COHERE Adult Learning for Coastal Heritage Revival and Exchange 2012-2014
LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMME GRUNDTVIG Learning Partnerships
EU Lifelong Learning Programme Project COHERE: Adult Learning for Coastal Heritage Revival and Exchange 2012-2014 LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMME GRUNDTVIG Learning Partnerships Partners: Arhipelaag, Estonia (main applicant) Citizens in Action, Greece GSM-Gençlik Servisleri Merkezi, Turkey Folkolore Associazione Culturale, Italy Polskie Stowarzyszenie na Rzecz Osób z Uposledzeniem Umysłowym Koło w Gdańsku, Poland
Illustrations: Chiara Rescio Photos: Toomas Kokovkin, Walter Stomeo Paintings: students at the Polish Association of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities
This project has been founded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission can not be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein
About the COHERE project Lifelong Learning Programme Grundtvig 2012-14 CO-HERE project is a partnership of Grundtvig Programme, a part of Lifelong Learning Programme created by European Commission. CO-HERE means "to become united in principles, relationships, or interests". The acronym comes from Adult learning for COastal HEritage Revival and Exchange. It's aimed at enhancing informal education in promoting active citizenship, intergenerational dialogue and inter-cultural exchange. The main context of the project is about revival of old coastal skills and traditions, with the aim to transfer the knowledge from seniors to younger generations. Learning old skills is an option for adult lifelong activity and occupation. An important part of the traditional knowledge is an intangible culture such as legends, stories and songs from coasts. The partnership focuses on old boats/ships and stories/legends related to them, as a means of revitalization of coastal traditions and inter-generational dialogue. The project would establish a partnership to elaborate the methodology of intergenerational and intercultural exchange. Based on this specific topic the partnership, that is composed of various adult education organization, will also try new alternative forms of adult education, ways that could promote creativity and the entrepreneurial spirit but also contribute to increased participation of people of all ages. The result of the project is a joint experiences from partner regions in a form of an e-book.
The motivations The project emanates from the fact that old skills of people living at sea coasts are vanishing. These skills descend from local traditions and materials, such as wooden ship building, production of natural stuffs (tar, paint, wax etc), and sailor’s handicrafts. On the other hand, it relates to intangible coastal culture, such as local legends, stories and songs. But in the modern society these skills have today an increasing importance, especially for rural development (applied in high-quality handicrafts, cultural industries and tourism sector), thus directly relating to jobs and entrepreneurship. Revival, learning and transfer of these traditions is the main aim of the project. We believe in the importance of a European dimension of the partnership, which would bring together the Baltic and Mediterranean cultures. The project gathers different types of organizations which share common values. The project would build up a partnership, which aims at working out the
methods of collection of seacoast-related traditional knowledge, hands-on learning, volunteering, transfer of skills to younger generation and dissemination of the experience obtained. One of the aims of this project is to establish a partnership for future larger multilateral co-operation project of adult education and traditional knowledge.
The Purpose (Mission) The operational level of the project is two-fold. Firstly, adult learning of traditions and skills. Secondly (and simultaneously), the transfer of the knowledge to the younger generation.
These are the targets we want to meet To promote adult education via transferring of knowledge about traditional skills in participating regions To develop new methodological approach capable of fostering inter-generational dialogue To enhance direct involvement of seniors and youngsters To promote the inter-generational dialogue To contribute to the collection of traditional knowledge related to local coastal heritage
This is how ours organisations will gain Meetings and seminars between the institutions involved in the Partnership Exchanges of staff and adult learners Exchanges of experiences and good practices using information and communication technology (websites, e-mail, video-conferencing) documentation on the co-operation activities, production of texts, photographs and finally compilation of results in the form of an e-book Co-operation with other projects and sharing experiences with other institutions in the region, including contributing to events organised by them Dissemination of project experience and outcomes
Partners Project partners are non-governmental organisations from five different countries: Arhipelaag, Estonia (main applicant) Citizens in Action, Greece GSM-Gençlik Servisleri Merkezi, Turkey Folkolore Associazione Culturale, Italy Polskie Stowarzyszenie na Rzecz Osób z Uposledzeniem Umysłowym Koło w Gdańsku, Poland
Participating organisations Folkolore Cultural Association (Italy) Folkolore Cultural Association, founded in 2009, is dedicated to research, documentation and promotion of popular culture in all its forms: from tales to recipes, proverbs and songs, legends and rites. Folkolore proposes a new approach for the study and dissemination of popular culture because the documentation is enhanced and enriched by the use of different visual languages a nd multimedia. Illustration, photography, video, comic strips, animation and music are all used to give a new feeling, up-to-date and comprehensive, to historical and cultural issues, thus drawing the new generations closer together. The main goal has always been to use the new media such as the web to convey historical and cultural content, by juxtaposing the "old" and the "new." In 2009 the Association began research and documentation based on field studies using the technique of video-interview. In November 2010 Folkolore created the website www.memoriapopolare.it, the first Multimedia Archive of Popular Memory. The Archive is participatory, as all can collaborate easily, you only need to register with a camera or a mobile phone, an mp3 file, a story, a legend, a proverb, a memory, a song, a folktale or a tradition, and upload them directly to the site. The Archive contains the documentation on popular culture from all over Italy. Within the site, an area has been created especially dedicated to schools at all levels, to share research done, thus creating a didactic opportunity consistent with popular culture. Moreover, the site also includes an interactive game, where players are accompanied by the elf of the home, called "scanzamurrieddhu" in dialect. For a year, Folkolore created and conduct a radio show called “Ce te Cuntu” (the title is in dialect, it means “What I tell you”) transmitted on Radio Salentina. The program aimed at disseminating popular culture, it was full of memories, tales, legends and traditions which follow the lunar calendar. In 2011 the first editorial publication was produced: the media collection "In the wave of the legends of Salento." This is born from the desire to research and document popular legends that explain the origins of the names of many coastal locations of Salento.
