The Turin 2013 Learning LinkShare practices • Strengthen partnerships

Report

International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin (Italy)

Report

28 – 31 October 2013

ITC-ILO Team:

Facilitators:

Haley Horan

Robin Poppe

Tom Wambeke

Organization:

Paola Abbate

Alessia Messuti

Ine Noben

Mirella Scabini

Jolien Spoormans

Technical support:

Emanuel Bechis, website

Antonella Bologna, photography

Luca Fiore, graphic art

Enzo Fortarezza, soundtrack

Training Facilities team

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What is the Learning Link?

The Turin Learning Link is a biennial event that serves as a meeting place for capacity development policy makers and practitioners to bridge policy and practice. The goal is to facilitate knowledge exchange within the extended community of practice while enhancing the culture of cooperation among development training and learning institutes. It has a hybrid format that combines the potential of learning forums, networking events and training to provide participants with the opportunity to meet their institutional priorities and individual aspirations. With advanced knowledge sharing and learning approaches and an interactive environment, the Learning Link is an opportunity for creating new knowledge and a moment to be creatively inspired by the latest developments in learning.

Leading principles

z The participants are the experts

z Bridging policies and practices

z Advanced knowledge sharing and learning approaches

z A global Steering Committee partnership

z Diverse and inclusive participation

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What was the focus?

The Turin 2013 Learning Link brought together development training and learning institutes, creating an ideal venue for knowledge sharing and for envisioning their role in the evolving development landscape. The main focus for achieving this was through the concept of ‘sustainable learning’. Under this framework, the event explored three leading interlinked dimensions: the social, the environmental and the economic dimension.

From the social perspective the focus of the Learning Link was on building Knowledge Organizations. It considered how learning and training institutions could create impact beyond the life of a single training activity for their customers and the community. It questioned how training institutes could upgrade their own capacities, through systems and processes by which people generate, transform, manage, use, and transform knowledge to achieve organizational goals.

The environmenmtal dimension envisaged the move towards a learning ecology. This theme considered how training institutes can raise awareness of sustainability and change processes. The focus was on exploring green learning environments and practices using technology, learnscapes and learning architectures. The Learning Link placed particular emphasis on the systemic interconnections between development disciplines and programmes, confirming the centrality of the human factor.

The final focus was on the economics of sustainable learning and in particular the financing of training and learning. This dimension collected ideas around non-traditional sources of funding for training, the potential of e-learning and blended approaches to maximise efficient use of resources, efforts to increase the reach and inclusiveness of training programmes, and how costs and benefits could be assessed and communicated.

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Who led the process?

The Steering Committee of the Learning Link 2013 was composed of the African Development Institute (ADI), the Centro de Información sobre la Cooperación Internacional (CEPEI), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITC-ILO), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). These organizations collaboratively identifi ed the themes and worked together to select training institutes that could add value and benefi t from closer connections to the professional community. Financial contributions allowed co-funding the attendance of several participants.

The Learning Link 2013 Steering Committee was characterised by the diverse institutional nature of the member organisations ranging from bilateral development cooperation agencies to think tanks and from regional

fi nance institutions to international organizations. Geographically, all continents were covered with organizations representing Latin-America, Africa, Asia and Europe plus one international organisation, thus providing a global perspective on sustainable learning.

The Steering Committee welcomed the participants to the Learning Link 2013 by contributing to the opening and launching the four-day event.

The Turin Centre was the technical spearhead of the programme, responsible for coordination, agenda design, co-facilitation and evaluation. These efforts were strongly supported by partner organizations and collaborators who were crucial to the overall success of the Learning Link.

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What was the purpose?

The original and recurring objectives of the Learning Link are sharing practices and strengthening partnerships and again this year this purpose was at the foundation of the programme with a cross-cutting emphasis on enhancing capacity development, learning and training initiatives.

As currents of change transform the global landscape, development learning and training institutions are confronted with a range of new and emerging, deeply connected capacity development challenges to address with their partners, in a context of shrinking resources.

Representatives of development learning and training institutions, policy-makers, public and private sector partners were invited to participate. The Learning Link 2013 provided a unique opportunity to:

z Share sustainable learning practices;

z Envisage the role and the evolution of training institutions in the post-2015 development agenda;

z Build partnerships with development training and learning institutions;

z Exhibit products and services, and benchmark strategies with an audience of global learning and training managers;

z Expand the vision and prepare for action to give meaning and life to the concept of sustainable learning.

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What made it unique?

Learnscapes

The Learning Link with its learner-centred approach created through the design of the learning space a stimulating environment for the participants to maximise their learning experience. The event took place in one single space that provided to all the needs of the participants. In the same space there was the plenary auditorium, group working islands, a coffee corner, a reading space, Wi-Fi and eight internet connected workstations. By changing the layout of the space, every session had a different learnscape. Appropriate background music created the right atmosphere for reflection, brainstorming and group assignment. Posters with definitions and material that was created during the sessions were displayed in the room; it provided an input to which participants could refer at any time.

There was a reading corner with books, articles and journals to provide food for thought. Computers, where the participants could access the Learning Link’s extended online resources page, were at their disposal. These “(in)tangible” elements created the perfect atmosphere for the group to connect, reflect and share.

