5.4. Partnerships: Community organisations and civic society

NESET - Network of Experts on Social Aspects of Education and Training publishes reports for policy makers and practitioners interested in promoting equity and inclusion in education and training across the European Union. This paper seeks to examine strategies for establishing community based lifelong learning centres in EU Member States. It explores evidence and research on the benefits and advantages of establishing such centres, as well as the barriers and difficulties impeding both the establishment and effectiveness of such centres. The report concludes that community based lifelong learning centres can simultaneously provide instantiations of a range of key lifelong learning objectives, such as active citizenship, social cohesion/inclusion, personal and social fulfillment, intercultural dialogue, as well as employment pathways.

Family Education is one of the Successful Educational Actions (SEAs) identified in the research project INCLUD-ED. It supports the promotion of cultural and educational interactions between students and social agents, and more particularly with family members and enhance students' achievement.

To prevent early school leaving (ESL), the Jump@school project developed and tested an innovative intervention model and assessed its impact on the attitude of vulnerable students towards school. It involved a consortium of ten partners from six countries, four schools and 480 students aged 14 to 17 years old.

Sindbad is a social enterprise created in 2016 to connect people from different worlds. Our vision is a society in which young people can take their lives into their own hands, and in which they can shape their future according to their talents and passions, regardless of their social backgrounds.

This report seeks to inform and guide the short and medium term strategic planning of the 10 Urbact - PREVENT city municipalities and all other municipalities, local authorities and schools across Europe with regard to parental involvement in education for prevention of early school leaving. This review is based on an analysis of EU Commission and Council documents on ESL and social inclusion, a dialogue and ongoing consultation process with the 10 municipalities engaged in the Urbact - PREVENT project and it interrogates international research relevant to this area. PREVENT is funded by the EU Urbact programme.

The ‘Raising the Achievement of All Learners in Inclusive Education’ (RA) project aimed to provide evidence of effective practice in raising achievement and building the capacity of schools and communities to include and support all learners.

The overall objective of the project is to reduce the drop out rates of learners in vocational education and training, by providing materials and tools for counsellors and trainers to develop their own skills in working with groups, to detect potential dropouts and the special characteristics of learners’ groups, provide support adjusted to individual needs, and thereby improve the quality of their vocational education systems.

The Supporting Inclusive School Leadership (SISL) project investigated how to promote inclusive school-level leadership and provided supportive tools. The project considered that leadership for inclusive education aimed at achieving full participation in meaningful learning opportunities, high achievement and well-being for all learners, including those most vulnerable to exclusion.

The “Volunteering@WU - Lernen macht Schule” program works with kids from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and student helpers by encouraging social responsibility and volunteering activities. The program follows the principles of service learning.
The initiative was established in 2010 by Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), in cooperation with Caritas Vienna and REWE International AG. In this program, WU students can volunteer as learning or music buddies to help kids who have restricted access to educational opportunities due to poverty or social exclusion.