Citizens in Action (Greece) “Citizens in Action” is a nonprofit, non-governmental, youth organization based in Athens, Greece. The aims of C.i.A are: To support and promote the idea of active citizenship to the young people, through new forms of social commitment and participation for a democratic, independent and open society. To encourage the circulation of people and ideas though international exchanges, with the aim of the enhancement of knowledge, mutual understanding and peace. To contribute to community and local development through the participation of local and foreign volunteers in projects of benefit to all, with an emphasis on rural areas. To promote people's participation to defend and define their quality of life, aiming at the protection of the human being and the environment. To achieve its aims, C.i.A invites its members to practical action, with emphasis on youth voluntary work, youth mobility and communication, international exchanges and nonformal education. “Citizens in Action” is member of the following networks: - Alliance of the European Voluntary Service Organizations: promoting international voluntary projects - Youth CAN: promoting Intercultural understanding and active participation - UNIQUE: promoting non - formal education
Arhipelaag (Estonia) Arhipelaag is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to foster a sustainable way of life on the coast and islands of Estonia. Since its founding in 1997, Arhipelaag has been involved in activities of sustainable nature management, traditional culture and rural economy. The mission of Arhipelaag has been to promote the UNESCO's Man and Biosphere programme, which utilizes a holistic approach to education, science and culture in the regions of high nature values. Regarding adult education, Arhipelaag has during the years carried out many activities, such as: - training and study visits of farmers in sustainable coastal management; - training and study visits for artisans to promote traditional nature products and cultural heritage; - launching handicraft fairs and local product fairs; - organising contests of local quality produce, promotion of the "quality economy" concept; - elaboration and promotion of the "green label" to increase awareness and knowledge about nature values; - establishment of telework centres on islands to create jobs in peripheral areas; - training and involvement of volunteers for theatre- and film festivals
PSOUU (Poland) The Polish Association for Persons with Mental Disability. The Association strives toward equal opportunities for persons with intellectual disability, working to create conditions where their rights are respected, leading them towards active participation in social life and supporting their families. Our organization is a charitable non-profit association working in the public domain. Is established on Polish law and registered in National Court Register since February 1992. The above-mentioned aims are realized through various forms of assistance for families : self-help groups, support groups, family support services, daytime facilities (Early Intervention Center, Rehabilitation-Education Center, Occupational Therapy Workshop, Daily Activity
Center), information, consulting, therapy, and free-time activities (« Vita Activa » Percussion Orchestra, « Promart » Art Gallery, International Art Workshops, Theatre "Together" and musical band Remont Pomp).
GSM-Youth Services Centre (Turkey) GSM-Youth Services Centre is a nongovernmental and non-profit youth organization that has been founded by a group of young people in 1985, in Ankara-Turkey. Our main aim is to support common understanding, peace, friendship and intercultural learning among young people coming from different cultural backgrounds by organizing international youth activities. We believe that these intercultural activities give a space to young people to share their experiences and own cultural richness, which could help young people to break down barriers and prejudices. International Voluntary Workcamps is one of the areas that GSM works. International Voluntary Workcamps promote intercultural education, understanding and peace through voluntary service. Under title of International Voluntary Workcamps, thematic youth projects, such as environmental, cultural and social small sized local development projects is being organized. The workcamps enable young people from different countries to come together and exchange ideas while engaging in a public beneficiary projects. We, as one of the active members of ALLIANCE of European Voluntary Service Organizations, have been organizing International Voluntary Workcamps in Turkey in cooperation with municipalities, universities, institutions and other NGOs. Every summer we organize around 17 - 20 international voluntary workcamps in different parts of Turkey. We host around 400 young volunteers from abroad and send around 500 Turkish young volunteers to abroad through our partners in 42 different countries. International Youth Projects under European Programs is another major activity of GSM. Youth projects such as youth exchanges, training courses, seminars and youth gathering under Euro-Meditterrenean Youth Action Program, occured after the 1995 Barcelona Declaration and since 2004 under YOUTH program enable the active participation of Turkish young people. NGO Capacity Building Seminars create such an environment for sharing our experience and knowledge with other youth organizations. In order to enable the youth empowerment into civil society more we organize NGO Capacity Building Seminars time to time due to expectations and needs of the national grass-root level youth organizations. Until now around 428 Turkish youth NGOs from different cities of Turkey has been benefiting from these seminars free of charge. We aim to improve the quality and efficiency of the present and future projects of the participating Turkish NGOs and institutions by introducing them with different methods and techniques. Also these seminars aim, to give the necessary information and methodology to the participants in order to enable them to organize international projects. The themes covered during the seminars are; Project Management and Evaluation Techniques, Team Work, Communication, Conflict Resolution, Intercultural Learning, Fundraising, Interactive Games, Funding Possibilities at European and National Levels, European Commission and Council of Europe youth programs.
Coastal Legends Workshop in Italy Martano (LE) 22-26 March 2013 Workshop organized by Folkolore Associazione Culturale had the task of conducting the present on a journey through the legends of the sea for an exchange of information on research methods of oral culture and the importance of stories in the coastal communities . The work focused on the study of the method of the interview, the various stages of the research and production of the popular multimedia content: all techniques that each of the European partners will use to return to investigate the oral culture in the region of origin. Invited in advance by Folkolore to perform a little research in their country, the members of the various associations have also told a legend of its coasts, explaining what it is characteristic of the local culture and activating a fruitful debate. At a later time, workshops were held on the same theme of storytelling, about how each legend contains messages at different levels and the possibility to read back a story to revisit it in multimedia key.
Techniques of working with oral cultural heritage (by Folkolore) Folkolore created some lecture notes about working with stories and legends. THE TALE: Oral tale; The basis of the tale. RESEARCH: Personal background of the members of Folkolore; Documentation in libraries and Internet research; Field research; Video interview. ARCHIVING: Transcription; Translation. RE-ELABORATION: Music and editing/assembling; TALE: The mission of Folkolore Cultural Association is to remain faithful to the sources as much as possible in the phases of research and re-elaboration of content in order to create good documentation about oral tradition. Indeed, the oral tale is fundamental, because rites, traditions, memories, legends, craftmanship, cooking and traditional music can be recovered and understood thanks to the stories orally transmitted over the centuries. It is important to know the methods used to research the oral tale because it is a vehicle of the cultural identity of a territory and it is able to transmit the wisdom and history of a population. Starting from this idea, we must start research and documentation of oral tradition based on field research through the technique of the video-interview. Oral stories are of great importance in transmitting the knowledge and values of society to new generations. The language used in telling folk stories is a simple and charming language, folk stories have a fascinating and involving plot, but you need a good storyteller to give life to the feelings of the tale. RESEARCH: The knowledge that each of us has acquired, thanks to our own experience of life, is a fundamental starting point for every kind of cultural research. Our cultural background coming from the stories which our grandparents, our aunts and uncles told us when we were children is the basis of our lives. Our past is important. Only by knowing it, can we be conscious of ourselves and of the place where we live. We mustn’t lose our roots. We have said that a story is considered popular when it is known and shared within a community, so the only reliable method of research is the direct observation of the current state of popular culture through field research. The study of the legends already published, as we said, is the first step of the research. Planning is very important to find useful contacts for potential respondents before going on site. At this point we begin the search by asking all the people we meet the informations we need in order to find the right people, with whom, if we consider it helpful, we will arrange an interview more in depth later. During the recovery period of the ancient knowledge we have to record as much material as possible without making quality choices that we put off to the time of transcription, when will catalog and analyze the recovered materials. We also made a comparison among the different texts of the same legend to recognize
narrator's personal changes or literary influences. It must be said that we do not claim to trace the "real" version or the true origins of a popular legend, however, impossible to establish. Our goal is to search for direct testimonies of folk tales through the recorded interviews. The main feature of the video interview is the objectivity and completeness, it allows to remain faithful to the sources without losing information. ARCHIVING: The work which follows the interview and which relates to the dissemination of the legends is the transcription of the legends themselves. In this phase it is necessary to limit every intervention in terms of linguistic and stylistic alteration. The oral stories have no titles, but, when we speak about the legends, whose intrinsic characteristic is to be linked to a place, the name of the place becomes the name of the legend, as for all the legends we have seen until now. It is a very important work because the difficulty of transfering the telling of legends into another language is considerable. When there are words in dialect the difficulty increases due to the presence of expressions typical of the region. The translator has to consider that the translation mustn’t be literal because this deprives the legend of its charm. RIELABORATION: The phase of elaboration is very long: from graphic design to illustration, from digital animation to music, from the assembly to the creation of the cover. When we speak about an audio-visual product, the music has great power, it can emphasise and sometimes modify the meaning of the pictures. Editing is fundamental to organise the phases of the story and to create the emotional register of the story through sound and music. Today the oral tale is not practised socially in the same way as it was in the past. In its place there are, on the one hand, revivals and on the other hand literary, music and film rewritings and various media such as books, DVDs and videogames, through which the content of traditional stories is given to the public, after being properly modified by the editorial industry. Certainly, we all need stories, we all feel the need to have a space for stories every day: telefilm, cinema, books, radio, blogs, comics, music, tablet and Internet applications. The Co-Here project also has to renew and transmit the tale through the new media, in order to convey traditional knowledge of coastal places, using symbols and metaphors which are still meaningful today.
