Heritage Awareness DRiving Active Networks Non-formal educational program
HADriAN is a ‘teach-the-teacher’ toolkit aiming to enhance teachers at secondary schools to facilitate acquisition of cultural knowledge, pointing to heritage, environmental and social awareness.
Cross-border/international
Greece
Netherlands
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: Italy
Greece - Region of Attica - Different Municipalities
The Netherlands - Rotterdam
Italy - Palermo
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
Yes
ERASMUS
Erasmus+ KA2
Project Title: Heritage Awareness DRiving Active Networks
Project Acronym: HADRIAN
Project Start Date: 25-09-2019
Project Total Duration 24 months
National Agency of the Applicant Organisation: EL01 Greek State Scholarship's Foundation (IKY)
No
Yes
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
Name of the organisation(s): Ohi Pezoume Performing Arts Company Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: George Last name of representative: Sachinis Gender: Male Nationality: Greece Function: Legal Representative Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Mouson Street 17 Town: Paleo Faliro Postal code: 17562 Country: Greece Direct Tel:+30 693 757 5202 E-mail:contact@urbandigproject.org Website:https://www.urbandigproject.org
Name of the organisation(s): STIPO VOF Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: Paraskevi Last name of representative: Doumpa Gender: Female Nationality: Greece Function: Project Manager Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Overhoeksplein 2-208 Town: Amsterdam Postal code: 1031KS Country: Netherlands Direct Tel:+30 697 210 2646 E-mail:vivian.doumpa@stipo.nl Website:https://www.stipo.nl
Name of the organisation(s): CENTRO PER LO SVILUPPO CREATIVO DANILO DOLCI Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Alberto Last name of representative: Biondo Gender: Male Nationality: Italy Function: Project Manager Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Via Roma 94 Town: Palermo Postal code: 90133 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 091 617 7252 E-mail:partnership@danilodolci.org Website:https://www.danilodolci.org
Name of the organisation(s): 12th Junior High School of Acharnes Type of organisation: Public High School First name of representative: Marianthi Last name of representative: Platsi Gender: Female Nationality: Greece Function: Principal Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: V. Patoulidou 2 & Pirrou Dima Town: Acharnes Postal code: 13677 Country: Greece Direct Tel:+30 21 0247 7250 E-mail:mail@12gym-acharn.att.sch.gr Website:http://12gym-acharn.att.sch.gr
Name of the organisation(s): 1st Senior High School of Metamorfosi Type of organisation: Public High School First name of representative: Anna Last name of representative: Trigatzi Gender: Female Nationality: Greece Function: Teacher Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: I. Ralli 6 & Tatoiou Town: Metamorfosi Postal code: 144 52 Country: Greece Direct Tel:+30 21 0281 5400 E-mail:anna.trigatzi10@gmail.com Website:http://1lyk-metam.att.sch.gr/
Name of the organisation(s): 8th Junior – Senior High School of Chalandri Type of organisation: Public High School First name of representative: Konstantinos Last name of representative: Kolliaros Gender: Male Nationality: Greece Function: Headmaster Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: 28th October & St. Fotinis Town: Chalandri Postal code: 15238 Country: Greece Direct Tel:+30 21 0600 6614 E-mail:mail@8gym-chalandr.att.sch.gr Website:https://8gym-lt-chalandr.gr
Name of the organisation(s): Directorate of Secondary Education of Eastern Attica Type of organisation: Other public institution First name of representative: Katerina Last name of representative: Alexiadi Gender: Female Nationality: Greece Function: Staff Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Iroon Polytechneiou 9-11 Town: Athens Postal code: 15344 Country: Greece Direct Tel:+30 21 0357 6046 E-mail:didanpep@sch.gr Website:http://dide-anatol.att.sch.gr
HADRiAN – Heritage Awareness DRiving Active Networks is a 2-years program supported by EU Commission’s Erasmus+ program, under the KA2 action.
The program and its partners seek to build bridges through innovation among different countries (Greece, the Netherlands and Italy) and different disciplines (heritage management, water management, urban development, social engagement, education).
HADRIAN’s overarching goal is to develop and pilot a ‘teach-the-teacher’ toolkit in order to enhance teachers at secondary schools to facilitate acquisition of cultural knowledge, pointing to heritage, environmental and social awareness.
