Study tour II

Participants: Jarmo, Asta, Eric, Ela, Maruska, Laura, Marko

Concept

• Small SWOT:– what did we learn?– what would we make it better?

• Our own flashes.

• Our education – what did it mean to us.

• The importance of meeting/ talking/ having fun.

Study tour II

The places of visit:1) RAVAZD – Forest School Ravazd;

2) MEZOORS – Folk School Mezoors;

3) VERTESACSA – Hungarian Farm and Village Caretaker Association;

4) KISBER – Albert Wass Cultural Centre and City Library;

5) BABOLNA – Tibor Pettko – Szandtner Vocational School of Horse Keeping.

RAVAZD – Forest school (+)

• Childhood sustainability of learning about forest;• The combination of practice use of wood;• Museum;• Activities;• Involvement in many projects;• Teachers (young, enthusiastic …);• Theory / practice / history;• Coloured rooms create team building.

• Located in forest company;

• Not an save environment;

• Not prepared good enough for children.

RAVAZD – Forest school (-)

MEZÖÖRS – Folk school (+)

• Computer learning;• Future orientation;• Collecting history and presenting it today

(religion);• Micro level activity;• Big centre;• Old style reconstruction – keeping culture;• Education centre.

MEZÖÖRS – Folk school (-)

• Old computers;

• Not doing anything to encourage the local government;

• Self-sufficiency;

• Everything depends just on one person.

VERTESACSA – Hungarian farm and village caretaker association (+)• Bottom-up approach;• Unique way of taking care for elderly people in villages;• Not services but serving the community;• Money of local community;• People decided who can be a caretaker;• Old people feel a part of society;• Organisation of public education;• Organisation of public education;• Promotion / lobbing;• Cross-sectored activities;• Car provided – good infrastructure;• Creating new jobs.

VERTESACSA – Hungarian farm and village caretaker association (-)• Common ownership of caretaker – not

respecting personal life of caretakers;

• Not creating a structure of organisation to be able to continue the work – the gap was created;

• Car-orientation application;

• Just old people.

KISBER – Cultural centre and moving library (+)

• New centre in town;• Following the taste of people;• Constant monitoring;• Try to find balance between wishes and

education;• Education unite - School of art and music• Useful for older;• Moving library;• English skills offer to people;• Supporting system for creators – painters, new

talents.

KISBER – Cultural centre and moving library (-)

• Lack of commercial thinking;• The level of cultural thinking is low – people

don’t come;• To much money in walls;• Not enough ethnological events;• To little balance between ideas and actual

needs;• No data base;• Bad infrastructure;• To little ITC.

BABOLNA - Vocational school of horse keeping (+)

• Saving gold tradition• Helping pupils to get jobs – connections with employers• Practice / business / theory• More practical education than theory• Good program for school• Support for luxury activities – a part of sustainability• Exchange of students• International cooperation• Jobs for women• Lobbing• Good position in Hungary – respected experts• Education of people and horses

• No researchers – no connection with students in the university;

• No collaboration with other vocational schools;

• Not using school activities and offer it to tourism;

• No studies for foreigners.

BABOLNA - Vocational school of horse keeping (-)

Flashes study trip (+)• Passion learn• Mixed groups (country, age, sex)• More focused and intensive learning• Small groups – we could ask, we were more connected• Opened space for creativity- it’s up to us what we get from the

study tour• A lot of places• Getting to know the area• Extra activities at the study tour (house riding)• Complete the plan• Team work• Opportunity to know each other - Better to learn about each

other• To change experience• Good cars/ driver/ good accommodation/ good translation

Flashes study trip (-)

• Always late

• To little time to think it over and discus

• Tasks better presented (red line)

• To better see the structure

• Just one point of view was presented – the possibility to talk to “users” of facilities

• One night was missing for preparing of presentations

Highlights of our trip

• VERTESACSA – Lunch – regional food tasting

• BOZOKY – vine tasting, vine museum

• BABOLNA – SHAGY- ARAB horses riding

Lessons learned at the Study Tour

The Study Tour Group thought through the lessons learned at different places and the general picture about the role of education in sustainable development. There were some lessons, which are on professional level, and some, which are human abilities, what we found now more important, than before the journey.

Lesson learned 1

„You should think ahead but not to be too agressive, because transition takes time.” The folk school in Mezőörs is using the idea of an integrative NGO, which is mobilizing local people and local resources and bring out a service for free, to strenghten the local community. Gyula Szabó told us, that both village people and sometimes different government levels’ officials does not recognize or does not understand the working mechanism of the folk school and its initiatives. So, communities and institutions should do their best, but let enough time for the transition.

Lesson learned 2

„You should start soon with education: You can theach children. It is harder task in adult age...” The example of the Forest School presented that environmental consiousness should be built up in the earliest age possible. The task of the Folk School was much harder in the building up of competences.

Lesson learned 3 Education needs balance between every dimensions.• Personal, group and public sphere: Best example is the philosophy of Village

Wardens’ Association. In the first ages it was more important to be a human beeing, than to have the highest degrees. But later, the group of village wardens became to a whole society of almost one thousand professionals, and attracted many well-educated persons.

• Economics independence: There is a danger in some very good rural initiatives that after the process of institutionalization and state acknowledgement, the organization begins only to spend the money from the state, and do not care enough with social aspects and remaining innovative. The best example of remaining financially independent, the Forest School and Vocational School of Horse Keeping.

• Environment protection: ensuring balance, so use natural resources but not destroy them.

• Social infrastructure supports economic activities: Social activities of village wardens can ensure better quality of life for elderly people –for example by daily meetings and communications- and longer life –for example through medical supply-, and at the same time, resulting quality jobs in the villages.

• Local cultural identity: The local cultural centre in Kisbér, which was built up with the financial support of the European Union is a good example, because in the town and also in the microregion, this infrastructural investent brought a real change in the local cultural identity.

• Passion to learn: always late: Quality work needs time. That is why our Group always shortened brakes, or used it for discussions and delayed the program events sometimes. But the end was a happy end with plenty of professional and personal results.

Now film :-)