Legend from Italy SANTA CATERINA: Torre dell’Alto, the Cliff of the Damned, told by Paolo Zacchino from Nardò Near Torre dell’Alto (it is one of the many coastal towers of Salento) there is a villa, which used to be a farm (masseria) in days gone by. Inside is the little church of Madonna dell’Alto (Virgin dell’Alto) which still exists today. In the fortified “masseria” lived the owner with his wife and his daughter. The man in charge of the farm workers had a son. As time went by the son fell in love with the owner’s daughter. The two were very much in love and, when possible, they met secretly in order to spend a little time together. The girl’s father smelled a rat, let’s say, became suspicious, so one time, seeing his daughter go out
at an unusual time, he followed her to see where she was going. He watched her creeping into the barn and then he saw her embracing the farm worker’s son. Pandemonium broke out. He locked his daughter in a room, giving her just bread and water, and decided to evict the farm worker and his son from the masseria. Well, one day, two days, three days passed by and the girl was always alone. She didn’t know anything about what was happening outside her prison and she couldn’t go out at all. But one night, she hatched a plan to escape. She took four or five sheets and knotted them together. She fastened the first sheet to the foot of her bed and climbed down from the first-floor window. Once free, the girl’s first thought was to find her love. The farm worker and his son lived together in one of the three trulli* near the “masseria”. The girl went towards the trulli, called the three Furnieddhi**. She went into the first but nobody was in, then she went into the second and the third but they were completely empty. At that moment she realised that her father had sent them away. So, she decided to set out for the Torre dell’Alto. The girls soon reached the edge of the cliff, more than fifty metres high, and victim of her grief, she let herself go, crying out in anguish as she fell. All the people living in the houses nearby heard that scream. It woke her parents too. Seeing the sheets hanging from the window, they decided to go and find their daughter. But in the darkness, they were unable to see anything. However, at the first light of dawn they saw a piece of cloth snagged on the cliff and they realised that their daughter had thrown herself into the sea. Why is this place called Cliff of the Damned? The girl’s mother prayed in the little church of Madonna dell’Alto asking the Virgin Mary not to condemn her daughter for what she had done: “She died damned, I beg you Virgin Mary, my daughter died damned… she died damned…”. From that moment on, that place was called Cliff of the Damned. The girl’s father, realising he was guilty for his daughter’s suicide, hung himself in the barn, whilst they say her mother lost her mind. Fishermen say that when they pass near the Tower at night, at the hour when it had happened, they can hear the girl’s scream. In fact, many fishermen avoid going by that place. Or they try to go past as quickly as possible, because, once they have passed by, they don’t hear the scream any more. Until a few years ago, fishermen said that nearby the tower you could hear the echo of the scream she gave when she threw herself down. *A trullo is a cylindrical house with a conical roof **A furnieddhu is a typical rural house made of dry-stones Folkolore Ass. Cult. English Translation Federica Traldi
Art for equal opportunities Workshop in Poland Gdansk, 3 – 9 June 2013 The project of the Polish Association for Persons with Mental Disability (PSOUU) was held in Gdansk, from 3rd to 9th June, 2013. It was a continuation of the meeting in Martano, Italy.
Gdańsk is coastal city, so we decided that our workshops should be connected to coastal heritage and legends. We organized 2 workshops in music and art with painting, installations a nd sculpture. Music workshops were leaded by Paweł Romańczuk,
who is a musician of Małe Instrumenty “Little instruments” band. Idea of the band is to involve new instruments, and also build them to get new unusual sounds. Paweł Romańczuk also involves a lot of sounds and instruments “for children” to create new possibilities. Idea of the workshops was to create a music story about 3 sea legends from Poland, Italy and Estonia with instruments in which water is used. In the art workshops the group created paintings, installations, sculptures that showed story of all our legends. We also organized a concert in the forest theatre, where all the products were presented. In Poland there were 11 representatives of Italy and 1 from Greece. Turkey and Estonia didn’t take part. During the project in Poland, partners had the opportunity to assist to and participate in two types of workshops; a painting and a music workshop, organised and run by assistants and/or specialized professors for people with mental disability of an adult age. There were two other types of workshops, a dance and a photo workshop, but the partners didn’t have the opportunity to take part in them, since they were only for mentally disabled people. The final aim was to get prepared for a 3-day festival organized by the Association itself in the so-called Theater in the Forest, where the results of the workshops were presented to the public together with other concerts. The works of art of both the mentally disabled people and partners were exhibited during the festival and there was also a concert - presentation of the music workshop based on the legends of 3 countries; Estonia, Greece and Italy. Partners had the opportunity to get to know the city of Gdansk and experience elements of the polish culture during their free – time.
