Informal learning opportunities in neighbourhoods

Informal learning opportunities in neighbourhoods

Education is not only found in educational institutions. A major roll is also played by informal learning. Not merely to be assigned to a residual category, indeed it has individual qualities of its own with respect to possible locations, times, learning groups, role allocation, processes, motivation and results and also the establishment of particular action relationships and requirement situations. This is illustrated by examples from the neighbourhood project “Socially Integrative City” and from a pilot project of the national urban development policy. Informal learning relies on as wide a variety of learning locations and education opportunities as possible. Urban conditions play a major role in this, especially an organised small-scale variety of usage in the neighbourhood, which should also include a local embedded economy. Measured against the objective - access for all to diverse and also informal educational opportunities - a substantial need for discussion, development and research still persists.

Literature:

Steffen, Gabriele (2010), ‘Informal Learning Opportunities in Neighbourhoods’. Published in Information on Spatial Development (IzR) 2/3.2010, specialist journal, labour and social spatial orientation, published by the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning, pages 129-141.

Link:

www.bbsr.bund.de