WELCOME TO EUROPEAN STORIES

GrundtvigLearning Partnerships, 2012-2014

Stories are a way to build bridges. In our project we use the potential of storytelling. We choose / write stories. We tell stories. We dramatize and play stories. We learn about other stories and story telling techniques … because we think that the power of storytelling can enhance our lives!

Project coordinator / Project website

Universidad para los Mayores. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain

http://www.wstories.eu/index.php/about

Partner countries

Austria, Poland, Spain, Turkey

Target groups 

• The ageing European population, in particular: adults who left the school early; migrants who never had the possibility to receive school education; senior citizens
• Adult education organizations

Objectives

General aims:

• To motivate and encourage the adults and seniors to further learning
• To promote the active ageing
• To fight social isolation
• To promote and facilitate the social inclusion of the minority collective
• To improve the access to the adult education, especially for low-skilled workers

Specific aims:

• To use the dynamics of the narration for the empowerment of adults and development of confidence in their own abilities
• To research into narrative techniques of stories at national and European level

Project description 

The project is based on a belief that power of storytelling can enhance the adults and seniors` life. It is a strong tool for empowerment and social inclusion. It has a great potential to attract and motivate adults and seniors to learn, to connect with the others, to express themselves and integrate into society.

Project activities include:

• Developing the website of the project

• National research about story-telling techniques for adult education

• Competition for choosing the best story in all partner countries

• Translation of the best stories to English, reading them and dramatizing

• Producing a number of publications: DVD with photographs and audio-visual material, a multilingual book with selected stories, DVD with videos, DVD with other project results (didactic methods, storytelling techniques, assessment tools)

• 4 transnational project meetings

„THE PIG SELLER OF ABELSBERG” (Austria) – quotation from one of the project selected stories.

AMALIA:

What else shall we do, you stupid jerk, the whole thing makes me want to tear my hair out.

BIRNKIFLER:

But now I know what we are going to do …

NARRATOR:

….. the farmer whispered when the men were already waiting in front of the door. He immediately fell down on the floor and whispered:

BIRNKIFLER:

You simply tell them, that I am dead. Cover me with a blanket and be the grieving widow.

NARRATOR:

Amalia knew it was crazy what her husband was doing, but sometimes crazy things are the smartest things to do.