Notes in brief, RCE workshop, Campus Gotland, Visby

Transcription

1 Notes in brief, RCE workshop, Campus Gotland, Visby Date: 6 October Time: 1 pm 4 pm, 3 hours Facilitators: Zinaida Fadeeva and Susanne Zetterblom Participants RCE Name Organisation Yvonne Brogaard Utbildningsförvaltningen, Lunds RCE Skåne Nelson kommun RCE Skåne Anders Ebbesson Lunds kommun RCE West Åse Eliason Bjurström RCE West Johan Boman GMV RCE Uppsala-Gotland Gunilla Rosenquist RCE Uppsala-Gotland Eva Friman RCE Uppsala-Gotland Siw-Inger Halling Campus Gotland, UU SWEDESD Rosendalsgymnasiet RCE Skåne Kerstin Sonesson Malmö Högskola RCE Skåne Monika Månsson Malmö stad RCE Uppsala-Gotland Neil Powell SWEDESD Unfortunately no participants from RCE North were able to attend. The following questions had been proposed and posted in advance of the workshop: Municipalities work is somewhat overshadowed within RCEs where there is a large focus on higher education. Other groups issues, e.g. municipalities, does not get the same attention. Many recent projects have focused on higher education. Our politicians have brought this issue up in different international RCE forums, but haven t received a clear answer. It would be interesting to discuss this issue. Can we develop and find potential funding for joint project ideas, both development and research? How do other RCEs work to include others than just the steering committee organizations into the RCE work?

2 How can we work together in different organizations, to further ESD within respective RCEs? It is important to discuss concrete insights of what we do in the different RCEs and identify possible future collaborative projects. What do we foresee in Sweden that we want to focus on? Maybe also identify a Nordic profile for the RCE work? The workshop should aim at boosting the energy of all participants and end in a pro-active agenda! Framing of the workshop 1. Introduction of workshop structure, come to a common agreement. 10 min 2. Introduction of each other: Name, organization, which RCE. 20 min 3. Each RCE sits in groups: Define your successes and challenges, put on flip-charts. Take into consideration the following questions: How to embrace all RCE stakeholders interest area within the RCE? How do we get more than just the steering committee organizations engaged in the RCEs collaborative/joint work? 15 min 4. Each group presents their findings; 3 groups x 5 min each. 15 min 5. Zinaida gives her perspective on the latest UNU trends, regarding RCEs, GAP (and the connection between these frameworks), and address the questions above. 20 min 6. Short break. 15 min 7. New groups cross-rces. Address the following issues: How can we work together across the RCEs to further ESD? Is there a need for creating a Nordic RCE profile? If so, then how? Wish list for joint RCE projects and/or research, both within an RCE as well as collaboratively between Swedish RCEs. Put on Post-it and put under the headlines on the White-board, summarize. 25 min + 15 min. 40 min 8. Next step, how do we take the ideas from the workshop and implement? Who takes responsibility for what? 20 min 9. Conclusions and closing. 5 min Due to time constrains (always the issue) point 7-8 was done as an open discussion in plenary and was sent home as homework for each and everyone.

3 RCE West presentation RCE West is structured in a very polycentric and dynamic way with very fluent work tasks among themselves. They have a steering committee without roles and have meetings 2-3 times a year. They try to find a balance between playfulness/seriousness. They are about 50 different stakeholders in their RCE. Successes Mobilizing Width (of the network, about 50 stakeholders) Meta theory Polycentric increased understanding Link theory practice Light structures Summer seminars Farming future questions (?) Alternative elderly home More networking applications for projects, cases etc. Funding (both success and challenge) RCE as an enabler Not flashy (?) Challenges Funding (both success as challenges) The webpage Documentation Dialogue with the Region (Municipality, County Government (?)) Possibility to engage more people The networks hallmark is not promoted enough Common vision

4 RCE Skåne RCE Skåne was the first RCE in Sweden. First 5 partners in the steering committee and now 6: 2 universities, 2 municipalities, 1 county government and 1 from the business sector. The challenge is how to address the challenges! Could and/or should RCEs be a platform to enable the SD goals for the region? The RCE concept is difficult due to not being recognized nationally. Challenges To spread ESD/SD within respective activities. Anchor RCE within respective organizations board/ management To connect RCEs work with the SD (?) goals for the municipality/organization To be a part of the whole (meaning to get the politicians onboard) More ESD than RCE

5 RCE Uppsala/ Gotland Successes Challenges Varying venues (for meetings) = inclusion The Gotland region is eager to join. Uppsala municipality is already onboard A nice website is being developed RCE as meeting spot & some projects have been initiated Who decides who can join the RCE? Different views on inclusion & governance and other issues The coordinating unit s role; different views on what needs to be coordinated and how We are in a bit of a complicated start-up phase (but now there is light in the tunnel)

6 Insights and reflections during the Zinaida session - There are various structures of engagements into an RCE. There is no definite framing but has to be done out of context and what works best for us. - We need to become better in reflecting and documenting our own work; what we do and what is going on. - Each RCE have to define structures for how to best keep the RCE together. There is an issue regards to paid work versus voluntary engagement within the RCE. How should this be balanced? Commitment is important, whether we refer to a person or an organization/institution. - We need to have dialogue both ways; Bottom-up and Top-down. - The process of collaboration, the road, is the goal for an RCE, how to engage people, how to make different stakeholders in a region to collaborate, to get the learning as a common, to learn together. RCEs initial idea was to focus more on the action than the theory. However the 2 should be linked together. The road could be seen as the GAP implementation, the outcomes would be addressing the SDGs. - GAP on ESD helps to implement the SDGs - The ESD community has the ability to evaluate the learning processes. Predominating is the interpretation of access to information. - Maybe not put too much energy on getting the policymakers onboard but rather to emphasize cultivation of alternative coordination s. - To have a logo is a way of identification/unification as well as a tool to be recognized within society. - The RCE Bulletin is one way of getting updates from the RCE community / SZ