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The Learning Link on social media

The learnscape of the Learning Link also extended beyond the physical space by going on line. The sustainable learning approach continued to take place before, during and after the sessions through lively discussions on Twitter. This gave further way to the creation of an informal learning environment, which allowed participants, speakers and outsiders to join in and share their ideas on sustainable learning and development learning and training. External speakers who were present at the Learning Link for a specific session, simply continued the discussion online and were available to participants for questions or for exchanging views in the context of group assignments. Parallel sessions, physically divided the group by brick walls but the digital exchange of thoughts allowed to link the sessions while they were going on.

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Participants are the experts

The Learning Link 2013 enjoyed a diverse and inclusive participation. The group was composed of 60% women and 40% men; 60% were representatives from countries from the global South and 40% from the global North. The Learning Link does not use the conventional conference set up where experts come to speak and participants come to listen. The participants of the Learning Link are all experts in the fi eld of learning and development and are therefore the main contributors to the programme. Several participating organizations contributed by enthusiastically hosting sessions on their perspectives and experience regarding

sustainable learning. All participants actively engaged in open discussions on the subject matters. This ownership of objectives and learning process was the means that allowed sessions to move in the direction most relevant to participants and their organizational contexts. The European Training Foundation, FUNDAR and Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan shared successful practices, case studies and lessons learned from their sustainable training and learning experiences. Without their earnest efforts to contribute to the knowledge of their peers and international partners, the Learning Link simply would not exist.

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Mix between internal and external inputs

The Learning Link started the day by providing key note sessions by external experts to frame the theme of the day and create the process envisioning. Throughout the day there were sessions provided by the steering committee, the participants and by external organizations to provide a mix between internal and external inputs. By the end of the day a crowdsourcing session amongst the participants identifi ed the highlights and

drew conclusions from these various inputs and decided where the process they envisioned in the morning was or should be going to. The Learning Link is based on the principle of collaborative efforts for knowledge creation and therefore the contribution of The University of Leicester, Redomino, the Italian National Research Council, The Development Alchemists, the Wageningen University and Experientia was highly appreciated.

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What was covered during the Learning Link 2013?

The programme of the Learning Link 2013 was defined around the concept of ‘sustainable learning’. Being a relatively new concept with little resources available on the topic, the definition of the concept was an important element during the Learning Link. Defining a broad concept like ‘sustainable learning’, required to break it up into different dimensions that all contribute separately to the overall theme in an interlinked way.

The programme was composed of a general sustainable learning day, a social dimension day, an environmental dimension day and an economic dimension day. Within this scheme, each day consisted of a first session that required the group to brainstorm and envision the role of the specific dimension of the day and its relation to sustainable learning, followed by a keynote session introducing participants to external ideas on the topic. The rest of the

day would proceed with topical sessions and end with a crowdsourcing session where the participants had to rely on the internal and external inputs and come up with actual action points that could be introduced in their learning and training practices.

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Sustainable Learning

The first day of the Learning Link 2013 was devoted to the overall concept of ‘Sustainable Learning’ and it kicked off with the opening remarks, where the steering committee presented the event. They expressed the need to implement sustainable learning in current training practices and indicated their satisfaction with the willingness of the participating organizations to do so.

The keynote speaker of day one was Jan Vandemoortele, one of the architects of the Millennium Development Goals. In his session he presented the story of the MDGs, the SDGs and the Post-2015 Agenda and how these goals require a new learning process based on three important steps, namely to learn, unlearn and relearn. Jan Vandemoortele

stressed the fact that it is important to learn from past experiences, however to be careful not to reproduce mistakes or turn a blind eye and not learning from them. He gave an example of famous economists that had produced incorrect statistical results where policy-makers still referred to as if they were correct. Therefore it is also important that policy-makers and development actors show the ability to unlearn what they believed was true and relearn new and sometimes unconventional ideas. Finally his conclusion on how to move forward with the Post-2015 Agenda is that in the first place there is a need for a narrative, secondly of enlarged partnerships and thirdly of consensual leadership.

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After the introduction on how Post-2015 started and the request for a new learning process by forming coalitions, Philipp Schönrock from CEPEI presented the global partnership on data. A data revolution would give people better access to these data, as they have the ability to make governments and politicians accountable for their actions and makes it a vital tool in policy-making. Better quality and more accessible data will allow us to understand and monitor development more accurately and it is a necessary element in the sustainable learning process. The group agreed with the necessity of data but underlined during the open discussion, the importance of neutral data and to present data with a narrative to make sure that the figures are not represented in a simplistic way. To achieve this, there is a need for a widely diffused global partnership on data.

The day evolved from a historic to a theoretical and then more practical perspective on sustainable learning. Miriam Unverzagt, from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, presented a sustainable learning practice in the form of competency self-assessment tools to enable learners to own their learning. Through these tools, GIZ makes the learners feel responsible for their own learning. It is important for learners to know where they are starting from and

therefore they need to self-assess their competency. In the beginning of GIZ training sessions, e.g. on intercultural competence, this is done by making the learners perceive situations based on movie sequences, they are then given a questionnaire that they have to fill in. The answers will give the learners insight on their attitude, ability and knowledge and show them what it means to be competent in that topic. The results will be placed on a scale in the stage model with the following steps for developing skills in dealing with diversity: cultural unawareness, self-perception, change of perspective, respectful comparison, co-creative approach to diversity. Institutions often forget or do not understand the perspective of the learner but this approach puts the assessment in the hand of the learner and thus it provides the learner with an important responsibility in planning the learning journey. This is defeating the trainer-centred assessment of competencies and needs.

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Social dimension: Building Knowledge Organizations

The second day of the Learning Link had a closer look at the social dimension of sustainable learning, entailing the discovery of various possibilities for training institutes to go beyond the implementation of training activities and build knowledge organizations.

