folkbildning across borders...europe. folk high schools report a comparatively high level of...

Folkbildning across borders

– resources, networks and transnational commitment

Folkbildning across borders– resources, networks and transnational commitment

Text: Erik Nylander, Kerstin Mustel and Therése JanssonLayout: Johan Nilsson/KombineraPrinted by: Allduplo, Stockholm

© Folkbildningsrådet 2011

ContentsForeword________________________________________________________ 4

Summary _______________________________________________________ 5

1._Introduction ___________________________________________________ 71.1 What is folkbildning? 71.2 Structure of the survey 101.3 Questionnaire survey 111.4 Report outline 13

2._Transnational_activities_of_folk_high_schools _______________________ 142.1 Type of principal organizer 142.2 Type of activities and extent 142. 3 Thematic focus 162.4 Purpose of the activities 182.5 Geography of the activities 192.6. Organizational collaboration in transnational activities 222.7 Funding 24

3._Transnational_activities_of_study_associations ______________________ 263.1 Organization Level 263.2 Type of activities and extent 263.3 Thematic focus 283.4 Purpose of the activities 313.5 Geography of the activities 323.6 Organizational collaboration in transnational activities 363.7 Funding 38

4._Summary_analysis:_Transnational_folkbildning _____________________404.1 Sources of funding: Where does the money come from and for what is it used? 404.2 Thematic images: What do folkbildning educators want to accomplish? 424.3 Geography: What do folkbildning actors’ transnational networks look like? 484.4 Conclusion: The value of broad global connections 51

References _____________________________________________________ 53

Appendices ____________________________________________________ 54Appendix 1. Questionnaire for folk high schools and study associations 54Appendix 2. Study association’s member organizations 62Appendix 3. Mobility at university level 63

4 Folkbildning across borders – resources, networks and transnational commitment

Foreword

Every year, more than a million Swedes partici-pate in liberal adult education, known as folk-bildning. The ten study associations and 150 folk high schools offer thousands of courses, study circles, cultural programmes and forms of folk-bildning. These are at the heart of our educational system and make folkbildning the country’s larg-est cultural arena.

Folkbildning is not only found in Sweden. On the contrary, every study association and folk high school works in some sense with global develop-ment issues, and many of them are in one way or another involved in international work. At the same time as they are learning from the world around them, they are sharing their experience of working for democratization, participation, re-duced educational disparities and culture in other countries. Many Swedish folkbildning educators work transnationally, i.e., they collaborate with ac-tors in other countries.

These are well-known facts. However, it is dif-ficult to state more precisely the extent of interna-tional involvement.

In Folkbildning across borders – resources, networks and transnational involvement, the Swedish National Council of Adult Education, to-

gether with Mimer at Linköping University, gain an unprecedented overall grasp of the transnation-al activities of folk high schools and study associ-ations. The report presents the results of a survey of transnational activities carried out in 2009. The survey is based on a questionnaire sent to all the country’s folk high schools and study associations in 2010.

How extensive was transnational work dur-ing the year? In which countries did the Swedish study associations and folk high schools oper-ate? Which organizations were they collaborating with and in what way? What image of Swedish folkbildning was portrayed to the world at large? Who paid for the work and what was the purpose? These are some of the questions that the survey required answers to.

The image portrayed by folkbildning’s transna-tional involvement both inspires and generates new questions for future research and evaluation.

The Swedish National Council of Adult Education, May 2011

Britten Månsson-WallinSecretary General

5Folkbildning across borders – resources, networks and transnational commitment

Summary

In Folkbildning across borders – resources, net-works and transnational involvement, the Swed-ish National Council of Adult Education, togeth-er with Mimer at Linköping University, gain an overall grasp of the transnational activities of folk high schools and study associations. The report presents the results of a survey of transnational activities carried out in 2009. The survey is based on a questionnaire sent to all the country’s folk high schools and study associations. Among folk high schools, the response rate was 92 per cent, and a total of 214 activities were reported. Among study associations, the response rate was 64 per cent, and the responses were distributed very un-evenly among the various study associations. In total, 124 activities were reported.