Legend from Estonia The false lighthouse of K천pu The K천pu lighthouse, which is 480 years old, is the most famous tourist attraction on Hiiumaa. It is one of the oldest continually operating lighthouses in the World. In the old days the light burning atop of the lighthouse was made by burning wood. Its purpose was to warn ships off the Neckmansgrund reefs, and in old times even of the pirates who infested the coastline. In the old days local people made a nice profit from salvaging goods and taking people to the coast off of the grounded ships. This practice was not always very altruistic (since large fortunes were made by helping the survivors of shipwrecks). The coastal inhabitants of K천pu area, where ships were often wrecked, were called vandiraijujad (shroud cutters). Because the first thing what they did when they had to rescue a ship, was cutting the ropes which supported masts (called shrouds). In the end of the 18th century the entire island of Hiiumaa was owned by Otto Reinhold Ludwig von Ungern-Sternberg. He was certainly an adept businessman, but sometimes he could also be very cruel. His immense property has brought about a lot of legends. One of the best-known legends is the story about the false lighthouse. In the dark and stormy nights, when rain and ferocious wind quite often extinguished the fire atop of the lighthouse, baron used to order men to ride along the coastline with lanterns or make a fire on the boulder nearby the sea to mimic a real lighthouse. When ships ran on the rocks, the men killed the crew and robbed the goods from the ships. Locals told that there were special hideaways for these robbed treasures in the manor house in Suurem천isa village. Nobody knows whether this story is true or not. But the legend about the baron and his false lighthouse is still alive, and even a big boulder near the coast is known as a stone of the false lighthouse.
Intercultural Dialogue and Volunteering Workshop in Turkey ALİAĞA – İZMİR, 28 August – 01 September 2013 The Workshop on Intercultural Dialogue and Volunteering was held between August 28 and September 01 2013 in Aliaga, Izmir by GSM-Youth Services Centre. There were 4 participants from Estonia, 6 participants from Greece, 3 participants from Turkey. Unfortunately the partner organizations from Italy and Poland were not able to participate in the workshop due to busy schedule of their organizations. The aim of the workshop was to discuss the The daily program of the workshop was prepared in cooperation with Aliaga Municipality, the local partner of GSM-Youth Services Centre and the logistical arrangements were done by the host organization, GSM-Youth Services Centre. The group stayed in a family hotel. A detailed info-sheet with all the technical details, such as daily program, how to reach to Aliaga, what to bring, facts about Turkey, insurance, travel details, train hours, etc was sent to the partner organizations to disseminate it among the participants. The participants were asked to arrive to Aliaga Train Station, the meeting point, by themselves and by the confirmation slip, in the info-sheet, they were asked to confirm their participation, their travel details and arrival hours to Aliaga Train Station, in order to be picked and brought to accommodation place. During the program, in order to raise the local impact of the project, and enable future cooperations, two representatives from Aliaga Municipality accompanied the group. The group arrived on August 28th 2013, to Aliaga. By dinner, the group was completed and dinner was a good opportunity to get to know each other. The program was officially started on August 29th, 2013 with a short openning meeting where each country present themselves and their expectations from the program as well as the aim of the workshop, daily program in details and the international voluntary workcamp, the project supports local development and was being implemented by GSM-Youth Services Centre in cooperation with Aliaga Municipality were presented to the participants. International Voluntary Workcamps are local development projects organized either or national or international level but always in partnership with local communities. The workcamps engage the volunteer groups in a wide diversity oof community development tasks including environmental, construction, renovation, social, cultural and archaeological work. Voluntary work is considered as a tool to improve active citizenship and democratic, political participation as well as intercultural dialogue. After the openning meeting, the group visited International Voluntary Workcamp where 20 participants from all around the world were hosted. The volunteer group was constructing a public park for the local children. As the group arrived to working area, the history and philosophy of the international workcamp, its impact to solidarity, peace and development were presented to the group. And then, the group were asked to join the
manual work in the park and they worked together with the group and enjoy their time with the manual work as well as the energizers and games that the camp leaders organized for the whole group. Meanwhile the coordinators from the participating countries held their meeting to evaluate the results of the already taken actions as well as the cooperation among the partners. During this meeting the future plans of the project were reviewed and necessary changes have been done. In addition, the workshop in Greece, was discussed, the dates, place and draft daily program have been done. Besides the final outcome of the project together with the e-book were discussed and task division were made among the participants. After the coordinators meeting and the manual work together with the international voluntary workcamp; a short session was held in order to discuss the impact of international voluntary workcamps on personal development of the young people and on development of community as well as usage of international voluntary workcamp as an educational tool. After lunch, the whole group went to Foca, a cute little town on the Aegean sea, famous for its traditional stone houses and Mediterranean seals, which are under preservation. Actually the city took its name from the seals. During the excursion, the group had the chance of visiting the city agora, bazaar, cost line and marina where they had the chance to meet with the fishermen. The excursion finished with the dinner. After dinner, the group was invited to join the “Intercultural Evening” organized by the participants of the international voluntary workcamp. The idea of the event is to get familiar more about the different cultures, to explore them deeply and to find out the similarities and differences between them. All in all, it is important to promote that differences are our richness and similarities are our links. The group join the Intercultural Evening and had the chance of participating various activities and games of the night such as food tasting, mapping the cultures, storytelling, singing and dancing. The next day August 30th, 2013 the group spent the whole day in Efes (Ephesus), an ancient Greek city, established as a port and used to be the most important commercial, famous the Temple of Artemis, one fo the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The day was designed to discover the similarities between ancient way of dealing and absorbing sea into daily life and today’s way of dealing and absorbing sea into daily life. Day was finished with the celebration party of Victory Day of Turkish Republic at Aliaga’s town center, with concerts, fireworks, etc. August 31st, 2013, the last day of the workshop, was reserved to discover the impact of sea on economical life of the town therefore, the whole day was spent with the fishermen of Aliaga. The day started with a meeting with the fishermen cooperative at the port. During this meeting the group received information about fishing on the shore and offshore, type of fish can be found, the fishing season, the regulations about fishing, hunting, the way of fishing, boats, mechanisms that are being used by the fishermen. And then the group had the chance to discuss the situation in their countries about fishing, the boats, fishermen and regulations by the government. After the meeting the group was invited to visit boat yard to see shipbuilding and the typical Aegean boats. This part of the day was very interesting especially for the Estonian group because in Estonia, the group was building a boat for themselves. It was very interesting to see how the Turkish and Estonian “fishermen” overcame the language barrier through shipbuilding. Later the group was invited to learn how to make net together with fishermen. Trying to weave net was more diffficult than watching the fishermen doing it. After such an experience the group had fresh fish with fishermen and enjoy the sea. After
lunch the group was taken to accommodation place by fishing boats. Sailing with the fishermen was a great experience. The whole program was finalized with an evaluation meeting at the accommodation. The group had dinner together as usual. Next day was for departures!
