ZAMEK Culture Centre

EDUSOC. CULTURAL EDUCATION FOR ADULTS

The EDUSOC project "Cultural education of adults in need of sociotherapeutic support" is an international endeavour implemented between 2019 and 2022 in Poland, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK.


OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to develop an innovative methodology based on activities in the education of adults in need of sociotherapeutic support, combining tools of art education, cultural education, psychological support and sociotherapeutic support.


DIAGNOSIS: Those involved in adult education often struggle to combine social, cultural and sociotherapeutic goals in their activities. They use, for example, anti-discrimination education tools, but often do not know how to implement these tools in the diverse socio-economic conditions of adults' lives. Cultural education tools (art, drama, theatre) often fail to meet social and therapeutic goals. Cultural educators rarely work together with therapists and social workers. This project intends to change that!


RESULTS:
1. Methodological trainings will be carried out among the organisations implementing the project. Each organisation will train the other institutions involved in the project in the methodology of educational work with people in need of sociotherapeutic support, which they themselves use on a daily basis.

2. A tool for innovative holistic methodology in working with adults in need of sociotherapeutic support will be developed.

3. A multimedia publication will be produced, including scenarios for educational activities, translated into all languages of the organisations involved in the project.

4. Recordings describing the working methods used in the project will be prepared.


Project coordinators:

Ewelina Banaszek | e-mail: e.banaszek@ckzamek.pl

Marta Kosińska | e-mail: m.kosinska@ckzamek.pl

Project partners:

ZAMEK Culture Centre in Poznań - Poland

Asociación Cultural Euroacción Murcia - Spain

Creative YouthLand (CYOUland) - Greece

Stichting Anatta Foundation, Netherlands

City Mine(d) in London - United Kingdom

Project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.


Graphic design: Grzegorz Myćka
The theme of the graphic is the face (made of simple lines), which has two profiles and one eye in the middle. One profile is in red, the other in black. There are dashes of black line around the face. Below the inscription - the title of the project in English "EDUSOC. CULTURAL EDUCATION FOR ADULTS". At the very bottom, the logos of all partners.

EDUSOC is a complex process, consisting of various stages. These include project meetings of all the partner organisations, exchanges of knowledge on working methods, the application of newly learned methods of working with groups of adults in need of sociotherapeutic support, the testing of these methods on each other and in different groups. From all these analyses, a complex intellectual result is produced, consisting of activity scenarios, publications, video recordings, an audio book. Below we describe the different stages of the work.

PUBLICATION Cultural education for adults in need of sociotherapeutic support

DISSEMINATION EVENT

TRANSNATIONAL PROJECT MEETINGS

The transnational project meetings are mainly for the proper management of the project, especially in the crisis situation that occurred right after the project started, i.e. the Covid-19 pandemic. The Covid situation as a crisis situation exacerbated the problems and difficulties that we had been observing for years in the field of education and culture (thinking mainly about their accessibility for different people). In meetings with partners, we have also discussed these aspects of action more than once, but we have also raised the issue of our social responsibility within the framework of the spread of the virus.

We have done a tremendous amount of work in managing the project in such a situation (at a time of difficult emotions, a situation of death among the people we work with, a situation of closure, deepened loneliness and at the same time not leaving the groups we work with). The number and intensity of meetings, contacts with partners turned out to be significantly higher than we had originally anticipated in the project. This is one of the results of working together in a crisis situation. Two project meetings with partners were held live, the rest online, and this form is still being practised.

Photo: M. Kaczynski

The photo documents the first meeting at the ZAMEK Cultural Centre in Poznań, at the end of 2019. A group of people are sitting behind a table in the foyer of the Great Hall.

Training courses

Key aspects of the EDUSOC project are the exchange of knowledge, as well as the sharing of experiences and working methods. We are looking for new possibilities and forms of collaboration, but also for ways to facilitate the groups we work with.

Within the framework of the project, each organisation shares its working methods, approaches in action with groups. The working methods of each organisation are as follows:


1. ZAMEK Cultural Centre (Poland)

The project combines the WenDo method with music therapy in the Nordoff Robbins approach in a way that has not been done before.