The program has a three-fold mission:
_To strengthen the role of the educator, by making teachers the facilitators of collective and creative processes, rather than merely the providers of knowledge
_To link heritage and environmental awareness to social engagement
_To prepare future generations as the problem-solvers towards environmental, social, cultural and economical sustainability and as the active citizens and leaders of our urban future
The main outcome of HADriAN is to re-conceptualize Heritage Awareness, including cultural and environmental aspects, as a driving force to motivate students towards cooperation, community-building and social engagement for sustainable, integrated, place- and people-based urban development, environmental awareness and placemaking.
Combining formal and non-formal educational approaches and methods, the replicable and transferable toolkit includes four original and creative tools:
_Tool 1 supports on-site exploration and research of the local historic water resource by the class.
_Tool 2 supports collaborative decision making on how to make use of the cultural & water resource.
_Tool 3 deepens the participatory examination of the site and supports a process where the students collectively present it.
_Tool 4 supports stakeholder mapping and sharing.
heritage management
water management
urban development
social engagement
education
The program has 3 key objectives:
To strengthen the role of the educator, by making teachers facilitators of collective processes, not only providers of knowledge, and thus enhancing the sustainability of similar environmental educational programs within the formal school system,
To link heritage awareness to social engagement, by using a critical environmental issue, such as water management, as a vehicle, and
To prepare future generations to be problem-solvers when it comes to a sustainable city, activating them as citizens and motivating them towards leadership and capacity building.
A sustainability aspect that is quite important for the program is the contextualization of the participating schools within their local environments, in spatial, historical, cultural, social, environmental and educational terms. Therefore, the multi-layered and adjustable approach that was adopted for the development of the HADriAN toolkit in the different waterline, school and neighbourhood contexts enhances the (holistic) sustainability impact of the program.
The constant dialogue among heritage, environmental and social awareness and action within this program is what makes it sustainable. The students at the end of the program are empowered to connect with their waterline and place, co-create a vision and action plan for the sustainable use of the water resource and heritage infrastructure, while engaging with local communities and stakeholders to disseminate their vision and ideas.
Moreover, the toolkit is intentionally open and accessible, so that every teacher, school or other interested party can download and use it, the way and time they want.
We are very much focused on its dissemination, especially through the greek participating schools and partner (UrbanDig Project), that develops a broader, multi-level community around the athenian Hadrian aqueduct and in a constant dialogue with the wider issues of water and heritage management, and participation.
First of all, at the level of the physical attribute and scope of the program, HADriAN brings to the center of attention an urban resource of heritage importance that carries not only aesthetic values, but also meanings of place identity to the local communities, creating local landmarks.
Secondly, we have integrated a design thinking approach in order to develop the tools that consists the HADriAN Toolkit:
_we have identified the attributes of our end-users (teachers) and developed personas in order to design a series of tools that respond to their needs
_We have developed tool prototypes
_We have tested the tools with teachers and their students on the field
_We have received and incorporated the feedback of the teachers In order to design the final version of the tools
Furthermore, we have integrated performative and creative means of expression not only in the four tools that we developed, but also in the design process of the tools. This has a double impact on the target group(s): both the educators who designed the tools and the teachers and students who will use the tools in their learning process will have the chance to be part of a creative experience, having the opportunity of understanding the value of non-formal and cultural approaches, besides the more typical procedures they experience within the curriculum. Also, the students that have tried the tools have already created artistic outputs, such as drawings, while the program’s logo was created within a students’ contest!
Finally, the outputs of the program have elements of design and arts:
_The toolkit consists of manuals accompanied by explanatory videos that narrate the tools’ purpose and flow. For the development of the manuals and videos we have collaborated with a team of designers in order to visualise the storyline and the characters of the toolkit.
_Tool #3 guides the students to develop a digital tour for their waterline, using creative thinking and narrative arts.
One of the key-objectives of the HADriAN program is to foster social cohesion and inclusion. This is achieved at different levels:
At the local level, students are prompted and supported to study the local cultural heritage and work on ideas on how each waterline can be useful for the local community both as a cultural resource and as a water resource. The tools prompt them to not only work in groups, but also to include the voices of the local community into their outcomes. Specifically, the HADriAN Toolkit consists of tools that are highly co-creative and participatory, based on the principles of democratic participation, the art of hosting approach, and the reciprocal maieutic approach of Danilo Dolci, strongly aiming to cultivate students’ empathy, mutual understanding and acceptance of different opinions. Moreover, the educational and participatory tools are consciously designed to be sensitive to different modes of human perception and learning (kinesthetic, visual, auditory) providing the students with the opportunity to adopt, choose approaches and feel part of the process, comfortable and safe in the co-creation and learning journey with their fellow co-students.