Volunteering and local development Workshop in Greece Tinos, 3 – 7 April 201 4 Citizens in Action chose to hold the 4th Meeting of the project on the island of Tinos, in Cyclades, from 3rd to 7th April 2014. Tinos is one of the most important religious centers of the Christian Orthodox Church, where a well-known pilgrimage takes place each year on 15th August, the day of Virgin Mary’s Assumption. Apart from this religious aspect, Tinos island is famous for local crafts and marble art heritage that date back to hundreds of centuries ago and formed the base for the project training. During the project the participants had the opportunity to visit villages, where traditional professions and craftsmanship still live on, combining traditional skills with tourism and entrepreneurial initiative. In the last decades, basket making has started to flourish again in the village of Volax, so has pottery making in Aetofolia. After assisting to short workshops on these local professions, the project team visited the Museum of Marble Crafts in Pyrgos village, unique in its kind, which narrates the history of marble and its elaboration throughout the local and national history. In addition, the participants visited an exhibition on the life and work of the famous Greek sculptor Halepas, native of Tinos, in the Cultural Foundation of Tinos and his house and workshop, where he created a big number of his masterpieces, in his home village, Pyrgos. Furthermore, Citizens in Action coorganized an evening event with Tinos Municipality in order to make a presentation of the Cohere Project to the local authorities and people. The organization introduced the five organizations from 5 different countries that participate in the project. There was also a screening of a video documentary about an organization’s workcamp in Tinos, called “More than a Marble Path”.
Legend from Turkey Kizkumu (Girl's Sand) The legend attached to a cove in Marmaris, a touristic town in southeastern coast of Turkey. Thanks to the movement of the sand there is a shallow bar in the middle of the cove that divides it in two. This ribbon, of approximately 600 meters, is called as Kizkumu. Here is a view from it: The word Kizkumu means "Girl Sand".The legend attached to it is that: Once upon a time in Marmaris, a poor fisherman and the daughter of a King fell in love. As you might guess, the love between an ordinary fisherman and a princess simply would not get the blessings of the King. So, fisherman and princes start meeting secretly at nights. But soon after, the old King learnt about his daughter's secret lover. One night, he commands his soldiers to follow her. The soldiers returned and informed the King that every night the princess leave the palace and go to a small cove out of town and she signals her coming to the fisherman waiting across the cove by flashing a light and he would come to that light to find her by his little boat. Having learned their secret code, the King set a trap. The soldiers followed the princess, caught her and flashed a light to call for the fisherman. The princess managed to escape from soldiers and ran as fast as she could to warn her lover. While fisherman is on his way to cross the sea, princes realized that it would not be possible to reach him, if she would run along the beach. So she run into the sea to swim. At that time, a miracle happened. Wherever she stepped into the sea, the water turned into sand; and the sand turned back into water whenever the soldiers followed her. But, when few steps left to reach his lover, a soldier's arrow hit the princess, and killed her instantly. The people of Marmaris say that when the blood of the princess got mixed with the sea water, it changed the color of the sand.
Adult learning for coastal heritage Workshop in Estonia 201 4
Hiiumaa, 2 – 5 June
This was the final workshop of the COHERE project, which included the final meeting and several activities for adult education, most of them hands-on training. The workshop involved many participants from Hiiumaa island, who carry on the tangible and intangible heritage of the island. From the "tangible sector", the main topic of the project was building the wooden schooner, a replica of local two-mast ship from late 19th century. Shipbulider Ain Tähiste shared his knowledge. The expert of restoration works Dan Lukas, who together with his partners experimets and produces traditional impregnants and paints based on tar, turps, seal fat etc. Local legends and dances were collected and presented by Helle-Mare Kõmmus and Lili Käär. The cultural and ethnographic connection of the project were introduced by Lia Rosenberg and Õie Laksberg. Ms Laksberg is also a master chef of local cuisine, and her speciality are coastal recipes of dishes from various small fish. Below is the impression of the Italian team from this meeting: Our Cultural Association Folkolore took part in the final Meeting in Estonia, on Hiiumaa island, from 1st to 6th June 2014. The partners could experience the Estonian coastal traditions which are very different from the Mediterranean ones. The group was in the port at the arrival of fishermen and could see the buying and selling of the fish they had caught. The production of pitch is another sea tradition which can still live thanks to the activity of the “Society of historical skills”. At the Society’s the participants took part in the complex method to obtain the pitch. Going on with the excursion on the island, the participants could see with their own eyes the deep connection between man and nature by observing the wooden sculptures made by a nice woman in Ristna village. The sculptures were in a meadow and they were perfectly integrated with the environment. During the excursion, the participants visited the famous Kõpu lighthouse, symbol of Hiiumaa island and the heart of the Estonian legend which animated the previous laboratories in Italy and in Poland. In the capital town Kardla the group observed the work of the blacksmith. The participants first followed carefully his instructions and then tried to do the same with anvil and hammer and they made some pendants. The island is famous for the construction of boats which are stong and resistant to the North Sea. In a shipyard, they were building a boat entirely constructed of wood. Once the frame of the boat is set, the shipwrights build a wooden shipyard according to the dimensions of the boat. As soon as the boat is ready, they remove the shipyard to allow the boat to go out. The Meeting ended with a visit to Soera farm museum. The museum has utensils which express the strong agricultural and sea relation of people before 1800s. The weather and the sea influence the eating habits of Estonians. The typical cuisine is based on dark rye bread, salted herring, salmon (even raw salmon), soups and stews. Among the local traditions dance could not be missing. So, following expert dancers, the participants could try and dance some local dancing accompained by traditional songs. The leader of the CO-HERE Project, Toomas Kokovkin of the Association Arhipelaag, led the CO-HERE group in this study visit. This way of life can be defined with a single word as “genuine”.