Music therapy in the Nordoff Robbins approach is based on the joint creation of music by the therapist or therapist and the participants in the session. The processes that occur when working together as a team also become therapeutic. Making music requires a range of skills from the session participants: physical, cognitive, social and emotional. Solo playing requires the ability to take the initiative, ensemble playing requires the ability to listen to each other; playing an instrument stimulates movement, and is also based on the ability to remember and organise successive rhythmic sequences. A key tenet of this approach is the notion of intrinsic musicality, or a person's innate ability to respond to music. Regardless of the area of ability, age or musical experience, intrinsic musicality is possessed by every human being. Illness or disability can change it, but cannot mute it. Inner musicality is present in the sound of our breathing, the rhythm of our heartbeat, the tempo of our movements, the intensity of our muscles or in our internal biological rhythms.

WenDo is a feminist method of preventing gender-based violence (against women) based on the empowerment of women and girls. It is primarily a method of self-defence and assertiveness. Unlike self-defence courses, however, it does not focus exclusively on punches, kicks, releases or other physical means of defence. It additionally uses tools related to developing communication skills, building an assertive attitude, as well as working with voice, body and breath. WenDo is not a martial art. During the classes, participants learn first and foremost how to prevent the escalation of violence and, in case of danger, how to defend themselves effectively, including physically. WenDo is not therapy. During WenDo workshops, participants learn how to respond to violence and other forms of boundary violations. They strengthen their sense of self-confidence, self-esteem and empowerment. WenDo as a method of psychological self-defence also gives knowledge about effective methods of communication and expressing one's own needs, emotions, opinions. It helps in conflict resolution, overcoming stereotypes and fears, feelings of guilt and shame.


2. Asociación Cultural Euroacción Murcia (Spain)

Gestalt Therapy & Gestalt Theatre Therapy - the approach used during the project is an introduction to Gestalt therapy on the one hand and Gestalt theatre therapy on the other. The main idea is to activate emotional memories in the person through improvised theatre. This activity aims to increase awareness of current problems in the person's life and also to promote mental health. The following activities can be carried out within this approach: group improvisation, improvisation in duos on fictional conflict situations, in which participants are asked to play a role or character.

Gestalt is a word originating from the German language. The closest translation is 'whole', 'pattern' or 'form'. It has the sense that meaning cannot be found by breaking things down into parts, but rather from recognising the whole. In other words, Gestalt is a holistic process. It treats the individual as a totality of mind, body, emotions and spirit, who experiences reality in a way that is unique to him or herself.


3. Creative YouthLand (Greece)

Expressive arts - is a combination of non-formal education methods with artistic approaches that originate from theatre, circus and dance, painting, sculpture, music, poetry, visual arts, etc., providing a space for young people, young adults and underrepresented communities to learn and create. It also provides opportunities for capacity building for educators, youth workers, facilitators and artists.

We believe in transforming lives when people realise that they can live healthy and happy lives because of their uniqueness in the community. We express compassion towards diverse people, accept their backgrounds and respect their needs and perspectives. We believe in resilience as the art of accepting vulnerability and encouraging people to make mistakes and try again. We believe in the power of the arts to enrich young people's lives in all aspects. We believe that learning is a lifelong process that should be accessible to everyone. We believe that verbal and non-verbal expression of feelings and thoughts is essential for communication, understanding and acceptance. We respect nature as it is the ultimate source of life. We value MERAKI (Greek "μεράκι"; literally translated as "taste", "to savour") as essential for engaging people, putting ourselves into what we do with love, soul and creativity.


4. Stichting Anatta Foundation (Netherlands)

Positive psychology - this approach started a new field of psychology in 1998. It began to respond to the limitations of the exclusive focus on problems of 'traditional psychology'. It is the scientific study of optimal functioning ('flourishing') and emotional, social and psychological well-being. A few key concepts and buzzwords characteristic of positive psychology are: building human strength, fulfilling the lives of normal people, nurturing talents and genius.