Gráinne Conole, professor of Learning Innovation at the University of Leicester, held a keynote session on how navigating digital landscapes can foster creativity and innovation. E-learning offers a new type of education of which the social impact is visible because social media, like for example twitter, has allowed a levelling between learners and trainers. The boundaries between formal and informal learning have blurred. Various applications and online resources are available that allow people to learn in an informal setting where previously they needed training. Social media also allows building interactive knowledge networks where everyone can share information. A big issue remains that people circulating in those digital networks are mostly the best educated; they are not yet available and used by the big masses. The conclusion of this session

was that digital learning can be a great tool for sustainable learning provided its inclusiveness is strengthened.

Susanna Albrecht from GIZ built further on the session facilitated by Miriam Unverzagt on the first day and focused on the social perspective. This time the leadership ToolBox “Leadership for global responsibility” was closely analysed. A leader, e.g. in an organization should be competent in three key domains. First, in cooperation, meaning, e.g. one has to know how to deal with international diversity and know all the stakeholders involved. The second domain is transformation, e.g. by questioning oneself, widening one’s perspective and going out of one’s comfort zone. The final domain is innovative action, where it is time to, e.g. co-create something new with stakeholders, share visions and values. Because of different backgrounds and values, adaptation is necessary and therefore different phases of a leadership journey have been designed. The leadership journey consists in five stages. The journey must be started by getting more deeply into the topic of “Leadership of global responsibility” and the sector topic of interest in general, so that afterwards the outside world can be explored, e.g. topic inputs, stakeholder discussions and a sensing journey, where stakeholder involved are consulted for an intensive exchange; this allows an overview of the whole framework. This is where the ToolBox comes in with peer coaching and empathy listening. The next step is to explore the inner world, e.g. by solo walks, journaling practices, physical and non-cognitive methods. This is the point from where innovative ideas can be jointly developed, which can later be turned into concepts of change projects or prototypes. The final step is the coming home and continuing the journey, this is the point in time, where the leader can share with his/her peers and the prototypes are getting implemented.

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In the meantime a parallel session with Manuela Prina from the European Training Foundation explored the knowledge track of the social dimension. She presented the knowledge management framework, which picked up on Gráinne Conole’s session and the spreading of information and knowledge. The observation is that knowledge is often not properly valued and managed and therefore not properly communicated within an organization or between organizations. To value and manage knowledge it is important to assess and measure results of policy-making (which refers back to Philipp Schönrock’s session on data). The session introduced tools for knowledge management in the framework of policy development. The focus was placed on networks, as a tool allowing for coordination to take place in specific policy domains. Networks can take many forms, one of which is the communities of practice that bring countries together to share knowledge and learn from each other. Active participation in networks has a positive impact on shared ownership and development.

The session of Erica Rizzato from the Italian National Research Council and Flavio Fabiani from Redomino focused on co-creation and how it can improve social relevance and efficiency of education. Flavio Fabiani introduced the concept of co-creation, explaining that the essence is to engage people to create valuable experiences together while enhancing network economics. Innovation and creativity are triggered through networking and

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collaboration; organizations should stimulate this. The second part of this session was led by Erica Rizziato tackling co-creation in a practical way. She explained how organisations need to design platforms for stakeholder’s interaction, and referred back to what was said during the leadership track of the social dimension by Susanna Albrecht. She stated the need for a horizontal and more client-oriented leadership process that is inspiring, coached, steered and made interventions. This was followed by an exercise where the participants needed to experience the three steps of client-oriented processes: thinking, feeling and acting.

The final session on the social dimension of sustainable learning was on the importance to coach and not to train. Nat Clegg, from the Development Alchemists coached the participants on how to coach. He introduced the GROW model. The end point of the model is the Goal, this is where people want to be.

The goal has to be defined in a way that is very clear to people when it has been achieved. The second element is the current Reality where the person is at the moment. What are the issues, the challenges, how far are they away from the goal? Thirdly there will be Obstacles stopping people getting where they want to go, starting from where they are now. If there were no Obstacles people would already have reached their goal. Once the obstacles have been identified, this opens the door to Option. People need to find ways of dealing with the obstacles to make progress and have options that will lead to the goal. Finally there is the Way forward. The options need to be converted into action steps which will take the learners to their goal. Going through this process, gives training institutions the possibility to establish a coaching relationship towards the customers which can develop in a sustainable learning process.

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Environmental dimension: Towards a Learning Ecology

The third day of the Learning Link envisaged sustainable learning from the environmental point of view. On the one hand themes such as sustainability and climate change were touched upon and on the other hand, the environmental dimension also implied introducing green learning environments, learnscapes and learning architectures.

The keynote session of the day was presented by Arjen Wals, professor in social learning and sustainability at the University of Wageningen. He gave a session on transformative learning towards sustainability, emphasising on the high level of consumption in our society and giving the example of the fact that 426.000 cell phones are being decommissioned every day in the US. There is also a lot of ‘green washing’, which involves movements, products or organizations that pretend to be green but are not truly sustainable. For example a sustainable tool for learning

is considered to be e-learning but the still considerable ecological footprint of e-waste should not be dismissed so easily. Arjen Wals explained that education when used or instructed in an incorrect way, might actually not be the solution but part of the problem, he therefore called for a transformative learning to provide change in people’s values and behaviour. It is not only to learn about sustainability and to learn how to do things in a certain way, the focus must also be on learning to be and to live sustainably. Three lenses must be used to envisage this change: the integrative lens, which means not just looking at the present but also anticipate the future by learning from the past; a critical lens as to ask disruptive questions; and a transformative lens to avoid ‘voluntary simplicity’ because it is just easier to say what is unsustainable than to define sustainable. However identifying sustainability should be the end goal and not defining what is unsustainable.