The survey shows that transnational activities are well distributed around the globe, except for Oceania/Australia and parts of South-East Asia, the Middle East, North America and North Af-rica. Both study associations and folk high schools have their greatest concentration of connections in the neighbouring Nordic countries and the rest of Europe. Folk high schools report a comparatively high level of collaboration with Africa (Tanzania) and study associations with the Middle East (Pal-estine/Israel).

An analysis that includes only folk high schools’ transnational courses show that folk high school participants primarily study in countries in the southern hemisphere, while university students prefer to go to countries with high GDP in the

northern hemisphere. There is a marked concen-tration of folk high school trips to the continent of Africa (mostly Tanzania), where folkbildning participants, both numerically (about 627 people) and in terms of percentage (about 38 per cent), in 2009 far exceeded the number and percentage of university students (about 177 students, about one per cent of all university students). Other regions that attract a small percentage of university stu-dents and a relatively high proportion of folk high school participants are Latin America and the Bal-tic States.

According to survey responses, the transna-tional work is primarily directed towards the Folkbildning Bill’s seventh area of activity, pub-lic health, sustainable development and global justice. Activities were primarily aimed at mak-ing the world fairer. About 40 per cent of folk high school activities and nearly 35 per cent of study association activities concerned issues of global justice. The next most common area of activity was lifelong learning.

From the analysis of the activities’ statements of purpose, three paradigms emerge: • The most common statement of purpose is

about giving: This portrays the educational ac-tivity as a mission, as a tool to help people in other countries (often related to democratization efforts). The Swedish educators are given the role of specialist

• Another type of purpose deals more with re-ceiving: These statements portray folkbildning


as an anthropological journey where Swedish educators, through studying other people’s lives, gain new perspectives on their existence.

• For certain activities, the main purpose is ex-changing: These activities focus more on mu-tual learning processes and exchange.

The primary source of funding for folk high schools was the state folkbildning grant. Nearly 45 per cent of folk high school activities were re-ported to have this as the main source of funding. Almost 20 per cent of the activities operated pri-marily with funds from Sida or other aid organi-zations. These figures were essentially reversed for study associations. Sida and other aid organi-zations were the most common main sources of funding for the activities of almost 45 per cent of study associations, while the state folkbildn-ing grant accounted for most of the resources in almost 25 per cent. The most common forms of

complementary ‘co-funding’ for both study asso-ciations and folk high schools were participation fees, fund-raising and student loans.

The source of funding and the form of activity proved to be related. The state folkbildning grant went mainly to activities of a continuous and long-term nature (courses, regular study trips, teacher exchanges etc.), while Sida, the Swedish Institute and the International Programme Office for Edu-cation and Training primarily funded more short-term projects. Within the framework of the main source of funding ‘Sida or other aid organization’, three of four activities were projects.

This in turn means that study associations and folk high schools partly chose different formats for their transnational activities. The work of folk high schools was dominated in 2009 by courses and participant exchanges, while study associa-tions often worked with projects or study trips/visits.


1. Introduction

1.1 What is folkbildning?

Purposes and areas of activity

The Government and Parliament set four glo-bal purposes for the state grant to folkbildning, that is, to Sweden’s 150 folk high schools and ten study associations. The state folkbildning grant is to be used to support activities that: • help to consolidate and develop democracy,• help make it possible for individuals to influ-

ence their own lives and create a commitment to participation in community development (e.g., through political, trade union, cultural or other non-profit work),

• help to even out educational disparities and im-prove the level of education and learning in so-ciety as well as

• help to spread interest and participation in cul-tural life.

These four objectives of folkbildning are primari-ly intended to be realized within the framework of seven areas of activity:1. The common fundamental values: Basic demo-

cratic values, such as the equal dignity of all people and gender equality, should permeate the content, forms and organization of activities.

