Interfolk
EVA - European Network of Voluntary Arts
EVA - European Network of Voluntary Arts
During 2009 - 2015 a European network of organisations from the field of amateur arts, voluntary culture and liberal adult education had been collaborated in multilateral development project, such as the LOAC-project, 2009-2011; the ART-AGE project, 2011-2013; and the GUIDE-project, 2013-2015. Most of the partners in these projects were also members of AMATEO - the European Network for Active Participation in Cultural Activities.
The partners included:
- National Association of Cultural Councils in Denmark (DK)
See www.kulturellesamraad.dk
- Voluntary Arts (UK and Republic of Ireland) - They have changed name to Creative Lives.
See https://www.creative-lives.org/
- LKCA - National Centre of Expertise for Cultural Education and Amateur Arts (NL)
See www.lkca.nl
- JSKD - Republic of Slovenia Public Fund for Cultural Activities (SI)
see www.jskd.si
- Hungarian Folk High School Society (HU)
- Interfolk - Institute for Civil Society (DK)
See www.interfolk.dk
Background and need
However, this project-based network had only completed cross-border seminars and training events as part of their multilateral projects, but not as part of a wider mobility programme. The partners wanted to change this and to develop their own European courses, and therefore they established the EVA-network with Interfolk as coordinator.
In January 2015, the EVA network published their own course brochure including six state-of-arts courses, and at the same time all the key partners had agreed to apply for own Erasmus+ grants, so they mutually could send participants to the other partners' courses.
Learning objectives and target groups
The challenge was - and as it still is - that if you as a leader want to provide further education for your paid and voluntary staff using the Erasmus mobilities, you need to use courses provided by organisations outside the sector of voluntary arts and culture that have no special interest or expertise in this field.
The planned courses should promote exchange of experiences and new knowledge and skills to the engaged organisations, and the target groups should not only come from the EVA network, but also from other associations from the huge European sector of amateur arts and voluntary culture, because the more organisations that would apply for grants, the more participants we could get to the courses/conferences.
The participants could be learning providers in the wide sense, including managers, board members, consultants, instructors, teachers, and other paid and voluntary learning facilitators.
The course plan
included:
Getting older – new perspectives. Active ageing with voluntary arts. 4 days course, 7 - 10 Sept 2015 in Utrecht. Provider :LKCA
Lifelong learning in amateur art and voluntary culture. 4-days course, 22 - 25 Sept 2015 in Copenhagen. Provider: Interfolk
Culture Guides for marginalised social groups. 2 days seminar, 5-6 Oct 2015 in Budapest.
Provider: The Hungarian Folk High School Society
The value of the voluntary and amateur arts and culture. - 2-days seminar, 16 - 17 May 2016 in Vodice, Croatia. Provider: AMATEO and the Croatian Cultural Association.
Develop Culture Guide services - two parallel 4-days courses, 14 - 17 June 2016 in Ljubljana. Provider: JSKD
Carrying on regardless? Impact from the main stream cultural policy. - 3 days vision seminar, 29 - 31 July 2016 in Birmingham. Provider: Voluntary Arts
More information
Outcome
Unfortunately, only Interfolk was the only association from the multilateral partnership that succeeded in getting an Erasmus+ mobility grant, and hereby we could not implement the planned courses. In general because it would provide too few participants and especially because at that time only courses with participants from at least three EU member states could be approved.
Hereby, the new promising initiative closed down.