The value of nature in social work - the possible methods and approaches to using nature in working with people with sociotherapeutic needs are very diverse, but what they have in common is that they are based on the idea that contact with nature benefits our wellbeing. This can be observed on a number of levels:

1. nature as a low-stimulus environment, e.g. a quiet walk. The natural environment offers excellent opportunities to relax and find oneself. Being in nature helps to quiet the mind.

2. nature as a mirror, e.g. a tree can be a very good symbol of who you are: what are your roots? What can the thickness of the trunk say about you? How do the leaves relate to the way you communicate?

3. nature as a place for creativity and play can be used as a way to be more easily open to new experiences, views and initiatives.

4. nature as a place of body awareness and activity. Nature can help you to be more aware of your body and senses and to be present.


5. City Mine(d) (UK)

Experience Design has become part of a group of new disciplines, such as Design Thinking, which bring together many areas. There are different schools of Experience Design and some of them look at it from a very commercial perspective. We prefer to follow the Susanne Buck and Pigalle Tavakkoli school, which focuses on audience transformation from a more holistic perspective. Experience design is not driven by one design discipline, but encompasses many areas. It is a way of thinking and an approach that can be applied to activism and education to make organising and political education more effective. It focuses on the needs, feelings and contexts of participants in order to design experiences that are relevant to them and therefore truly transformative. Experience Design can support us in designing campaigns and processes that allow people to: actively learn, so they can begin to make a positive impact on their environment and become agents of change; act in solidarity with each other. Impacting a single person transforms whole communities!


Photo: Ewelina Banaszek

In the background, a photo from a training organised in Greece. People are dancing outside on a sunny day, next to the beach and water, surrounded by vegetation.

EDUSOC TRANSNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE – WENDO AND MUSIC THERAPY combined approach

During this training course ZAMEK Culture Centre in Poznań will share with the participants of the TC their approach which was developed as part of the EDUSOC project. This approach is a combination of the WenDo method (preventing violence against women) and Nordoff Robbins' music therapy. The training will be led by Dominika Dopierała and Magda Szewciów.

During the music therapy workshop, participants will join in collaborative music making. Regardless of their musical experience, each person will be invited to play in the way that suits them best. WenDo is a workshop for women and girls of all ages, regardless of their level of fitness. WenDo is a method which teaches how to stop feeling helpless and defenceless in any situation: in public, on the street, at work, at home. It also teaches how to react to violence. It strengthens self-confidence and self-esteem. It helps to solve conflicts, overcome stereotypes and fears, feelings of guilt and shame.


From these two methods a combination has been created – created by women for women.


The activities will include:

1. Musical experience with instruments - exploring their sounds in free improvisation,

2. Screaming practice,

3. Assertiveness exercises,

4. Relaxation visualization,

5. Working with occupying and clearly defining one's physical space.

Magda Szewciów

Dominika Dopierała

There are two persons speaking on the recording. The first one is Magda, a young woman wearing glasses and with her hair pinned up. Magda is sitting on a carpet spread on the wooden floor in the Great Hall of CK ZAMEK, she is barefoot. The second one is Dominika, a petite young woman with long, light brown hair. Dominika is wearing a floral dress and sitting on the stairs of the auditorium of the Great Hall of CK ZAMEK.

The video features an animated board with emerging faces visible in profile and a board with the slogan "life-long learning". At the end of the recording, the project's leitmotif is visible – a face (made of simple lines) that has two profiles and one eye in the middle, further the name "EDUSOC" and logos.

Sara Pereira

The video presents Sara, a young woman with long, curly brown hair and dark eyes. Sara is dressed in a green turtleneck, sitting on a black armchair (one of many around). In the background, the dark brown panels of the historic audiovisual room at CK ZAMEK.

The video features an animated board with emerging faces visible in profile and a board with the slogan "humanistic approach". At the end of the recording, the project's leitmotif is visible – a face (made of simple lines) that has two profiles and one eye in the middle, further the name "EDUSOC" and logos.

Sybren Bouwsma

The recording presents Sybren, a middle-aged man with glasses and a light beard. Sybren is wearing a red sweater with a collar from his shirt sticking out from underneath, sitting on a black armchair (one of many around). In the background, dark brown panels of the historic audiovisual room at CK ZAMEK.