2. The challenges of the multicultural society: Folkbildning should help people with differ-ent backgrounds to come together, grow in their understanding of one other and exchange ex-

periences among themselves so that alienation, segregation, conflict and discrimination are counteracted.

3. The demographic challenge: Folkbildning should weather demographic change and win the involvement of new generations without los-ing the involvement of the old.

4. Lifelong learning. Folkbildning should work to realize the potential for lifelong learning for adults, for alternative paths to complete upper secondary education and further studies as well as for vocational training.

5. Cultural activities: Folkbildning should be a lo-cal or regional force behind popular culture.

6. Persons with disabilities: Folkbildning should be open to persons with disabilities and pro-vide all participants with an equal opportunity to study and to influence how the activity is formed.

7. Public health, sustainable development and glo-bal justice: Folkbildning should promote bet-ter public health, sustainable development and global justice by increasing people’s awareness of the importance of changed values and life-styles.1

1 See the Folkbildning Bill 2005/06:192: Lära, växa, förän-dra.


Study associations and folk high schools – two types of educational organization

Nine_study_associations_in_2009In Sweden, there were nine study associations running activities during 2009, ABF (the Work-ers’ Educational Association), SV (in Swedish, Studieförbundet Vuxenskolan), The Study Pro-motion Association (Sfr), Studieförbundet Bilda, Medborgarskolan (Mbsk), Folkuniversitetet (FU), Ibn Rushd and the Educational Association of the sobriety movement (NBV).2 Each study associa-tion has a more or less distinct profile, determined by which popular movements and other organi-zations that are members of, or cooperation or-ganizations to these associations. In 2009, study associations had a total of over 350 members or cooperation organizations in Sweden centrally and even more locally.3 This survey has had the ambi-tion of reaching every study association and their various branches.

During 2009, study circles were, counted in hours of study, the most extensive form of activ-ity for study associations. Approximately 281, 000 study circles were run. The other major branch of activity was cultural programmes, primarily lec-tures and song and music programmes. Just over 311, 000 cultural programmes were held.4

150_folk_high_schools5There are in general two main principal organiz-ers of Swedish folk high schools. Either a county

2 In 2010, another study association started, Kulturens bildningsverksamhet (KBV). Since KBV did not have any independent activities in 2009, it was not included in the survey.3 According to the Swedish National Council of Adult Edu-cation (2009). Folkrörelseanknytningar och marknadsrela-tioner.4 According to the operating report of the Swedish National Council of Adult Education’s 2009 annual report5 In 2009, there were 148 folk high schools. Two folk high schools were created at the beginning of 2010. These have been included in the survey as, during 2009, they were ac-tive as independent sister schools to two established folk high schools.

council or a region is the principal organizer for a school, or a movement, organization or founda-tion is. Of Sweden’s 150 folk high schools, 43 are county council folk high schools, with a county council or region as principal organizer, while 107 are popular movement folk high schools and have a movement, organization or foundation as principal organizer. In the first case, the Swed-ish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) is the members’ representative, and in the second, the Interest Organisation for Popular Movement Folk High Schools (RIO) is the um-brella organization.

One characteristic of folk high schools as a form of education is the fact that they are not bound by a centrally determined curriculum, but each folk high school governs its own profile and range of courses. This means that the schools’ principal organizers have great scope for mak-ing their mark on activities. Course activities are mainly intended for persons over 18 and are based on the needs, experiences and previous knowledge of participants. Dialogue and active student par-ticipation in the group and in teaching are founda-tions of the teaching method of folk high schools.