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The day continued with parallel sessions. Michele Visciola, from Experientia, represented a learner-centred design for learning platforms. He explained how to go from communities of practice to design of learning platforms through identifying a shared domain of interest; creating a community with members engaging in joint activities and discussions, helping each other to share information; and finally by having the practice embedded in a repertoire of resources. For the design of a platform it is vital to benchmark with other organizations, using e-learning and involve the stakeholders to have the right platform requirements and to match the users’ needs. Extremely valuable is to have a visual concept for the platform and an interactive prototype. The design must constantly be retested and refined. To design a distance learning platform

that is truly engaging and innovative it must promote three elements: learning by doing (learning as a practice), by discovering (serendipity) and by sharing (cooperation and contribution). These elements will make the platform learner-centred and the learning process will be more sustainable.

Alice Vozza, from ITC-ILO, talked on greening the learning experience, showing that this could be done both at the level of organisational processes and products/services offered. The culture of the organization plays an important role in both aspects and a greener approach should engage all stakeholders: beneficiaries, staff, partners, suppliers, service providers and donors. The initial steps towards a greener campus, according to the on-going green certification process at the ITC-ILO, are: the approval of a public policy statement, a recycling and waste management plan, a carbon emission reduction plan, and an awareness raising communication and learning strategy. Some of the ideas generated by the participants were to create checklists for green training activities for development-focused training and learning institutions and beyond; to insert green modules in every type of training; to organise targeted training for decision-makers in order to sensitise them and having multiple stakeholders training events to ensure all parties take responsibility.

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In the afternoon the sessions turned more to practical examples of sustainable learning from an environmental perspective. “Janet Oropeza, from FUNDAR, presented the project ELLA (Evidence and Lessons from Latin America) to promote reflection on the importance of ensuring relevance, impact and sustainability of the learning initiatives’. One of the project’s components was the delivery and management of Learning Alliances (LEAs). These LEAs are online groups formed by members of the Latin American, Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa region that engage in a two-way exchange. The learning happens mainly through an online platform or by teleconference. With the LEAs as an example, participants attending the session reflected on possible and innovative ways to ensure that learning initiatives share relevant knowledge that produces changes in participants’ behaviour, and is used and nurtured over time.

In the other auditorium Sonja Zahed, from GIZ and Robert O’Donoghue, professor at Rhodes University, presented their project on education for sustainable development where GIZ took up the initiative to work with experts from India, South-Africa, Germany and Mexico. The expert network shared ideas on national and international approaches. The school-

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in-community approach was used to have co-engaged learning practices and social innovation in modern African contexts of social-ecological risk, which lead to learning sustainability practices. The session was concluded with the following ideas on how to enhance quality of life: to use less more wisely; to enhance natural habitats and ecosystem services; and to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

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The final session of the day led by Robin Poppe and Tom Wambeke, from ITC-ILO, started with a display of books and various other resources on knowledge sharing. The session slowly turned into an informal dialogue on five innovation patterns which were presented. Serendipity / Hybridity is a form of informal learning when hearing new and useful information in conversations or by finding unexpected combinations in ‘learning by doing’. Crowdsourcing / Collective intelligence / User generated content, involves questioning a large group to obtain answers. It challenges (institutional) concepts such as ‘monopoly’, ‘control’, ‘value of a single content producer’, ‘copyright’, and ‘property’. Thirdly, Exaptation / Intersections / Interdisciplinary thinking represent a shift that takes place in the function of a trait during evolution forced by adaptation to new situations or context. In learning this is seen as different disciplines intersecting and thus creating high innovative potential. It can also take the form of learning from failures. The fourth pattern was Long tail thinking / Niches / Micro-trends. This refers to the contrast in statistical series between the core ‘mainstream’ components and the numerous but more ‘individualised’, ‘single item’, ‘niche’ products. Long tail products or behaviours may evolve towards mainstream; micro-trends, involving less than 1% of the population, may evolve into macro-trends. The final concepts that are important to sustainable learning are in the area of Biomimetics / Learning ecology / Complexity and systems thinking / ’Learnscapes’ / Eco systems. The idea is to imitate models, systems, and elements from nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. Nature is an endless ‘reservoir’ of inspiration and study for scientist across disciplines: behaviours, structures, models will generate new materials, influence shapes and design, suggest new approaches and practices. Eco-systems applied to social sciences have resulted in systems thinking. The participants were asked how these elements could in their view contribute to sustainable learning and could be reflected in activities or institutional strategies and practices. Various ideas came up ranging from inviting experts from apparently unconnected fields, including social media like Twitter and LinkedIn, to creating informal learning environments.

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Economic dimension: Financing training

The final day of the Turin Learning Link addressed the economic dimension of sustainable learning, discussing the availability of resources for development training and how non-conventional sources of funding could be explored with the aim to increase the economic sustainability of learning institutions and their activities.

The keynote speech was given by Temi Abimbola of the African Development Institute, a Department within the Chief Economists Vice Presidency, at the African Development Bank. This was set in the context of the Bank’s recently launched 10 Year Strategy (2013-2022), with an overarching theme of Africa’s Transformation to strengthen

and sustain the attested growth surge and positive macroeconomic projection for the region. The Bank’s strategic objective of Inclusive Growth is supported by that of Gradual Transition to Green Growth; five operational priorities; and three areas of special emphasis.

