Transformative Adult Learning for Green Transition

<< Background >>The Tale project addresses the pressing need to foster a more climate-friendly and sustainable society. It also aligns with the priorities of the New European Agenda for Adult Learning, which emphasises the need for a green transition within the adult education sector. The agenda highlights the importance of addressing environmental attitudes, cultivating sustainable mindsets, and creating new learning environments to support the green transition. Achieving these goals requires a holistic approach to adult learning and inter-sectoral collaboration—the Tale project is a great example of both. While people may have knowledge about sustainable lifestyles, making lasting changes in environmental attitudes and behaviour doesn't happen easily. It requires a process of transformative learning, which involves critically questioning one’s beliefs and actions. This kind of learning results in a greater sense of agency to make changes. We know from previous projects and adult education research that participation in social movements and grassroots initiatives can effectively foster transformative learning. This is why the Tale project has benchmarked the innovative practices of grassroots initiatives. << Objectives >>- We wanted to foster new cooperation between adult education organisations and green grassroots intiatives, activists and social movements, to explore how we could build partnerships and work together towards a more sustainable society. The experiences we gathered can be used in planning further cross-sectoral cooperation.- We wanted to do something practical with the initiatives, and keep a flexible attitude about where this cooperation will take us, to foster genuinely new ideas. We explored peer learning, action-based learning, and how learning about sustainable lifestyles can happen outside traditional classroom setting. This gives the ALE sector ideas how to plan more learner-centered and innovative learning offers on sustainability.- While benchmarking the innovative practices of the green grassroots initiatives, we wanted to empower them and help them in reaching their goals to create greener communities or improve people's relationship with nature.- We wanted to explore the circumstances where transformative learning can take place, as it's not easy to create these conditions. We wanted to learn from it, so we can better foster these conditions in adult learning and education.<< Implementation >>- We created definitions for transformative learning, green transition, and green initiatives, to help us in our process of mapping green initiatives and understanding transformative learning.- We mapped green grassroots initiatives in six countries (incl. associate partner country Switzerland), got to know their work better, and wrote 15 descriptions of initiatives. - We organised a workshop on transformative learning- We negotiated with green initiatives in six countries, found common goals, and worked with them in innovation groups- We organised six events or workshops in collaboration with the green initiatives- We organised a three-part webinar series about the green transition in adult learning- We created nine policy recommendations and disseminated them- We wrote six articles about our experiences in the innovation groups- We published a Tale toolkit collecting all the main outputs of the project- We organised five multiplier events in the partner countries- We organised a final online event- We created a dissemination plan, wrote several articles about the project, and disseminated the project through various channels on both European and national levels<< Results >>The key result of the project was the establishment of a strong partnership between ALE organisations and grassroots initiatives in six countries, fostering new kind of collaboration and driving sustainability efforts. This partnership bridged gaps between these sectors, creating opportunities for mutual learning and practical action. We produced definitions for transformative learning, green transition and green initiatives, and nine policy recommendations, which outline what is needed for successful cooperation between ALE organisations and green initiatives. We published the Tale virtual toolkit, which compiles the most important project outputs. The virtual toolkit features our insights on cross-sectorial collaboration and on how to foster transformative learning. It enables other organisations to build up on our experiences, should they plan something similar.We organised several events, including workshops, five multiplier events, a three-part webinar series Green Transition Dialogues, and podcasts based on the webinars. They all featured expert insights and discussions on community-led initiatives, active citizenship, transformative learning, and sustainability.