At the European level, the HADriAN program developed the early stages of a platform where teachers, students and other people interested in the topic and taking action (e.g. placemakers, policy-makers, cultural managers) can find who is who and where, and connect with each other. This enhances the connectivity within Europe and the sense of accessibility to knowledge.
These principles of inclusion and accessibility are also reflected in the availability of the toolkit and its results, as they are open-source; the interested schools, educators and practitioners who would like to use the toolkit have open and free access to it.
The HADriAN program has been developed together with the end-users, the teachers, from the very first beginning. This has resulted in an educational outcome that very much fits into the needs and challenges of a public-school teacher and their students. For instance, we have developed the toolkit in a way that is flexible to use, either in terms of time/duration, or choice of tools, or even the content itself.
Moreover, throughout the development of the toolkit we have engaged with the piloting schools, who took on the invitation to test the tools and provide us with feedback for the improvement of the final outcome and outputs. This has fostered the broader engagement of the school communities around the toolkit but also the relevant waterlines that it was tested on. Additionally to the piloting, we have also organised multiplier events, where we have trained other educators on the purpose and use of the toolkit. These two actions (piloting and train-the-trainer) have prompted further dissemination of the educational content, while engaging with a wider community. For this purpose we had a critical policy-making partner, the local (greek) directorate of education, which enhanced the toolkit’s integration in the educational community. Currently, the toolkit is being disseminated through different channels, inviting further citizens, educators, placemakers and other CSO stakeholders to “adopt” the HADriAN educational toolkit and apply it in their own waterline and context. These channels are the online HADriAN platform, the eTwinning platform, and the european-wide network “Placemaking Europe”. The aim is in the coming year to engage with even more school communities and non-formal educators around Europe and have the HADriAN toolkit applied in different waterline typologies and neighbourhoods.
The design, development, implementation and dissemination of the HADriAN program involved stakeholders from 4 levels. Specifically:
_Local level: the program partners have worked in close collaboration with teachers from different schools. In each of the three countries, the team has engaged with civil society organisations and actors of the private sector in order to start a coalition around the use of the toolkit and the highlighting of the waterline. Additionally, the local governance authorities have also been involved in the process. It’s important to mention here that the 4th tool of the toolkit prompts the students to develop their own stakeholders mapping and engagement strategy. It was also through the application of this tool that some of the local stakeholders had been engaged.
_Regional level: besides the local governance authorities, in the case of Delfshaven in The Netherlands, we have also engaged and partnered up with the local stakeholders’ coalition revolving around water management, called WaterSensitive. Through this coalition we are taking extra steps at the regional level of Rotterdam to promote the HADriAN approach along with the importance of the Delfshaven waterline.
_National level: since Greece has been at the core of the HADriAN program we were able to engage with stakeholders of national importance, such as the Directorate of Education and the Youth and Lifelong Learning Foundation of the Ministry of Education. A critical stakeholder of the national level is also the water utility company, EYDAP, which is the main responsible agent for the management of the Hadrian Aqueduct of Athens. By collaborating with both stakeholders we received precious learnings of how an educational program can also have an effect on environmental and educational policies.
_European level: we are currently at the stage of dissemination, aiming to engage with further European stakeholders through the eTwinning platform and the network of Placemaking Europe.
The HADriAN educational content is highly interdisciplinary in its nature. Inspired by the urban resource that it’s aiming to highlight, the heritage waterlines, the disciplines that were reflected in its design, development and implementation are the following:
_Heritage awareness and management: the waterlines that have been case studies for the development of the toolkit hold heritage importance for the local communities. STIPO, one of the partners involved, has experience in heritage management, especially from a community-led and placemaking approach. This experience and relevant methodological aspects have been integrated in the toolkit.
_Water management: the second important aspect of the waterline, is of course the management of the natural resource of it. For this aspect, UrbanDig Project, which has been working on the Hadrian Aqueduct over the past years, holds a thorough understanding of the communal water management aspect. As far as the technical side of the water management is concerned, the partners had a close consultation with EYDAP (water utility company).