From the perspective of ADI, as a focal point for capacity building in the Bank, the standpoint is that of building partnership in assisting the countries to achieve, nurture and sustain the inclusive agenda. ADI’s perspective on the economics of learning is a ‘mixed economy’ in which knowledge leading to innovation and transformation innovation are essential. This in turn, underpins a solution

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based approach to developing ADI’s core mandate. ‘Mixed’ entails public and private institutions which influence policy and public debate for an inclusive, sustainable and transformative development. In addition to the Bank’s traditional area - infrastructure development- further emphasis is placed on partnerships and collaboration between state actors (regional integration); between state actors and private institutions (private sector development); as well those relating to institution building (governance and accountability). Fostering trusted partnerships, strengthening cooperation between the states and non-state institutions particularly in new areas such as, natural resource management, innovative financing, and state

fragility are thoughtfully addressed. Further emphasis is placed on addressing and engaging with the producers of public goods and of knowledge on issues such as youth, rural development, urbanization and energy. Innovative learning and knowledge management are expected to herald considerable added value leading to a solution based positive outcome for the transformation agenda. In pursuant of the Bank’s strategy, the Vice Presidency and the Departmental leadership, therefore support partnership, innovation and knowledge development as essential components of the economics of learning in support of inclusive transformation in Africa.

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The Institute of Finance Basil Fuleihan, represented by Suzane Abou Chakra and Maya Bsaibes presented us a mind mapping tool to use for sustainable learning in a challenging environment. The emphasis was placed on the importance to use a systemic perspective and interdisciplinary approach to interlink the long term benefits of learning. There is a clear necessity to improve organizational governance, financial accounting, fundraising and marketing strategies to enhance capacity building sustainability. The new knowledge and capacity building environment, combined with the emergence of networked governance requires that development learning and training institutions increasingly adopt a role as facilitators and initiators and will be leading

on sustainability. Therefore it is important to create visibility and encourage communication on the value of training and partnerships. Mind mapping was presented as a valuable tool to design sustainability strategy and measurement planning for training activities. It is a means to create knowledge management around sustainable resources, potential partnerships and networking possibilities and to value what is important for the communities. 22

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What results were produced?

At the beginning of each day of the Learning Link, a brainstorming session enabled participants to think about the concepts related to sustainable learning. After a day of sessions, a crowdsourcing moment was established during which conclusions were drawn from the morning exercise and from the additional information participants had acquired during the sessions. This allowed participants to draw valuable action points that they could introduce in their own training and gave way to an informal learning context where new ideas were produced.

The participants identified the main features of ‘Sustainable Learning’ as an inclusive learning approach that is tailored for each specific target group to be fully needs based. It must provide knowledge that is applicable and measurable.

Finally sustainable learning should be framed within a clear vision while being cost effective to be sustainable under every aspect. The Learning Link created a definition for the concept: “Sustainable learning is a responsive contextual approach to learning which is centred on the social, ecological and economic ability to sustain it towards socially just human livelihood, based on real needs that don’t compromise the future.” The three main action points produced in day one were:

z Systematically identify the target audiences, their learning needs and the practical applicability of learning;

z Connected learning: include all stakeholders, build Communities of Practice or working groups and create a common understanding of sustainable learning;

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z Take sustainability into account from the first steps of defining a training and learning strategy to the implementation of programmes from primary school to leadership trainings.

The social dimension has a key impact on sustainable learning both negatively, for example situations of inequality, instability, poverty and lack of accountability and information, as well as positively because of the ever increasing global interdependence and willingness to address global issues. New technologies create interconnectedness and allow international social networking. This confirms the importance of the social dimension in moving forward sustainable learning. Participants at the Learning Link identified different ways of contributing through creating collaborative learning and involving stakeholders to ensure that learning becomes accessible to everyone so that different world views can be recognised globally. A second perspective on the role of the social approach is that it can make learning rewarding and fun. An informal learning environment creates opportunities to share with others and results in more sustainable learning. The social dimension action points were:

z Get individuals and institutions committed to a learning process to adhere to shared values and ensure social change;

z Stimulate peer learning to spread new social values;

z Design and use technologies to obtain and share knowledge with crowds.

The world is ever more interdependent and environmental problems, such as climate change and developmental challenges with regards to poor resource distribution leading to poverty and inequality, are affecting all countries and have become a global concern. Therefore the Learning Link noted an increase in the demand for green-focused training and stated a clear need to match learning with implementing and acting. As is the case with all three dimensions of sustainable learning, the relation between the environmental dimension and the overall concept of sustainable learning is a two-way street. Learning can be a tool to achieve a more sustainable world but also the design and management of the physical space can be used as a means to create the right learning environment and thus contributes to

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‘sustainable learning’. Both ways of thinking are reflected in the action points created by the participants on the environmental perspective:

z Design training to impact on the behaviour of people, establishing a green culture. Reflect this also in the organization of the learning activities by introducing a saving and recycling attitude;

z Change the training culture even more radically and have paperless events, allow the learners to access knowledge anytime, anywhere and design learning based on e-learning and video conferences;

z Use the environment in designing your learning initiative and use the nature’s lifecycle to adapt learning processes to have pure sustainable learning. Provide the right context for learning.

z “Time is money” and that is what the economic dimension of sustainable learning is about. Learning and training are not always efficient and in times of financial constraints, donors change their areas of focus. A lack of funds prevents training institutes to launch new learning initiatives. This puts a brake on the development of innovative ideas and creates a vicious circle impeding sustainable learning. There is an increasing need to address inequality as well as economic growth.