Legend from Greece The new songs King Alexander, after having won so many wars and conquered all kingdoms of the world and everybody was trembling before him, called the wizards and asked them: “Since you are experts in destiny, tell me, what can I do in order to live long and enjoy this world that is completely mine?”. “Your Highness, your power is great,” the wizards responded, “but you cannot erase what is written by destiny. There’s only one thing you can do so that you can be immortal and enjoy your kingdom and glory and live as long as the mountains. But it is extremely difficult.” “I am not asking if it is difficult or not, just tell me what is it?” Alexander said. “My King, it is the immortal water, whoever drinks it never feels afraid of death. But he, who wants to go and take it, has to go through two mountains that crash each other nonstop and not even a flying bird can pass through them. There are so many famous kings and princes who lost their lives in that dreadful trap! Once you manage to pass through the mountains, a sleepless dragon guards the immortal water. You have to kill the dragon in order to take it.” Alexander immediately gives orders and they bring him his horse, Bucephalas, who could fly as a bird even if he had no wings. He mounts his horse, spurs it and disappears. He passed through the big mountains from one side to the other with a galloping, reached the sleepless dragon, killed him and took the glass bottle containing the immortal water. But unfortunately, when he returned to his palace, he left the bottle unattended. His sister looks at it and without knowing what it is, she pours it down by accident. After a while, Alexander wants to drink the immortal water but….where is it? He asks his sister about it and she tells him what happened. The king went mad with range and sadness and he cursed his sister to be half fish and be tortured in the middle of the ocean as long as the world exists. God heard his curse and since then, sailors in the ships see her suffering in the waves. Nevertheless, she doesn’t hate Alexander, her brother, and whenever she encounters a ship, she inquires: “Is Alexander alive?”. If the captain is unaware of her story and responds: “He’s dead” the girl agitates with her hands and unbraided blonde hair the sea water because of her terrible sadness and sinks the ship. But those who know, reply: “He lives and reigns and conquers the world” and the news smoothens the unfortunate girl’s heart and she starts singing happily sweet songs. This is how seamen learn new songs and bring them back home. (CRETE) Nikolaos G. Politis, Traditions: Studies on the life and language of the Greek people, Grammata, Athens 1994 (First edition, Athens 1904) Original source: I. Kondilakis (1887) Translation from Greek: Yorgos Adamidis
What were the lessons learned? Folkolore: The project LLP Grundtvig CO-HERE, “Adult Learning For Coastal Heritage Revival and Exchange” 2012-2014, promoted by the European Union to enhance active citizenship and cooperation among (European) countries and to safeguard and value traditions connected to coastal places in Europe, allowed us to experience and exchange knowledge and good practices with the other partners of the project and to undertake new field research. Folkolore Cultural Association carried out various activities that helped develop competence and ideas among the participants through experiences which contributed to develop a lasting knowledge and professionalism. During the workshop which took place in March 2013, the partners and the other participants established good practices in order to improve personal skills for the documentation of popular memory (folklore) giving a deeper understanding of its roots. The European dimension of the project allowed a wide and diversified understanding of the subject matter. Mobility enabled us to travel to other places and discover the traditions linked to those places. The project and its mobility gave opportunity for intercultural dialogue and occasion to improve our knowledge of the English language, the official language of the project. Our Association is based in an area of the province of Lecce called “Grecìa Salentina”, where people say “We are Greeks, but we have been living in Italy for three thousand years… we speak Greek not because we are foreigners, but because we are the oldest people of this place”. We found many similarities with Greece and its traditions, as one might easily imagine, but to experience this tight relationship with the Greek culture is a source of enduring understanding on a European dimension. The partners and the Italian participants were also able to communicate using a website created by Folkolore Cultural Association. We updated each other by email and initially by the forum connected with the website. This allowed an exchange of knowledge via electronic media. Indeed, beforehand, some people involved were not familiar with these techniques. In Gdansk – Poland to discover a “little-known world” 4th – 8th June 2013 After the meeting in Italy in March 2013, the second workshop took place in Gdansk from 4th to 8th June 2013. The Italian and Greek groups were guests of the Association in Poland (PSOUU). The Polish workshop was a natural continuation of the work previously started on European coastal legends, presented and discussed by every association during the workshop in Martano (in the province of Lecce). In Gdansk, two laboratories were organised: music and painting. The activities of these laboratories aimed at giving a particular interpretation and re-elaboration of the legends. The participants worked in direct contact with diasabled people. In the music laboratory they gave the legends a new shape using various types of instruments, some of which were specially invented and constructed in the lab, underlining crucial moments of the stories; whilst, in the painting lab, they created paintings on small wooden boards and some installations using recycled materials, all of which were inspired by the legends.
All in all, it was en excellent experience from the human point of view and a very interesting experience for the project. A key moment of the workshop was the International Festival on the creativity of people with mental disabilities called “Świat Mało Znany” (the “little-known world”) which took place on 7th June. The paintings produced in the painting lab were displayed and some disabled people together with some members of our association and some volunteers of the Polish Association set the legends to music, after first reading them in the Polish language. Then, there was a performance by Francesco Del Prete and Lara Ingrosso, members of the Italian band “Respiro”, and the pianist Antonio Traldi who accompanied Folkolore in this venture. Their performance was much appreciated, enriching the theme of the sea with a new shade and musically reinterpreting it with a poignant sweetness. In this city of Northern Europe, which at that time of night is always lit up by a soft orange stripe along the sea’s horizon, on the border between Russia, Poland and Germany, destroyed (during the war) and completely rebuilt, where the word “solidarity” recalls the destruction of a regime and the return to freedom, a group of European people could talk and collaborate in order to give new life to the culture of coastal places focusing on the true protagonist: the sea. The sea, with its stories and evocative charms, with its smell and sound, is the same from the Adriatic to the Baltic. Unfortunately, we could not take part at the workshop in Turkey in August 2013. On the Island of the Gods to discover their coastal handicrafts, Tinos Island – Greece 2nd -7th April 2014 "Voluntary work and local development” In the first days of April, Folkolore Cultural Association visited some towns on Tinos Island, one of the biggest islands of the Cyclades. During these days we explored the local handicraft: how did the coast and the sea influence the life of people living on the island? What did they do to survive? How and what materials did they use to create utensils, baskets and other things to ease their life on the island? These are some of the questions which arose during the trip and answers were found during the meeting with artisans, during the visit to traditional houses, through meeting artists and the visit to the museums of clay and marble. The understanding and passing on of coastal traditions is the main goal of the project. In this trip to Greece, the Partner Citizens in Action Association was able to show us the most important points of interest in the traditional villages. Indeed, they organised many excursions: to Volax, Pyrgos, Histernia and Tinos. The island is famous for artists working with marble, namely Nicholaos Gysis , Yannoulis Chalepas and Nikiforos Lytras. We got to know the methods of working of the different artists in the museums dedicated to them. The area around Volax village was surreal. The presence of big stones gave life to the well-known legend according to which the stones were thrown around by the giants while they were playing… and Folkolore, which has long devoted itself to the documentation of legends, asked itself what truth there might be in this story. Someone during the trip recalled the “rock of the old woman” in Giuggianello (province of Lecce) which we all remembered has Greek origins. The island was rich in manual work, such as working with clay and making baskets. We saw the manufacturing phases, how the artisans used their hands to give the shape they wanted, using few tools. So, the camera was focused on the coordinated movements of their hands and body, on the curved back and alert eyes, great skill and many years of experience. Artisan work is diminishing because the use of plastic and other synthetic