_Non-formal education: the third thematic pillar is non-formal education. CSC Danilo Dolci, is an expert in the field of non-formal education and youth work. Along with the participating teachers, the italian foundation has integrated important values and tools from the field into the toolkit.
_Placemaking, Community building & Participatory processes: STIPO and UrbanDig Project are experts in connecting people with their place, and people with other people. The social aspect behind these fields and the relevant tools have been weaved throughout the whole methodology. CSC Danilo Dolci also offered great expertise in the field of participatory processes, especially for youth.
_Performance and arts: finally, the unique field that brings all the above together, is arts and especially performing arts, as a field and means of expression, inspiration and engagement of the target audience.
The HADriAN program comes as an approach that reflects not only on the high-school educational programs usually implemented in the formal system, but also to methodologies applied by non-formal educators and placemakers who work with youth or even adults. The HADrian partnership carries the originality of being relevant to those two fields, while looking at them from a critical perspective and attempting to merge potential gaps in methods and tools. Specifically, the initiative presents the following innovative characteristics:
_Multidisciplinary: the methodology and toolkit were developed by merging elements from the fields of non-formal and environmental education, placemaking, urbanism, community building, heritage & water management, performing arts, and participatory planning. All these fields are covered by the program’s partnership, as a test to unlock less visible potential, by mixing them. Thus, the outcome enriches existing methods of the sole fields and creates bridges between disciplines.
_Creative: the methodology aims at the creative expression of the students, prompting them to employ different modes of creativity in order to develop a vision and take on actions for the sustainable use of their waterline. Such modes include role playing, drawing, performing, and creative writing.
_Participatory: HADriAN is participative in two levels: on the level of how the methodology was developed by a group of multi-disciplinary experts, and on the level of the processes that are conducted during the lesson.
_Place-sensitive: the approach embraces the critical need to develop methodologies that are transferable and replicable to other contexts, however adaptive and sensitive to the special characteristics of each place and community.
_Under-represented urban resource: HADriAN is original in terms of its focus on an unused and unseen resource (waterline), as usually educational programs focus on more “mainstream” environmental elements (e.g. urban green)
The HADriAN approach and methodology are at its core replicable and transferable as it was developed by partners/experts deriving from different contexts and countries, and takes into consideration educational and implementation aspects that might vary between different cases. Moreover, all the tools ask the users to connect with the specific attributes of their own place/waterline. Therefore, not only the toolkit, but also the outcomes are relevant to each specific case, and makes the methodology replicable and adaptable. Last, the form of the toolkit allows for smooth transfer to the approach that each educator might have. The digital manuals are descriptive and can be comprehended and adjusted to the needs of each user, while the video guides are an additional feature of the toolkit that supports the educator/user for the implementation of the methodology.
Combining formal and non-formal educational approaches and methods, the toolkit includes four specific tools. Prior to these tools, comes a preparatory tool to conduct preliminary desk research on the waterline. Specifically:
_ Tool 1: Map the waterline with your senses!: incorporating methods from the fields of placemaking, performing arts and participatory design, this tool prompts the students to analyse and sense the waterline in person and on the field, by focusing on one of its aspects: heritage, water or urban life. This way they can create their own representations of the place and develop their own vision for its management. The tool is conducted on an individual and group level.
_ Tool 2: Co-creating a common vision for the waterline: the students co-develop a vision for the future of their waterline. The tool provides the framework into which the educator facilitates a participatory process with the students, employing tools from Art of Hosting, and Reciprocal Maieutic Approach. The outcome is one common vision for the whole class, and therefore is a practice of democratic decision making.
_ Tool 3: Share your vision for the waterline with a playful tour: having a vision should be accompanied with the right means to disseminate it and engage more people around it. Therefore, this tool seeks to transfer the story and their vision for their waterline into a touring app that can be used by third parties as a means to engage with the resource and take further action. Elements of creative writing, storytelling, and gamification are employed for the development of the tour and digital content.
_ Tool 4: Map & Engage with your stakeholders: the last step invites the students to map the stakeholders that they need to reach out to in order to disseminate their message. The teacher supports them towards identifying, mapping, analysing the importance of each stakeholder, and finally, finding the right way to reach them.