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Participants in the Learning Link recognise the need for free learning if inequality has to be addressed, but somebody must bear the cost. If training has to attract resources or when it has obtained the financial means it is important to consider the efficiency of the training and underline the return of investment and the impact the learning initiatives will have.

z Learning will increasingly become free for the learners and therefore financed upstream. Training institutes must diversify their donors, mobilise private sector investment and build alliances with partners;

z A proper market analysis must be undertaken emphasizing the cost-benefit balance from the onset;

z Learning must be linked to productivity and innovation and must address the complexities of the economic changes. The globalisation of the economy should be reflected in learning and a central repository for learning objects and resources created. New technologies contribute to reducing costs by offering for example e-learning.

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Sustainable Learning definition

Sustainable learning is a very new concept and little academic research is dedicated to the theme. The scope of the Learning Link 2013 was to better define sustainable learning and identify actions to be implemented by Development Training and Learning Institutes to achieve sustainable learning.

Sustainable learning is a needs-based learning approach. Sustainability implies a long term effect and therefore the needs of the learner, whether individual or organizational will focus on long term developments. Sustainable learning thrives for organizational development. However, when approached from an individual learner perspective, it will focus on creating transportable competences. An individual can immediately use these skills for a specific function and they can be transported to and applied in another context and for different functions. The needs in needs-based learning must be contextualised.

Sustainable learning is contextualised learning. The object of the learning process should be applicable to the context it will be used in. This links back to the needs of a learner and the results the approach will produce in the learner. The applicability of what was learned is essential, for the process to have a lasting impact on both the learner and his context.

Sustainable learning is creating an impact. It is not primarily the input but the output that counts. Sustainable learning is about creating innovative ways and informal learning environments to maximise the learning. It is not about the quantity of material offered to the learner but about how much knowledge the learner got out of the process and will continue to benefit from in the future.

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Sustainable learning is looking to the future. Learning is a lifelong process and the commitment must be to producing long term results that are as much as possible replicable. The learner will adopt a wider perspective which allows a more systemic approach to learning.

Sustainable learning is based on systemic thinking. This concept comes from natural sciences by observing the biosphere where a system is self-sufficient by interconnectedness. In nature new solutions emerge by involving new elements, sustainable learning processes must also rely on interconnected components and include diversity.

New innovative ideas come from making connections and finding inter-linkages between various at times distant disciplines. A network of learning will allow cross fertilization, which will create new learning possibilities.

Sustainable learning is networked learning. For an individual to master several disciplines is no longer possible unless in a superficial way. To be sustainable, learning will be specialised. Specialised learning will be integrated in a system, where relations are created between specialised learning objects which will result in a network of in depth knowledge.

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12 themes for projects

From the results of the brainstorming and crowdsourcing sessions of the Learning Link 2013, twelve ways were identified, on how to achieve sustainable learning in a training and capacity development context.

z Vision, values Development Training and Learning Institutes should adopt values that do not compromise the future and their vision. They should apply transparent rights-based processes.

z Needs-based, flexible learning Training should be tailored. Systematically identify the target audiences, their learning needs and the possible practical areas of applicability of learning.

z Inclusive learning, Recognise diversity and culture Learning will be increasingly free for the learners to increase access; training will have to be funded upstream. Learning and training institutes must build partner alliances. Inclusive learning is using the diversity and differences in cultures to learn from new perspectives.

z Connected to organizational change Sustainable learning will not exclusively focus on individual development, through institutional commitment it will be connected to the organizational development and change agenda.

z E-learning, Portable knowledge Design and use technologies to obtain, share and create relevant knowledge. This will increasingly take place ‘just-in-time’ through mobile devices.

z Unconventional approaches, Innovation The traditional training approaches may have to be changed radically. Create learning environments that give way to serendipity, exaptation, long tail thinking, biomimetics, informal learning and many more innovation patterns.

z Networked learning, Knowledge sharing, Collaborative learning, Co-creation The creation of new knowledge will increasingly happen by including stakeholders, building Communities of Practice and co-creation processes.

z Global learning academy, Repository of learning resources Should the Learning Link develop into the ‘global learning academy’ and manage a repository of learning and knowledge resources in the area of sustainable learning?

z Environmentally conscious, System’s approach Design learning that impacts on human behaviour. The design and organization of learning would adhere to a green culture that includes saving, re-using and recycling.

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z Equitable and efficient learning A proper market and cost-benefit analysis should be made to ensure efficient and equitable learning that would increase sustainability.

z Measurable, Impact, ROI Clear goals for learning and training are established. Envisage in-depth evaluation to measure the results produced by learning strategies and processes on the capacity development of organizations.

z Leading to social change The impact of sustainable learning should go beyond the individual and the organizational level, it should aim at impacting society and induce social change.

Participating training institutes have committed to work on one or more sustainable learning initiatives connected to the above themes. These initiatives and related ideas can be shared and discussed on the online platform of the Learning Link website (link.itcilo.org/forum).

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How was the evaluation?

