Project Description

As part of a planned expansion of the educational landscape, the “perspektiven-lernen” Foundation aims to break new ground and create “a place” or a “network of places” where young people as well as adults can learn by getting involved in diverse collaborative projects, setting their own tasks, and taking responsibility for the development and shaping of their own environment and the “region” (northern/southern Wipptal, Eisacktal) in which they live. A special focus is placed on fostering cross-border collaborations that emerge from shared challenges, are designed for the long term, and are intended to have a lasting impact

The initiative is based on the conviction that people grow—and grow together—through responsible tasks and, when integrated into communities, can create a supportive and nurturing environment for themselves and for others.

All people have potential. In collaboration and dialogue with various stakeholders in the northern Wipptal region (the municipality of Matrei, the “Matreiander” project and its participants, and others), the foundation aims to create a space where diverse potentials can unfold and intertwine with other potentials. Children and young people who are facing challenges should also find opportunities, through new learning arrangements and meaningful projects, to take their next steps—perhaps even steps of their own choosing—so they can build the strength to lead a “fulfilling (successful) life.”

The plan is to establish a “house” or a “network of places” that will be developed across borders with broad support as a kind of “enabling structure.”

It is intended to be a “place”—or a “network of places”—where civic culture is developed and lived out. The turbulent times we find ourselves in clearly demonstrate how important it is to develop democratic systems based on the participation of diverse people and varied perspectives, and to internalize them through action. Democratic coexistence requires inner engagement that gradually grows into a “mindset.”

In this spirit, the participatory process being carried out with various partners as part of this Interreg small-scale project is also intended to serve as a “prototype” for joint democratic development and design, as well as for cross-border cooperation.

Partners: Southern and Northern Wipptal and Eisacktal Educational Districts, Wipptal Youth Services, Wipptal/Eisacktal Social Services, the Municipality of Matrei am Brenner with the “Matreiander” project, South Tyrol Department of Education

Guaranteed Support: Tyrol Department of Education—Educational Services, University of Innsbruck, University of Brixen—Faculty of Educational Sciences (through an agreement), civic and public welfare initiatives: specifically, the Brixen Citizens’ Cooperative and the social enterprise KDS.

The project aims to identify, through a participatory process, the perceived challenges and needs in the fields of education and social services, youth work, and the public good.

Building on this, the goal is to generate ideas and proposals for cooperation aimed at developing and jointly utilizing a potential “house” or “network of places” where young people and adults can learn, take on responsibilities, and play an active role in developing and shaping both the community in which they live and the surrounding region (across borders in the catchment area of the northern and southern Wipptal valleys as well as the Eisack Valley).

The goal of the project is to

To bring together people from the fields of education, social services, youth work, and the public good on both sides of the Brenner border, so that perceived challenges can be linked and a joint search for solutions becomes possible;

To systematically identify the challenges, needs, and interests of the relevant stakeholders across a broad spectrum;

 To develop ideas for collaboration and initial frameworks for the proposed “place”/“network of places,” as well as possible scenarios for its use and revitalization;

to develop a practical set of requirements for the “place”/the “network of places” and its qualities;

To design enabling structures and define structural measures that will ensure the long-term survival of the “cross-border workshop”;  

to shape the process itself as a living example of democratic cooperation, as a “dialogue among equals” and as a “bridge across the border”;

to compile the results into a comprehensive final report and an engaging publication, and to make them available to the public.

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