Newsletter of DVV International – Greetings from the Director

Dear Readers,

As a professional organisation for adult education and development active on the global stage, it is very important to us to expand our worldwide network and learn from each other through meeting, exchange and reflection between people. We are all aware that this is only possible to a limited extent in the current corona pandemic. Nevertheless, we would like to contribute towards a fruitful exchange in the digital domain. In this spirit, we are pleased to send you today the first digital newsletter from the headquarters of DVV International. This newsletter will be published on a regular basis from now on, and will provide information and news in the global adult education scene, as well as reporting on central working approaches of the Institute in Bonn and in our offices and partners in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. We would like to use this format to reach both familiar and new target groups who are active or interested in international adult education and development cooperation. In addition to informing a broad professional public, the newsletter is also intended to connect various players with each other. Please contact us if you would like to receive more information on one of the contributions (e-mail to the editors).

The corona pandemic has confronted us all with new challenges. The temporary restriction of mobility and the transfer of educational measures into the digital domain are bringing about a process of methodological and didactic rethinking within adult education. Moreover, the digitalisation push also brings opportunities, as it enables significantly more people to be reached by and integrated into educational activities. The scope of the measures is no longer limited by geographical borders, but rather by the language skills and IT equipment available to each individual. What is more, there are limits to interaction and participation, not least because people in many of the Institute’s working regions do not yet have sufficient access to the Internet and to technical equipment. For this reason, we have also switched to radio and television formats in recent months in order to reach particularly disadvantaged groups in society. The article that has been penned by our Deputy Director Uwe Gartenschlaeger illustrates how we and our partners are reacting to the corona crisis. 

The seventh International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VII), which will take place in 2022, is casting its shadow at global level. We are actively working to support the consultation process that is already underway, and to enable broad participation on the part of civil society. In this context, we would like to thank Werner Mauch from the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), which will be organising the conference in Morocco, for his guest contribution. Further articles in our first newsletter report on the results and effects of the literacy work of our long-standing partner ANAFAE in Afghanistan, and on a competition marathon in Uzbekistan to motivate and support adult education players in corona conditions. In an interview with the civil society representative Nina Kekuh from Belarus, we look at one of our worldwide focal points, namely education in prisons. A further contribution shows how we organise memory work and democracy education in corona conditions, together with our Turkish partner beraberce. 

Dear readers! Stay safe through the crisis, keep in touch with us, and please feel free to pass this newsletter on within your network.

Yours faithfully,

Christoph Jost

Director of DVV International