The participants completed an on-line evaluation questionnaire. The fi rst part consisted of closed questions rated on a fi ve point scale with 1 being the minimum and 5 the maximum score. Participants answered questions about the objectives, methods and structure of the Link. In spite of the fact that the Learning Link’s web page contained rich information about the event, participants expressed the need to receive more explicit preliminary information. For the next Learning Link we intend to use the website in a more engaging way and use it as a platform for information sharing and for facilitating communication with and among participants. The questions addressing the objectives, learning methods, logistics, organization, relevance and overall quality all recorded an average evaluation score higher than 4. All participants considered that they will apply some of what they acquired during the Learning Link and that their institution will benefi t from their participation.

The second part consisted in open questions to which participants provided much appreciative feedback containing useful suggestions, such as the organization of the Learning Link in different languages or providing interpretation to make it accessible to a broader audience. Participants also expressed the wish to create opportunities for continued cooperation from one Learning Link to the next. The evaluation comments were captured in a word cloud. All of the results, comments and feedback will be closely analysed so that the organization of each Learning Link can be brought to its full potential.

We would like to thank all participants who have taken the time to evaluate the Learning Link so that the next edition will be the fruit of your collective input.

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Annex A - AgendaDay 1 - Monday, 28 October Sustainable Learning Day

9:00 – 9:00 1.1 Opening remarks • ADI, CEPEI, GIZ, ITC-ILO, JICA

9:30 – 10:00 1.2 Conceptual foundations and reference resources Highlighting resources of the Learning Link

BREAK

10:30 – 11:15 1.3 Learn, unlearn and relearn: the story of MDGs, SDGs and the Post-2015 Agenda? Keynote • Jan Vandemoortele, MDG Architect

11:15 – 12:00 1.4 What data is telling us about sustainable learning • Philipp Schönrock, Centro de Pensamiento Estratégico Internacional

12:00 – 12:30 1.5 Open discussion chaired by Jan Vandemoortele

LUNCH

14:00 – 14:45 1.6 Competency Self-Assessment Tools: enabling learners to own their learning Miriam Unverzagt, GIZ

14:45 – 15:30 1.7 Linking the components of sustainable learning • Lab on learn to learn activities Robin Poppe, ITC-ILO

BREAK

16:00 – 18:00 1.8 Knowledge Fair • updating communities of practice and partnerships

Day 2 - Tuesday, 29 October Social Dimension Day9:00 – 9:20 2.1 Establishing the links between the social dimension and sustainable learning

Focus of day 2

9:20 – 10:45 2.2 Navigating digital landscapes to foster creativity and innovation Keynote: Gráinne Conole, University of Leicester (Video Conference)

GROUP PHOTO • BREAK

Leadership Track Knowledge Track

11:15 – 12:30 2.3a A leadership toolbox for global responsibility Susanna Albrecht, GIZ

2.3b Knowledge management framework: measuring results Manuela Prina, European Training Foundation

LUNCH

14:00 – 15:45 2.4 Improving social relevance and efficiency of education through co-creation design Erica Rizziato, Italian National Research Council, and Flavio Fabiani, Redomino

BREAK

16:15 – 18:00 2.5 Coaching not training Nat Clegg, The Development Alchemists

18:00 – 18:30 2.6 Crowdsourcing three action points of the social dimension

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Day 3 - Wednesday, 30 October Environmental Dimension Day9:00 – 9:20 3.1 Establishing the links between the environmental dimension and sustainable learning

Focus of day 3

9:20 – 10:45 3.2 Transformative learning towards sustainability Keynote: Arjen Wals, Wageningen University

BREAK

Sustainability in DTLI’s Track Mainstreaming Sustainability Track

11:15 – 12:30 3.3a Learner-centered design of learning platforms Michele Visciola, Experientia

3.3b Greening the learning experience Alice Vozza, ITC-ILO

LUNCH

11:15 – 12:30 3.4a Promoting learning initiatives’ relevance, impact and sustainability Janet Oropeza, FUNDAR – ELLA (Evidence and Lessons from Latin America)

3.4b Education for sustainable development Sonja Zahed, GIZ Rob O’Donoghue, Rhodes University

BREAK

16:00 – 18:00 3.5 Exploring innovation patterns for sustainable learning and knowledge sharing Tom Wambeke and Robin Poppe, ITC-ILO

18:00 – 18:30 3.6 Crowdsourcing three action points of the environmental dimension Haley Horan, ITC-ILO

Day 4 - Thursday, 31 October Economic Dimension Day9:00 – 9:20 4.1 Establishing the links between the economic dimension and sustainable learning

Focus of day 4

9:20 – 10:00 4.2 The economics of learning: the perspective of the African Development Bank Temi Abimbola, African Development Institute

10:00 – 11:00 4.3 Mind mapping for sustainable learning in a challenging environment Maya Bsaibes & Suzane Abou Chakra, Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan

BREAK

11:30 – 13:00 4.4 Crowdsourcing three action points of the economic dimension

Moving forward: Twelve sustainable learning projects

CLOSING LUNCH

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Annex B – List of participants

ALGERIA

Ms. Fatima-Zohra ADI

Bank of AlgeriaTraining Director, Human Resources38 Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 16000; Algiers; ALGERIATel. / Mobile: +213 21902779 / +213 661574931E-mail: adi@bank-of-algeria.dz; fazoa@yahoo.fr

Mr. Hallime Driss BOUGHIDA

Bank of AlgeriaSecretaire General, Human Resources - Cabinet of Governor38 Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 16000; Algiers; ALGERIATel. / Mobile: +213 21239046 / +213 661512180Fax: +213219564E-mail: secboughida@bank-of-algeria.dz

