Last October 2023 the Belgian EPALE team organised a side event of the international EPALE Community Conference about ‘innovative learning spaces’. Behind this broad concept, we would like to shed light on another topic which is emerging more and more in Europe: so-called ‘third places’' of which we are surrounded all over our cities and rural areas. These third places, often citizen-managed, based on the principle of collective intelligence, co-creation and creativity with a social economy flavour, bring together people driven by shared ideals: solidarity, progress and innovation. Together, they are looking for solutions to the problems that our society has to face: the ecological and digital ‘twin’ transition, inclusion, sustainable food supply, territorial resilience, and so on. This EPALE-zine aims to give an overview of the many contributions, which have made the day’s programme rich and colourful. We sincerely hope that it will give you a clearer view about third places and innovative learning spaces.