The video features an animated board with emerging faces visible in profile and a board with the slogan "value of nature". At the end of the recording, the project's leitmotif is visible – a face (made of simple lines) that has two profiles and one eye in the middle, further the name "EDUSOC" and logos.

Magda Fabiańczyk

The video presents Magda, a young woman with light brown hair, with glasses. Magda is wearing a light unbuttoned sweater with a small green checkered pattern, sitting on a black armchair (one of many around). In the background are the dark brown panels of the historic audiovisual room at CK ZAMEK.

The recording features an animated board with emerging faces visible from a profile, an animated board with the slogan "community engagement" and a board with the slogan "co-creation". At the end of the recording, the project's leitmotif is visible – a face (made of simple lines) that has two profiles and one eye in the middle, further the name "EDUSOC" and logos.

Georgia Sotiropoulou

The video presents Georgia, a petite young woman with long dark hair and dark eyes. Georgia is dressed in a green sweater, sitting on a black armchair (one of many around). In the background are the dark brown panels of the historic audiovisual room at CK ZAMEK.

The video features an animated board with emerging faces visible in profile and a board with the slogan "youth empowerment". At the end of the recording, the project's leitmotif is visible – a face (made of simple lines) that has two profiles and one eye in the middle, further the name "EDUSOC" and logos.

Sara Pereira

The video presents Sara, a young woman with long, curly brown hair and dark eyes. Sara is dressed in a green turtleneck, sitting on a black armchair (one of many around). In the background, the dark brown panels of the historic audiovisual room at CK ZAMEK.

The recording features an animated board with emerging faces visible from a profile. At the end of the recording, the project's leitmotif is visible – a face (made of simple lines) that has two profiles and one eye in the middle, further the name "EDUSOC" and logos.

Sybren Bouwsma

 The recording presents Sybren, a middle-aged man with glasses and a light beard. Sybren is wearing a red sweater with a collar from his shirt sticking out from underneath, sitting on a black armchair (one of many around). In the background, dark brown panels of the historic audiovisual room at CK ZAMEK.

The recording features an animated board with emerging faces visible from a profile. At the end of the recording, the project's leitmotif is visible – a face (made of simple lines) that has two profiles and one eye in the middle, further the name "EDUSOC" and logos.

Georgia Sotiropoulou

The video presents Georgia, a petite young woman with long dark hair and dark eyes. Georgia is dressed in a green sweater, sitting on a black armchair (one of many around). In the background are the dark brown panels of the historic audiovisual room at CK ZAMEK.

The recording features an animated board with emerging faces visible from a profile. At the end of the recording, the project's leitmotif is visible – a face (made of simple lines) that has two profiles and one eye in the middle, further the name "EDUSOC" and logos.

Magda Fabiańczyk

The video presents Magda, a young woman with light brown hair, with glasses. Magda is wearing a light unbuttoned sweater with a small green checkered pattern, sitting on a black armchair (one of many around). In the background are the dark brown panels of the historic audiovisual room at CK ZAMEK.

The recording features an animated board with emerging faces visible from a profile and an animated board with the slogan "intersectional approach". At the end of the recording, the project's leitmotif is visible – a face (made of simple lines) that has two profiles and one eye in the middle, further the name "EDUSOC" and logos.

Magda Szewciów

Dominika Dopierała

There are two persons speaking on the recording. The first one is Magda, a young woman wearing glasses and with her hair pinned up. Magda is sitting on a carpet spread on the wooden floor in the Great Hall of CK ZAMEK, she is barefoot. The second one is Dominika, a petite young woman with long, light brown hair. Dominika is wearing a floral dress and sitting on the stairs of the auditorium of the Great Hall of CK ZAMEK.

The video features an animated board with emerging faces visible in profile and a board with the slogan "community support". At the end of the recording, the project's leitmotif is visible – a face (made of simple lines) that has two profiles and one eye in the middle, further the name "EDUSOC" and logos.

EDUSOC Playlist

All of the recordings that were created as part of the EDUSOC project are available below:

PLAYLIST

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