Switzerland
*** 2002 ***
The Swiss 2002 Lernfestival
took place from 5 - 15 September. With its overall umbrella theme Get
connected! (vernetz dich! – branche-toi! – connettiti!), the festival
first of all aimed to stimulate a debate about the new technologies and
to promote the use of these technologies in education/learning. Apart from
that, the festival honored innovative education projects – the best ones
were awarded with a prize – and aimed to promote cooperation between the
different partners of the Swiss adult education scheme.
Under the patronage of the
Swiss Forum for Adult Learning, and again coordinated by the Swiss Adult
Education Association (SVEB) at national level, numerous partners had been
mobilized such as local adult learning projects, libraries, computer companies,
schools, cultural institutions etc who contributed to the Lernfestival
at local level. The Lernfestival started with a big opening ceremony in
Berne organized by SVEB on 5 September. During this event, which aimed
at attracting the attention of the public as well as the media, the eleven
prizes of the Swiss Education Competition were awarded to those having
created innovative education projects and/or having shown outstanding educational
achievements.
Most of the activities of the
Lernfestival had a thematic link with the new technologies, such as E-learning-Projects
offering taster sessions in order to promote the use of computers and the
internet for learning and to reduce unnecessary fears of working with these
technologies (computers don't bite!). An E-licence Project consisting of
a virtual drivers licence-test as well as an E-consulting Project was presented
during the Festival.
Apart from the new technologies
the Lernfestival also focused on the learners. A project called Learner's
Voice was presented which is dedicated to the needs of learners with
poor qualifications or no qualifications at all. Special events were set
up on 8 and 14 September for International Literacy Day, and, respectively,
the Church Day. On the 14th special activities were also dedicated
to the Parental Education Day.
Have a look on the poster and leaflet!
Also an overview as a Word
document (in German).
************
Background...
With the implementation of
a first nation-wide learning festival in the year 1996, broadly
covering the topic of lifelong learning and a second one in 1999, taking
up the recommendation of One Hour a Day for Learning which emanated
from the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education held two years
before, Switzerland was able to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people.
The overall coordination of the Swiss
learning festival was taken
over by the Swiss Adult Education Association in the previous years, yet
adult education providers from all over Switzerland participated in the
festivals to present their activities and to honour and celebrate outstanding
learning achievements of individuals. The festivals also had the function
of discussing publicly the relevance of lifelong learning for the whole
of society.
In 2000 and 2001, unfortunately,
Switzerland was not in a position to set up a learning festival.
However, plans are already under way for the next festival to take place
on 7 - 15 September 2002 in all of Switzerland under the theme Get connected!
This slogan is meant to give expression to the variety of providers and
the coming together of people from different backgrounds and generations.
But it also indicates a thematic focus on new information technologies
and the issues of communication and exchange in a broader sense. The Swiss
Association will again be responsible for coordinating the activities and
events at national level, yet the involvement from the ministerial side
will equally be taken care of.
Contact:
Ruth Jermann
Swiss Adult Education Association
(SVEB)
Oerlikonerstrasse 38
8057 Zürich
Switzerland
tel +41-1-311-6455
fax +41-1-311-6459
ruth.jermann@alice.ch
www.alice.ch
(in German, French and Italian: a special site on the learning festival
is currently being developed)