Folkbildning between and across national borders

Folkbildning is not only found in Sweden. Activi-ties associated with folkbildning exist in many countries, although the way institutions do things may be different. In many other parts of the world, folkbildning is not associated with institutions at all. Swedish folkbildning also has a relatively long tradition of international involvement. Often, this involvement has cited values important to folk-bildning, such as solidarity and democracy. One example of Swedish folk high school work expe-rience across borders is the long-standing rela-tionship with folk high school-like institutions in Tanzania, called Folk Development Colleges. The fact that several Swedish study associations have offices in other parts of the world suggests that


they also, to some extent, have the ‘world as their workplace’.1

International contacts and activities are cen-tral but hitherto relatively inconspicuous parts of Swedish folkbildning. Knowledge about the pre-cise extent and form of current international in-volvement has not been gathered. It is primarily this lack of knowledge that this survey is intended to rectify. This survey can be said to be the sec-ond phase of a Swedish National Council of Adult Education survey initiative. In 2006, Kerstin Mus-tel compiled the report – Kartläggning och ana-lys av folkbildningens internationella kontaktnät (Identification and analysis of folkbildningen’s international contact.) This report describes the links that folkbildning organizations have to au-thorities and various supranational organizations. It presents proposals on how organizations are to be able to relate to changes that have occurred with respect to the opportunities that folkbildning has to operate and influence in times when many decisions that affect folkbildning are made outside the country’s borders. The ties which folkbildning has with the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Eu-ropean Union and the Council of Europe are made visible.

The survey Folkbildning across borders – re-sources, networks and transnational involvement can be described as a second and more in-depth attempt to present an overall picture of folkbildn-ing’s transnational work experience.6

Initiators and evaluators

The initiative to survey transnational work of folkbildning came from two sources, the Swedish National Council of Adult Education and Mimer at Linköping University. The Swedish National Council of Adult Education was commissioned by the Government to be responsible for national as-

6 Within the Swedish National Council of Adult Education, FOLAC, Folkbildning – Learning for Active Citizenship, has also made an internal compilation of folk high schools’ in-ternational contacts (Akselsson Le Douaron, 2010).

sessments of folkbildning, including those parts that extend beyond the borders of Sweden. To cre-ate a basis for future evaluations, the Swedish Na-tional Council of Adult Education needed first to make the work visible by means of a survey. An-other purpose was to develop a method for imple-menting this type of study in the future.

The second initiator was the research network, Mimer, based at Linköping University. Mimer was founded as a national programme for research on folkbildning. In late 2009, Mimer established an internationalization committee charged with ‘promoting internationalization in research on folkbildning’.7 The survey was considered to be an adequate inventory of folkbildning’s transnational work experience which could also provide the ba-sis and generate questions for further research.

The Swedish National Council of Adult Educa-tion and Mimer’s internationalization committee has been involved in planning the structure and basic design of the survey. The Swedish National Council of Adult Education was given the prin-cipal responsibility for the implementation of the survey.

Three evaluators were brought in to implement the survey and write this report: Therése Jans-son, political scientist, employed by the Interest Organisation for Popular Movement Folk High Schools (RIO), Kerstin Mustel, Swedish folkbildn-ing educator and former member of the Executive Board of the European Association for the Edu-cation for Adults (EAEA) and former chair of the Nordic Folk High School Council (NFR) and Erik Nylander who is a doctoral student at Linköping University.

Within the evaluation group, Therése Jansson has had the main responsibility for Chapter 2 of this report , Kerstin Mustel for Chapter 3 and Erik

7 Mimer’s international committee consisted of Mats Bern-erstedt (the Sensus Study Association), Bernt Gustavsson (Örebro University), Henrik Nordvall (Örebro University), Erik Nylander (Linköping University), Eva Åström (the Swedish National Council of Adult Education) och Eva Ön-nesjö (Tollare Folk High School/ RIO, the Interest Organisa-tion for Popular Movement Folk High Schools).


Nylander for Chapter 4 as well as for the report’s graphic illustrations.

