“I have worked as a research assistant at queraum. kultur- und sozialforschung since 2006 and have implemented European projects for just as long. In the past years I have developed and implemented several Erasmus+ projects on the topic of “social participation of older people” together with my colleagues from the queraum office and partner organisations from all over Europe. The opportunity to further develop my own ideas together with project partners from different countries, with different professional backgrounds and different personal approaches and to “bring them to life” still gives me great pleasure.
When planning and implementing our EU projects it is particularly important for us to look beyond our personal and organisational horizons and try out new things. We have always found the OeAD and the adult education team in particular to be very supportive. We feel very comfortable with our ideas and approaches with the OeAD. We very much appreciate that our contact persons always take time for an exchange of ideas and for our concerns and support us in the dissemination of our project results.
We get inspiration for our work from the exchange with the participating senior citizens from all over Europe and our project partners. But we also like to browse through the EPALE platform, the e-platform for adult education in Europe, and get inspired by the multitude of activities and materials presented there.
Author: Anita Rappauer | social scientist, queraum. kultur- und sozialforschung
About EPALE
EPALE is a multilingual, open community for teaching and training staff, researchers, scientists, politicians and anyone professionally involved in adult education in Europe. The platform is funded by the European Commission. The OeAD is the national EPALE coordination centre and thus part of the EPALE network, which consists of 35 national coordination centres.
Anita Rappauer also presented the “invisible talents” project in the EPALE “Community Stories” in 2020. “Community Stories” provide the opportunity to share stories, perspectives and experiences that reflect the creativity and expertise of adult educators.
Are you working in adult education and would you like to share your perspective on EPALE? Then take part in the Community Stories 2021 initiative!