RuraLearn - Rural Learning for Development in Europe

The proposed RuraLEARN project is an Accompanying Measure across the main Actions of the Socrates Programme. It aims to gather the knowledge, experiences and outcomes of the different Socrates-funded European cooperation projects which have been carried out in the field of learning in rural and geographically disadvantaged areas, analyse them, and present them coherently and systematically to stakeholders and the wider public. This will be achieved through a carefully designed campaign, which will peak into the organisation of a coordinated cluster of public events.

The events will be organized in remote and rural settings on the Greek island of Chios, a mainly rural, geographically disadvantaged, less developed piece of insular land at the southeastern fringe of the European Union, which however presents a tremendous developmental potential and a challenge for sustainable development initiatives. By choosing this remote and rural setting for the organization of the public events, the RuraLEARN project seeks to directly exemplify the challenges faced by Europe's rural communities in terms of development and inclusion, as well as the relevant opportunities that lifelong learning presents for Europeans of all ages in rural and geographically disadvantaged areas; the project will have the opportunity to present these to the visitors invited to the events, the tourists that will happen to visit the island, invited visitors from the Turkish coast lying opposite to the island, as well as, importantly, to the local communities, including rural citizens, and students and teachers from all levels of education represented on the island (pre-school to vocational training and university).

The public events, which will form the core of the RuraLEARN project, will include the following:

• An international conference, which will bring together academics, agents of applied research, and, most importantly, field practitioners, who in the last ten years have been supported by the Socrates Programme to investigate ways of promoting lifelong learning, in the widest sense, in rural communities and geographically disadvantaged areas in Europe. recommendations for the future.
• A series of parallel seminar workshops, each one delving deeper into one of the three major thematic lines of the project.
• An open Rural Learning Fair, disseminating the concepts of the proposed project, as well as the outcomes of all projects invited, to the wider public.
• A competition for the "Most Brilliant Idea for Better Life at the Village through Learning", aimed particularly at school students and teachers in rural settings in Europe.

Partners:

• EA: Ellinogermaniki Agogi
• UA: University of Aegean
• MESTA: Mesta Association for Learning and Culture
• UB: Department of Didactics and Educational Organization - University of Barcelona
• IFS: Institute for Future Studies