1.2 Structure of the survey

Purposes and questions

The goal of the report was to gain an overall grasp of the transnational activities of folk high schools and study associations during the year 2009. The results of the survey are intended to be used in the planning of the Swedish National Council of Adult Education’s forthcoming national assess-ments. The idea is that the survey should also pro-vide inspiration for further research in this area. Another purpose of the work has been to test an analytical tool that can be used in future investi-gations by the Swedish National Council of Adult Education.

The work focused on these questions:• With which other countries do Swedish study

associations and folk high schools work? • Which actors collaborate with study associa-

tions and folk high schools and in what way? • From where do the financial resources for tran-

snational activities come and to which forms of activity are resources directed?

• What do study associations and folk high schools want to achieve with transnational ac-tivities?

Transnational activities – not the same as international

The questionnaire also asked about folkbildning’s ‘transnational activities’. Transnational activi-ties referred to activities involving an ‘exchange between Swedish folkbildning organizations and at least one party (organization or individual) in another Nordic country, Europe or the rest of the world’. An important aspect of this broad working definition is that both the flow out into the world

and the flow into Sweden are regarded as transna-tional. The reported activities thus include events abroad as well as forms of transnational collabora-tion that take place in Sweden, but where parties based in other countries are involved.

Respondents have reported everything from shorter conference trips, participant and teacher exchanges, ICT-based teaching, foreign elements in courses, to more long-term projects and tran-snational activities that constitute regular course activities. Activities that do not comply with the above definition of transnational activity, but which concern other countries (such as language teaching, geography, international politics, etc.) or that include participants who previously lived in other countries (e.g., ‘Swedish for immigrants’) have not been included in the survey.

The term ‘transnational’ is related to ‘interna-tional’, which is a more widespread term in the fields of education administration and develop-ment assistance policy. The latter term, however, primarily includes phenomenon in which nation-states, or those who represent the nation-states, are collaborating and conducting various forms of exchange. This study does not have its primary focus on nation-state as actors. When attention is turned to civilian society and the education sec-tor, we have deemed it more appropriate to use the term ‘transnational’. (See also Sörlin, 1994, 29, Börjesson, 2005)

Delimitations and unanswered questions

The survey’s primary purpose is to highlight and portray the distribution and character of folk-bildning’s transnational activities. This delimita-tion means that many questions are raised without any answers being presented. What strategies do folkbildning’s actors have for their transnational activities? Are folkbildning organizations them-selves working for increased internationalization or is this development simply following partici-pants’ curiosity about the world? Is the outcome of the survey the result of an accelerated transna-


tionalism in recent years – as we have seen in the academic world – or does it rather fall back on a long tradition of ideas and idea-driven work be-ing imported to Sweden and then being exported to other countries? Which are the groups involved in folkbildning’s courses and projects geared to the world around us? Who are the participants that come here from abroad, and what experiences do they take away with them?

The fact that this study is defined as a ‘survey’ also creates certain delimitations. For example, it means that results are reported and compiled, but not evaluated – which would have been the case if we had carried out an evaluation. It also means that the findings of this report will not be analyzed as deeply and thoroughly as if they had resulted from a research study.

1.3 Questionnaire survey

In spring 2010, a questionnaire was sent to every study association and folk high school in Sweden.

It contained questions about transnational activi-ties during 2009. To make comparative analysis possible and to eventually be able to track chang-es over time, the survey was given a quantitative character. Fixed response options were favoured rather than open-ended questions.8

Work procedure

After the Swedish National Council of Adult Edu-cation and Mimer’s internationalization commit-tee had defined the overall purpose of the ques-tionnaire and developed questions, a test panel was chosen. This consisted of employees at vari-ous levels in a number of study associations and folk high schools. Their feedback was used to further develop the questions. After this, an infor-

8 For a more detailed report of the questions in the question-naire, see Appendix 1.

mation letter was sent to all the principals of folk high schools and study associations. The question-naire was sent out in May 2010, which was fol-lowed by three reminders during the spring and early summer.

To further improve the response rate, a follow-up questionnaire for study associations was con-ducted in September.

