The iBOX in-person training was held during the first edition of the LLLDays, on June 17 and 18. It was a great opportunity for participants, from inside and outside the LLLP’s network, to share knowledge and discuss inclusion and inclusive practices. The main goal is the capacity building of staff in educational and training provides, NGOs and CSOs on the 3 main cores in order to create more inclusive work environments and organisations, which therefore can support in creating a more inclusive society.
Day 1 - Setting the scene and practices sharing
The first day of the iBOX training, on 17 June, was focused on the iBOX project and sharing of inspiring practices. The project was presented, as well as the two main deliverables: Compendium of inspiring practices and the Inclusion and Diversity Charter.
Good practices, such as We Are Here: A Child Participation Toolkit (Learning for Well-being Foundation and Eurochild), Get started as a digihelper from Mediawijs or Dutch as a second language (NT2), presented by Crescendo CVO were shared and discussed within the participants.
From these practices, participants and partners were encouraged to isolate the main success factors, which can be transversal to other sectors, levels of implementation or contexts. Which successful factors were identified? Among others, the importance of the intergenerational connection, the relevance of capacity building activities, training the trainers, which leads to the creation of the multiplier effects. The need of direct contact with target-groups or of the design based on their needs, importance of volunteering, and use of participatory activities, giving learners power over decisions on their learning path are also considered as important factors.
Day 2 - Training courses
The second day of training (18 June) started with a quick recap of the iBOX project and an ice-break exercise to prepare the participants for the training.
Access and participation in learning environments
Facilitator: Chiara Piccolo, Learning for Well-being Foundation
The facilitator started with a moment of reflection, to allow participants to reflect and share with the other participants their intention for the training. The core concepts of this session are access and participation. Participants were asked to share how they would define both concepts; followed by the explanation of the journey of each learner into the learning opportunities. The facilitator presented some of the key definitions and modalities of participants and the participants worked in smaller groups, analysing a real case study provided by the participants. Four case studies were discussed and presented by each group: two capacity building for teachers (one on making STEM more inclusive, another one fighting bullying) and two Higher Education courses.
Diversity and inclusion
Facilitator: Flavien Degoulet, CÉMEA France & Marie-France Zicot, CÉMEA Belgium
The facilitator made a brief introduction to the second session, followed by a series of energising to continue to engage participants in the discussion. These energisers were a way to first showcase the diversity existing in the room, in terms of countries, languages, even eye colour.
Concepts of diversity, stereotypes, discrimination and intersectionality were discussed, and participants were asked to give personal and professional contributions to the discussion. The next phase of the training focused on segregation, integration, inclusion and exclusion and their tight relation with diversity. Participants were once again encouraged and involved with practical examples of their own experiences.
The second facilitator, from CÉMEA Belgium, joined the training to present concrete practices from the organisation. The main practice presented was the “Survival guide in a sexist environment: promoting an education to gender equality” and organisation of training on gender equality in services such as police or social services.
Eucen presented in more detail the Inclusion and Diversity Charter, including the three main steps defined to create more inclusive organisations, workplaces and learning environments.
Digital transition and blended work methods
Facilitator: Dea Kralj & Anna Facciorusso, ALL Digital
The third session started with an overview of the main concepts around digital transitions. Participants were asked to contribute with benefits and challenges of digital transition, followed by a wrap-up of all the main benefits and challenges found in current research. Artificial Intelligence (AI) was a topic of great interest of participants and its impact on education and training sectors. The concepts of digital inclusion, digital exclusion and digital divide were defined, in collaboration with the participants, and inspiring practices and tools were shared as resources from Mediawijs, The Digital Inclusion by Design Index and Universal Design for Learning, contributing for inclusive design.
The two days concluded with a reflection moment, facilitated by Veronica Arduino from LLLP. Using a collaborative digital tool, participants were asked to reflect and define the training in a word and share the practice or idea which they will take after the training, in order to ensure the multiplier effect of the project.
Thank you to all the participants for their involvement and valuable contributions! These two days have been very interesting and showcased the importance of sharing knowledge and practices between NGOs and CSOs.
Interested in these topics? Register in the ADA platform and take the iBOX self-paced course here: https://platform.alldigitalacademy.eu
Project Number: 101090952 – Inclusion Box (iBox)
ERASMUS-EDU-2022-PCOOP-ENGO
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.