Creative Communities. Field Notes

The book presents different kinds of communities’ initiatives in Lithuania, Poland and Great Britain. it is a summary of two-years project “Localise – a study trip as a model of research, education and practice in vocational training in the field of culture animation and community work” financed from the European Union’s Leonardo da Vinci program.

The project was conducted by three vocational education and training institutions: the Art Institute (Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas, Lithuania), the Creative Communities Unit (Staffordshire University, UK) and the Institute of Polish Culture (University of Warsaw). They organised 6 study trips in 2011-2012.

During the study trips participants visited villages in the regions of Podlasie (Poland) and Dzūkija (Lithuania), medium-sized cities such as Stoke-on-Trent (Great Britain), and Kaunas and Klaipėda (Lithuania), and large cities such as London and Warsaw. There were different groups each comprising more than a dozen British, Polish and Lithuanian cultural animators, artists and researchers who were not only interested in exploring local practices but also the ways in which these were passed on. The transfer of knowledge and practices constitutes the major area of interest of the project whose full name is: Localise – Study trip as model of research, education and practice in vocational training in culture animation and community work. A study trip module was worked out during the course of the project. This implements the ideas of learning through research and learning through practice: gaining competence and skills is effected by conducting individual research in the communities visited and by exchanging experiences with animators working in those communities.

Electronic version of the book: Twórcze społeczności. Notatki z terenu / Creative Communities. Field Notes.