Response rates and loss of information

The survey resulted in a comprehensive body of data. To clarify its empirical base, here are two ta-bles displaying the response rates.

Diagram_1.3.1_Response_rates,_all_folk_high_schools_and_study_associations.

Type_of__organization_

Number_of_mailings

Number_of_responses

Response_rate

Folk high schools 150 138 92 %

Study associations 496 317 65 %

Total 646 455 70_%

Response_rate_and_loss_of_information_for_folk_high_schoolsOf the 150 folk high schools, 138 responded (99 popular movement folk high schools and 39 coun-ty council folk high schools) to the survey. This gives an overall response rate of 92 per cent. As much as 71 per cent of the total 138 responding folk high schools reported having transnational activities in 2009, while 29 per cent answered that they had not run any such activities during the year. In total, folk high schools reported 214 tran-snational activities.9 The empirical basis for folk high school statistics can be regarded as solid.

9 For folk high schools, a course, for example, has been re-ported as one (1) ‘activity’ in the survey, even though this in itself had contained a number of different activities. If the folk high school had two courses characterized by transna-tional interests, two ‘activities’ were therefore reported, and so on.


Response_rate_and_loss_of_information_for_study_associationsStudy associations run activities at association level, district level and branch level. The question-naire was addressed to all these levels, a total of 496 units.

In total, 317 responses were submitted by study associations, giving a response rate of approxi-mately 64 per cent. Of these, just over 20 per cent (70 units) reported that they had organized tran-snational activities in 2009. In total, study associa-tions reported 124 transnational activities.

Although the overall response rate for study as-sociations may seem acceptable (65 per cent), the response statistics are very problematic, especially since the responses are unevenly distributed be-tween the different associations:

An overall assessment of loss of information shows that study association statistics hardly de-scribe all transnational activities in 2009. The low number of reported activities and misalignment of the distribution of responses make it possible to discern trends in the transnational work of study associations, but this is not a sufficient basis for a comprehensive assessment of study association

10 Eight of the study association units reported that they had run transnational activities, but that these had been re-ported by another respondent. Seven of the units reported that they had run transnational activities but submitted no other details about this.

activities. In reality, their transnational involve-ment is far more extensive than is stated in this report. As a consequence of this problem of in-formation loss, the part of the report concerning study associations should be read with consider-ably more caution than the part concerning folk high schools.11

Another consequence of the shortcomings of re-sponse statistics is that the study associations that had a very low proportion of affirmative responses have also been removed from the reports and dis-cussions that follow. This applies to Folkuniver-sitetet, Medborgarskolan, Sensus and Ibn Rushd. In the survey comments, emphasis is instead placed on the associations that have reported most activities, namely, Bilda, the Workers’ Education-al Association (ABF), SV, the Study Promotion

11 An example of the loss in educational statistics not pro-viding an accurate picture of activities comes from the Sen-sus Study Association. Within Sensus, about 200 foreign service allowances were paid in 2009. Therefore, at least 200 foreign trips were made. These are not apparent in the activi-ties reported in the survey. A further example comes from the Folkuniversitetet. Folkuniversitetet did not state any ac-tivities at all in the survey but referred instead to a separate report on the association’s international activities in 2009. Data from that report, however, is not compatible with the data gathered from the questionnaire and cannot therefore be included in this report. However, the report indicates that Folkuniversitetet operated extensive international operations during the year.

Diagram_1.3.2_Reported_activities_per_study_association_in_relation_to_the_number_of_response_units_per_study_association.

Study_associationsNumber_of__

mailings_(units)Number_of_re

sponses_(units)Response_

rateNumber_Yes

(units)Number_No

(units)

ABF 80 59 76 % 21 36

SV 178 122 71 % 15 107

The Study Promotion Association 62 41 66 % 10 26

Bilda 9 7 78 % 7 0

NBV 17 11 73 % 4 7

Sensus 37 15 42 % 2 13

Ibn Rushd 5 4 80 % 1 3

Mbsk 83 41 49 % 1 39

FU 25 17 68 % 1 16

Total 496 317 65_% 62_10 247


Association (Sfr) and the Educational Association of the sobriety movement (NBV). The reason be-ing that only these associations have provided a sufficiently large empirical basis for it to be mean-ingful to compare trends and outcomes.