BELGIUM

Mr. Pawel Lukasz SLUSARCZYK

European Commission, EuropeAidE-Learning projects Manager, DG EuropeAid Training SectorRue Joseph II 54-56; 1049; Brussels; BELGIUM; Tel. / Mobile: +32 229 97758E-mail: pawel.slusarczyk@ec.europa.eu

COLOMBIA

Mr. Philipp SCHÖNROCK

Centro Estratégico de Pensamiento Internacional, CEPEIDirectorCarrera 3 #11-55, Office 321; 110911; Bogotà; cOLOMBIA Tel. / Mobile: +57 13001051/ +57 3108575647E-mail: psm@cepei.org, do@cepei.org

DENMARK

Ms. Annette KAALUND-JØRGENSEN

Danida Fellowship Centre (DFC) Training Adviser, DFCHostrupsvej 22; 1950; Frederiksberg C; DENMARK Tel./ Mobile: +35 361322/ +45 35248473E-mail: akj@dfcentre.dk, akj@abox.dk

GERMANY

Ms. Susanna ALBRECHT

Deutsche Gesellschaft für InternationaleZusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbHJunior Advisor, Leadership DevelopmentFriedrich-Ebert-Allee 40; 53227; Bonn; GERMANYTel./ Mobile: +49 228 4460 1987Fax: +49 228 4460 2987E-mail: Susanna.Albrecht@giz.de, Constanta.Ruiz@giz.de

Ms. Chahira NOUIRA

United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)Research Associate, EGCHSUNU-EHS, UN Campus Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1; 53113; Bonn; GERMANYTel./ Mobile: +49 228 8150293/ +49 176 64969716E-mail: nouira@ehs.unu.edu

Ms. Miriam UNVERZAGT

Deutsche Gesellschaft für InternationaleZusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbHHead of Customer Services, Acadmey for International CooperationFriedrich-Ebert-Allee 40; 53227; Bonn; GERMANYTel./ Mobile: +49 228 4460 1217E-mail: miriam.unverzagt@giz.de

Ms. Sonja ZAHED

Deutsche Gesellschaft für InternationaleZusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbHRefernt for Competency Development, Customer ServiceFriedrich-Ebert-Allee 40; 53227; Bonn; GERMANYTel./ Mobile: +49 228 4460 1407E-mail: sonja.zahed@giz.de

ITALY

Mr. Moyomola BOLARIN

United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC)Course Coordinator, Learning and TrainingViale Maestri Del Lavoro 10; 10127; Turin; ITALYTel.: +39 011 6535933E-mail: m.bolarin@unssc.org

Ms. Manuela Prina

European Training Foundation, ETFGovernance Expert, OperationsViale Settimio Severo 65; 10133; Turin; ITALYTel.: +39 011 6302222E-mail: mpr@etf.europa.eu

JORDAN

Mr. Hazem Ibrahem KHASAWNEH

Ministry of Finance Director, Training CentrePO Box: 85; 1111; Amman; JORDANTel.: +962 65524291 / +962 795628141E-mail: Hazem.k@Mof.Gov.Jo; hhazim@yahoo.com

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JAPAN

Ms. Fumie HIGASHIRA

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (seconded to the ITC-ILO)Programme OfficerViale Maestri del Lavoro 10; 10127; Turin; ItalyTel.: +39 011 693 6650E-mail: f.higashira@itcilo.org

LEBANON

Ms. Suzane ABOU CHACRA

Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan, GIFT-MENAProgramme Manager, Training departmentCornich Al Nahr; PO Box: 16-5870; Beirut; LEBANONTel.: +961 1425147/ +961 3979509E-mail: SuzaneAb@finance.gov.lb; suzane.abouchakra@gmail.com

Ms. Maya BSAIBES

Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan, GIFT-MENAProgramme Coordinator, Training departmentCornich Al Nahr; PO Box: 16-5870; Beirut; LEBANONTel.: +961 1425147/9Fax: +961 1426860E-mail: mayabsa@finance.gov.lb; maya_bsaibes89@hotmail.com

MEXICO

Ms. Janet Irma OROPEZA

Fundar Center for Analysis and ResearchArea Coordinator, Knowledge Management and Liason AreaRinconada Poetas Marti 404 Pedregal de Carrasco Coyoacan; 04700; Mexico City; MEXICOTel.: +525544532821E-mail: janet@fundar.org.mx

NIGER

Mr. Sanoussi ATTA

Centre Régional AGRYMET (CRA)Head of the division of diploma training, trainind and research deparmentRue de l’Université; PO Box: 11011; 227; Niamey; NIGERTel.: +227 20315436/ +227 96994280E-mail: S.Atta@agrhymet.ne, atta13@yahoo.fr

SOUTH AFRICA

Mr. Rober Bryan O’DONOGHUE

Rhodes University Professor, Department of Education ELRC adjacent to Alumni House and Eden Grove Rhodes; 6140; Grahamstown; SOUTH AFRICA Tel.: 046 6037275/ 083 2121670E-mail: r.odonoghue@ru.ac.za

SUDAN

Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed El Obied SWAIKIT

Central Bank of SudanDirector of HR Planning and Development, Human Resources PO Box: 313; 11111; Khartoum; SUDANTel.: +249 187 056086/ +249 123 503070E-mail: mohamed.elobied@cbos.gov.sd

TUNISIA

Ms. Temilade ABIMBOLA

African Development BankManager, African Development Institute, Angle l’avenue du Ghana; BP 323-1002 Belvédèr; Tunis; TUNISIATel.: +216 71 102127Fax: +27 11 276 7295E-mail: t.abimbola@afdb.org, Temi.abimbola@gmail.com

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