The HADriAN initiative comes in alignment with challenges and relevant goals set by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the European Green Deal (EGD). It is an initiative addressing heritage management, water management, civic participation and active citizenship, place-based solutions, and of course, education. The educational program, though it is not in its scope to speak directly about climate neutrality, it does raise important issues of climate action (SDG13), such as the urgent need to work with nature to protect our planet and health (EGD), to gain soft skills that allow especially young people to take action and direct the society towards the much-needed transition to a greener future, while having a holistic and cross-sectoral approach towards solution-finding (EGD). The case studies that were addressed during the initial development of the HADriAN initiative, i.e. the Hadrian Aqueduct in Athens, Qanat Aqueduct in Palermo, and Delfshaven in Rotterdam, are all cases where the water and heritage resource of the infrastructure are underutilised towards a sustainable local development, if not functioning in an unsustainable way (e.g. the greatest volume of the Hadrian Aqueduct’s water gets lost in sewage and falls into the sea). This raises also the issue of the right to access to clean water and sanitation (SDG-5). Therefore, HADriAN challenges the current management of these resources and sets an example for the approach of other similar resources. The toolkit is a step-by-step skills-development process that allows both the participants to engage with local issues (waterline management) and discuss the wellbeing of the waterline’s community, while addressing global challenges (climate change, sustainability, resiliency, social inclusion).
This program was developed as an open-source content that can be available to any potential adopter and, of course, to public-system educators, offering all students the right to quality education (SDG-4).
The final outcomes and outputs of this 2+ years are a study regarding the management of waterlines in the three case-studies and the local educational systems, a toolkit consisting of 4+1 tools in the form of digital manuals and explanatory video guides, and a platform where all these outputs along with a stakeholders’ and partners’ mapping tool can be found and edited by users. Though the initiative has rounded up, the partners are still working together for the further dissemination of the initiative and its outputs to schools and other partners (e.g. through Placemaking Europe network). It is also worth mentioning that UrbanDig Project was 1 of the 7 organisations that won an SNFPHI (Stavros Niarchos Foundation Public Humanities Initiative)award in 2022, for a proposal aiming to link education with the multilevel potential of the Hadrian aqueduct and public humanities and which had in its core the use and dissemination of the HADriAN Toolkit.
The plan for the coming year is to continue piloting the toolkit with old and new school partners, while receiving valuable feedback for the future improvement or even expansion of the toolkit. Moreover, we are developing further new stakeholders coalitions in order to disseminate and apply locally the toolkit, while adding elements or event tools that are relevant to the local context. For instance, STIPO has been working together with Watersensitive in Rotterdam to engage more community members with existing and additional tools, such as a narrative map, into the development of Delfshaven. Similarly, UrbanDig Project has been collaborating even further with local stakeholders for the engagement of even more school communities and decision-making actors for the management of the Hadrian Aqueduct. Finally, the partners are currently reviewing the opportunities for the continuation of their consortium, either for the same or similar theme and approach.
Embodying sustainability values
_valuing sustainability> it addresses clearly the sustainability aspect of the heritage waterlines holistic management.
_supporting fairness> it offers equal access to environmental education and participation to all students, and prompts them to co-create a fair vision.
_promoting nature> it invites students to explore all elements of their waterline and to integrate them into their management vision.
Embracing complexity in sustainability
_systems thinking> it prompts the students to review the issue of the waterline management from different perspectives and synthesise different needs and opportunities.
_critical thinking> it is a method that empowers the students to challenge assumptions and power dynamics around urban, heritage and water management.
_problem framing> it introduces the students smoothly into framing the local problem of the waterline management and prompts them to think solutions-oriented.
Envisioning sustainable futures
_futures literacy> tool #2 supports the students into envisioning an alternative, sustainable future for their waterline and community.
_adaptability> it is a method adaptive to local context and particular timing. The toolkit has managed to be implemented even during the pandemic.
_exploratory thinking> it is explorative as it brings together methods from non-formal education, water & heritage management, placemaking and participatory planning.
Acting for sustainability
_political agency> tool #4 supports the students in identifying the key stakeholders, and creates the first elements of political agency for them to reach out to the local policy-makers.
_collective action> it is a method strongly based on participatory and democratic processes.
_individual initiative> it is an exercise of active citizenship, as it empowers the students to consider their own role in the sustainable management of the waterline and to take individual actions.