Internal_loss_of_informationOf the study associations and folk high schools responding to the survey, some have skipped indi-vidual questions or made reference to previously reported answers. This internal loss of informa-tion is significant in certain questions. Where rel-evant, this is commented on in the text or in con-nection with the diagrams.

Anonymity

To illustrate the statistics, the report contains a va-riety of quotations, taken from survey responses. Our hope is that the use of quotations will yield a deeper analysis. The providers of the quotes are anonymous. It should not be possible to associ-ate quotations with individual respondents or re-sponse units.12

12 This means that when specific activities have been men-tioned, names have been deleted and/or specific characteris-tics altered.

1.4 Report outline

Following this introduction to the report, there are two chapters which present the survey results. The transnational activities of folk high schools and study associations are described separately – folk high schools in Chapter 2 and study associations in Chapter 3. As far as possible, these presenta-tions have been designed to make it possible to draw comparisons between the responses of study associations and those of folk high schools.

The report ends with Chapter 4, where the re-sults are placed in a larger analytical context. This summary analysis begins with a statistical survey of the various sources of funding for transnation-al activities – study trips, participant exchanges, projects, etc. This is followed by a discussion of the statements of purpose which educators have specified for their transnational activities. Finally, the mobility patterns of folk high school partici-pants are analyzed with respect to the travel desti-nation. This pattern is compared with the distribu-tion of Swedish development assistance and with student mobility in the higher education sector.


2. Transnational activities of folk high schools

2.1 Type of principal organizer

As previously mentioned, Swedish folk high schools have different types of principal organiz-ers. Of Sweden’s 150 folk high schools, about 30 per cent are county council folk high schools and about 70 per cent are popular movement folk high schools. This diversity of principal organizers can mean that individual folk high schools are given different profiles. This is primarily a distinguish-ing feature of the group popular movement folk high schools.

The diagram below shows the folk high school principal organizer for each transnational activity reported.

Diagram_2.1_Proportion_of_activities,_by_principal__organizer_group. (Number of activities: 214)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

County council folk high schools

Popular move-ment folk high

schools

Per cent

The table shows that the number of transnational activities organized in 2009 was distributed pro-portionally between county council folk high schools and popular movement folk high schools, in relation to the number of schools within each principal organizer group. The approximately 70

per cent consisting of popular movement folk high schools reported just over 70 per cent of the activi-ties, while the approximately 30 per cent consist-ing of county council folk high schools accounted for just under 30 percent.

In other words, it seems that the role of princi-pal organizer has not been decisive for the number of activities organized. However, the focus and content of the activities may have been affected.

2.2 Type of activities and extent

Type of activities

The regular activities of Swedish folk high schools consist largely of long-term courses, which are in turn divided into general courses and special courses. 13 A general course is preparatory for fur-ther studies and is the equivalent of compulsory school and upper secondary school level. Spe-cial courses are profile courses, often unique to a folk high school and made up of a combination of subjects. Many schools also offer short courses.14 Since folk high schools themselves govern their activities, there are also activities that may be of

13 Long-term courses are between 15 days and four years long.14 Short courses are between half a day and three weeks long. These are often profile courses in various subjects.


particular interest to the principal organizer, such as ideologically oriented courses of various kinds, as well as projects.

The transnational activities of folk high schools are designed a little differently compared to other activities. The diagram below shows the categori-zation of reported transnational activities by form of activity:

Diagram_2.2.1_Type_of_activities._(Number of activities: 212. Non-categorized activities: 2)

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Projects

Course activities

Participant exchange

Employee exchange

Conferenses

Study visit

Work experience travel

Cultural activities

Per cent

Most activities, totalling about 55 per cent, were described in the questionnaire responses as projects or course activities, while various forms of participant or employee exchange, including study visits, conferences and work experience travel, accounted for just over 40 per cent of ac-tivities. Relatively few activities, less than five per cent, were cultural activities.