materials has put it into crisis. In the past, this skill was not a job as we consider it nowadays. It was a common activity among the people who learnt it in their families when they were children; something they did as a form of relaxation. Among these people, there was always someone who was more skilled and made baskets and jugs for other people. In the past there was no constant selling, but today they are collectors’ items. Windmills, numerous artistic dovecotes, a multiplicity of Orthodox churches rich in sea symbols, fountains with marble sailing ships and delicious food, all enabled us to enjoy this fantastic experience in harmony together. So, we were sorry to leave this island kissed by the Gods. As migrants, we took our leave of the town of Ysternia for last time. Indeed, Ysternia is reminiscent of the town of Sternatia in the heart of our Grecìa Salentina. They told us that Ysternia means “the last” because it is the last town the migrants could see from the sea when they left the island. We learnt the traditions of Tinos island and how the Polish association works. We transferred our experiences onto the website and social media and held meetings in our town, involving young and old. Our Cultural Association Folkolore took part in the final Meeting in Estonia, on Hiiumaa island, from 1st to 6th June 2014. Please see our impressions at page
Citizens in Action: The project gave me the opportunity to get to know so many different cultures and countries and study closer their heritage and local traditions. I had the chance to come in contact with people with skills that are currently vanishing and study local craftsmanship and various techniques such as ship building, marble curving, fishing etc. At the same time, I was given the possibility to experience the importance of oral history and tradition through the preservation of intangible coastal culture, such as local legends, stories and songs and I was stricken by the richness and variety of different traditions. What is more, I was positively surprised to see that local traditions are not just museum exhibits, unchangeable forms of a long-lost tradition, of a dead culture. Quite the contrary; in some cases, local professions and technical know-how of centuries find their place in modern societies, they adjust little by little to them and they form a new identity based on the wisdom and experiments of the older generations. Therefore, the product that is born is not a barren imitation but something new, a hybrid that combines old and new skills, the needs of the present with the heritage of the past. In modern societies this combination has an increasing importance applied in high-quality handicrafts, cultural industries and tourism sector transforming local communities and giving them the advantage of development, always respecting and fostering the past generations’ heritage. It is not only about revival of the local traditions but at the same time about their transfer to younger generations. Therefore, during the project, there was a better inter-generational dialogue and reciprocal appreciation among young and seniors and an in-depth valorizing of senior competences and life skills that led to new ideas needed in the local labour market. The local communities themselves managed to support the ideas of active citizenship in Europe, of volunteering and inter-generational dialogue and became a little more aware of the importance of promoting intercultural understanding. Through careful valorization of the local cultural heritage, they gained more self-confidence and
became proud of their local identity.
Arhipelaag: There were some lessons learned from every partner. We would mention here the highlights form each of them. Italians have tought the methods of collecting and presenting old legends, the way to communicate them to the broader audience. Also, the Italian association Folkolore is a wonderful example of devoted local young people. The Turkish partner has shown a viable example of vuluntary participation in the project, and the involvement of local authorities in the work of a non-governmental organisation. The latter applies to our Greek partner, whos co-operation and involvement of local community is remarkable. The biggest lesson we learned from our Polish partner, this was about involvement of young people with intellectual disabilities. I was glad to see that legend of the participating regions was creatively presented in the art of these young people.
PSOUU: “Adult learning for coastal heritage revival and exchange” were the first project for us with partners that don’t work with people with intellectual disabilities. Our previous project were always with partners that work with disabled people. Of course as Gdansk is the sea port and we have a lot of traditions connected with coast, it was for us a very good idea to join to the project. On the other hand we were thinking how other partners will react to people with intellectual disabilities. And we have to say that it was a very good idea! Our participants had chance to work with non-disabled people and join the workshops that are not connected with disabilities and this is one of the goals of our association. Also our partners didn’t have problems to work and communicate with our participants. For us it was a very important experience. If we knew in advance that the result was successful, we would have planed more mobilities for our participants. I hope that this project is a beginning of longer work on integration with such good partners.
GSM: With the help of this project we had the chance of meeting with many cultures and countries. In addition the project gave us the opportunity to explore and discover traditions coming through sea life, heritage and their relation with today’s daily life. Besides the craftsman, various techniques that are almost forgotten, fishing by using methods that are friendly to nature and life cycle as well as stories, legends and songs related with sea made us understand once again that differences are our richness and also they are connecting us through the sea between us. Besides the teaching of culture on differences and similarities we experienced that art creates its own language by overcoming the language barriers. Music, painting, sculptures and stories are the main touchstones of our lives. In any intercultural and intergenerational actions organized by us or our partners these can be used as tools and creativity as well as encouraging creativity can be the methodology of any actions on intercultural learning. In addition we confirmed once again that small scale development projects such as voluntary projects are perfect tools to create connection with local communities as well as to understand the local heritage and protect the local heritage.
Legend from Poland Pretty Balta One can hardly remember the time when pretty, a little bit careless and sometimes angry Princess Balta lived in Kaszuby. It was a time with beautiful nature where every spirit
had their own names likes Purtek, Smętek, Leceper, Latawiec, Skamzȯch and a lot of others. So, Princess Balta lived in the very beautiful castle near a big lake. Her father, whose name was Baltyk, died when she was a baby. She was the only child in the family and for that reason she was a little bit spoiled. She made people around her to satisfy all her wishes and nobody could refuse her. The only person, who dared to put her in place, was the old
lady Bietka, who took care about her. Very often she told her: “Hey, Princess, you were very impolite today! Go to your mum and apologize. You shouldn’t do this anymore!” Sometimes Balta listened to old lady, but more often she replied: “Bietka, you are a very good person, but I’m not going to listen to you. You help everybody, but you work hard from the early morning to the late night and what does it give you? Nothing! Look at me, I do nothing, but I have everything.” “Ok, but you should know that you have to be thankful to your parents! And try to imagine, what would happen if you were alone and without any friends and family?”, said old lady Bietka in defense. But the princess didn’t care. When she was fifteen, she started to organize a lot of big parties and suppers. The knights from all above the world came to participate as handsome and ugly, proud and humble, rich and poor they could be. The princess ordered to announce that every dy in the castle, there would be tournaments for all knights who arrived. Her mother was exhausted by hosting everybody. And Balta? She flirted with guests, made a lot of promises and required proofs of love… and also asked them to search for boundless water. She didn’t see this kind of water, but no one saw. There wasn’t such a thing! In frustration the mother asked: “My little daughter, get some boundaries! Have mercy on these young men! Choose one and we will prepare your wedding.” In rejection and in infortune to her mother, Balta gasped: “My wish is not to become someone’s fiancée or brined. I want to be free! And I have not only one choice, but millions. I feel like boundless water and that’s why I need to see it!” But bad actions bring bad fortune. Some of the pretenders committed suicide by drowning in the lake, near the castle. It brought great sadness for the families of the suicide pretenders. Therefore they were searching a way to punish the princess. For these threads Balta was afraid, so she tried to win over the evil forces on Lysa Góra (Bald Mountain in Sopot). She sent there one servant, but he didn’t come; they found his body in the lake. It made the princess angry and yawned: “These lakes, these people… everything drives me mad! I wish for them all bad luck. I want to live on the boundless water. Then no one could get to my castle.” Suddenly, a beautiful, tall and blond-haired lady in blue dress appeared. She told:”I’m in the last moment to save your soul. I’m a Goodness of the great Water and will give you as much water as you want. You will become this water. You will kneel and pray for the forgiveness of your sins, until the gods will let you go to heaven.” Balta didn’t have time to apply and immediately jumped into the big sea, which we know today as the Baltic Sea. Look carefully, it’s the princess kneeling with her face towards the east. The Gulf of Filand is hands, the Gulf of Bothnia is head and the neck and The Bay of Gdansk the knees.
