Empowerment — April 2024
- Leaderful Organising — May 2024
- Framing and Narrative — June 2024
- Strategy — September 2024
- Integral Activist Training of Trainers — September 2024
These activities contributed to the development of individual and collective competencies, with a direct impact on the training practices and the work carried out by Citizenship Academy.
Participants and Selection Criteria
The project involved 15 participants, selected through a process aligned with the association’s principles of inclusion, diversity, and participation. The selection criteria included:
- Motivation to participate in the project;
- Quality of the proposals for dissemination and application of the learning outcomes;
- Gender balance (less than 50% cis men);
- Age diversity;
- Balance in length of membership within the collective (less than 50% of members with more than two years of involvement);
- Priority given to participants without prior international experience.
The selection process included moments of collective reflection among the project coordination team, with the results shared with the association’s members.
Dissemination and Integration of Learning Outcomes
The dissemination and integration of learning outcomes were a central pillar of the project. Each participant was responsible for proposing a format for sharing and implementing the knowledge acquired, subject to validation by the project coordination team.
The planned formats included workshops, skill-sharing sessions, internal training activities, and written summaries. This process ensured that the learning outcomes achieved in an international context were effectively integrated into the association’s practices and broadly shared among its members.
Project funded under the Erasmus+ Programme – Adult Education
By: Gabriela Benedeti