20 Video films produced by Folkolore During the years 2012-2014 of the CO-HERE Project “Adult Learning for COastal HEritage Revival and Exchange” the Cultural Association Folkolore made 20 video documentaries on coastal traditions. All the videos are published on the Project website, created and managed by Folkolore. The aim of these videos is to disseminate the documented culture and to testify the great work of field research carried out by Folkolore. The videos are available in this website: https://sites.google.com/site/coheregrundtvig/video List of the videos: 1-5) five videos tell the coastal legends of each Partner of the Project: The cliff of the Damned – Italy; The false lighthouse – Estonia; The New Songs – Greece; Pretty Balta – Poland; Kizkumu (girl sand) – Turkey. Legends were the main topic of the Italian Workshop “Legends” organised by Folkolore. At the next meeting in Poland, the stories of the legends were painted on some wooden blocks. In the videos you can appreciate this complex work which began in Italy and concluded in Poland. 6) The fishery of Rocco 1. The experience of a fisherman who developed a Ittiturismo (Fishing Tourism). Italy 7) The fishery of Rocco 2. Fishing techniques of Salento. Italy 8) Farm workers and fishermen of Salento. Old traditions between land and sea. Italy 9) The Saint and the sea. The relationship between Saint Nicholas and the Mediterranean Sea. Italy 10) Traditional songs of Tinos island. Greece. 11) Impressions of the participants in the Workshop “Legend” in Italy, April 2013 12) Mediterranean Coastal Heritage. An illustrated video on some Mediterranean traditions. 13) The “pizzi”: a typical bread of Salento. Italy. 14) The Church of the Dead in Molfetta. Intriguing interview about the mysteries. Italy. 15) Concert and traditional dance in the forest in Gdanks, Poland, June 2013 16) Pictures of the port and fishermen in Aliaga, Turkey, August 2013 17) Processing of clay in Tinos, Greece, April 2014 18) The basket maker in Tinos Island, Greece, April 2014 19) Production of seal fat on Hiiumaa island, Estonia, June 2014 20) Production of tar on Hiiumaa island, Estonia, June 2014
The project webpage The project COHERE created the website and the internal communication platform. The website is available here: https://sites.google.com/site/coheregrundtvig/home
What were your joint results from the partnership? Folkolore The CO-HERE project has been very important for learning the coastal traditions, the good practices and the activities carried out by the partner associations. Partnership allowed informal education of the involved groups through generational exchange of good practices and intercultural exchange. Our association Folkolore especially dealt with immaterial traditions, such as legends and tales. We discovered the coastal handicraft of the involved countries and the traditions regarding the restoration of old boats. We developed together expertise and participation which aroused great interest among the participants also because this knowledge is part of the growing tourism sector. We did our best so that the understanding of the coastal traditions of the Mediterranean and the Baltic sea merged together through the exchange of learners and staff. Thanks to cultural exchange we learnt how the different partners work even in domains which are very different from ours. For example, the Polish association made us discover how we can do creative laboratories for people with disabilities. The European dimension of the project developed active citizenship and intercultural dialogue thanks to mobility and the organised workshops. The participation in the project contributed to improve our knowledge of the
English language, the official language of the project, as well as professional and intercultural skills, and cotributed also to acquire more awareness of being European citizens.
Citizens in action Co-operating with partners from 5 different countries, stressed the importance of a European dimension of the partnership, bringing together the Baltic and Mediterranean cultures. This way, the value of adult learning and traditional knowledge in different cultural and nature environments was highlighted and methodological approaches on intergenerational dialogue were better developed. The partnership gave us the chance to have a sufficient look on different cultures of the two seas and thus be able to draw our conclusions in an effective way strengthening the South-North axis of the European culture. Furthermore, we had the chance to enhance international co-operation and build up a network that could be an important point of reference for future partnerships.
Arhipelaag We are convinced that the main joint result is the improved common knowledge about our regions (Baltic and Mediterranean). The understanding that we share common values and skills related to the sea, and our deep cultural roots.
GSM First of all creating a network between 5 different countries is the most important result that can be helpful for future cooperation and future joint projects. In addition, experiencing the impact and importance of intercultural dialogue in adult learning brought us to the point that Baltic and Mediterranean Sea have common value and skills although they are far away from each other.
How would you continue from COHERE? Folkolore After the intense experience of CO-HERE project, we will continue to disseminate the results and the experiences shared with the partners on the projetc website and on our website www.memoriapopolare.it. We will take part in other European projects in order to go on and carry out field research, to spread local culture even more and to find possible connections with the other European cultures.
Arhipelaag We wish to continue with an in-depth project, which would bring the cultural tradition closer to real life applications. We wish to explore how to use the traditions in high-quality ecotourism, including handicrafts, accommodations and cuisines. This would improve the businesses and job opportunities in our remore coastal areas.
Citizens in action The COHERE Project acted as inspiration for future partnerships on larger multilateral co-operation projects of adult education and traditional knowledge. We will go on building new partnerships or fostering old ones, since this project has been an example of good practice for organizations and institutes active in the field of adult education. Citizens in Action will continue to create the appropriate conditions and co-operations in order to empower the field of adult education on a Europe wide level, based on past experience, present needs and future hopes.
PSOUU For PSOUU meeting in Greece and Estonia were a big inspiration for future projects. As I wrote one of our ideas is to involve people with intellectual disabilities in works that are not connected with our specificity. We hope that in the future we will be able to join a volunteers project wutch is organized by the Greak parter and is organized for volunteers without disabilities. Partner from Estonia also work on old coastal traditions, it will be very
good experience for us to join people with intellectual disabilities to their workshops.
GSM COHERE is a very successful project in terms of partnership, geographical balance and variety of experiences as well as results and outcomes. We will focus on disseminate the results of the project and promote it a good practice in adult education field. Our organization will transfer the experience that we gained on adult education to the future projects and will continue to work on European level on adult education.
Adult Learning for Coastal Heritage Revival and Exchange 2012-2014 LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMME GRUNDTVIG Learning Partnerships