Extent in time

The survey concerns transnational activities in 2009. The responses show that activities are often long-term, that is to say, longer than one year, and are often integrated in the regular work of folk high schools. Approximately 36 per cent of reported ac-tivities extended over several years, and about 20 per cent was part of regular activities. Only 17 per cent consisted of one-year activities, and about 27 per cent took place on a single occasion in 2009.

Therefore, more than half of the activities were longer than one year, presumably due to the fact that projects and courses were the most common activities. The various themes which the projects touched upon are often strategic and therefore re-quire more long-term work. At the same time, courses can be assumed to be a part of folk high schools’ long-term and regular activities.

Participants from folk high schools

Diagram_2.2.2_Participating_groups_from_folk_high_schools.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

n_0 n_1–2 n_3–9 n_10–20 n_More than 20

Per cent

Student at a folk high school

Teacher at a folk high school

Other employees

Number_of_responses

No__responses

Student at a folk high school 178 36Teacher at a folk high school 191 23Other employees 125 89Total number of answers 494 148Number of respondents 213 –

The diagram shows that representatives from all groups at a folk high school participated in the activity. Students participated mostly in groups of 10–20 persons or more. In the case of teachers at the schools, either one or two persons participated or they travelled in groups of 3–9 persons. Other employees also took part in the activities, however to a somewhat lesser extent and usually only a few people per activity.

The fact that this was the case for participation in transnational activities might be considered natural. There is often a relatively large number of course participants, who are assumed to be ac-companied by one to two members of school staff during transnational activities.


2. 3 Thematic focus

Seven areas of activity justify a particularly high degree of state support for folkbildning. In the diagram below, folk high schools have arranged their transnational activities according to the themes of these seven areas. The seventh area of activity has, in the diagram below and in the sta-tistics, been broken down into its three sub-areas: public health, sustainable development and global justice.15

Diagram_2.3.1_Thematic_focus._Percentage_of_the_total_number_of_responses.16

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Common fundamental values

Challenges of the multicultural society

The demographic challenge

Lifelong learning

Force behind cultural activities

Accessibility for per-sons with disabilities

Public health

Sustainable development

Global justice

Per cent

Global justice was by far the most common theme stated. The second most common theme was life-long learning, closely followed by activities clas-sified as being within the framework of common

15 The thematic arrangement in this section is thus based entirely on how educators have chosen to classify an activ-ity. One problem with this thematic arrangement of activi-ties based on the areas of activity framed by the State is that these areas are open to interpretation and are not mutually exclusive. This leads to somewhat arbitrary thematic ar-rangements. 16 In the questionnaire, it was possible to state several the-matic focuses for one and the same activity. Of the total number of activities reported by folk high schools, 214, 22 are not included in the diagram below. For these, no theme was stated in the questionnaire responses.

fundamental values. The challenges of the mul-ticultural society were the fourth most common theme, followed by a force behind cultural activi-ties and after that by sustainable development. Relatively few activities focused on public health, accessibility for persons with disabilities and the demographic challenge.

Below are some examples of statements of pur-pose which are attributed to each thematic focus:

• Common fundamental values In order to ‘establish the concept of folkbildn-

ing in Egypt’, a folk high school collaborated in a project categorized as being related to funda-mental values. This activity had also been ar-ranged in accordance with the theme of lifelong learning. In order to ‘achieve greater under-standing for each other’s work and a shared out-look on the purpose of education’, another folk high school had organized teacher exchanges.

• The challenges of the multicultural society A folk high school organized participant ex-

changes and received visiting students on a number of occasions in 2009. These activities had the purpose of creating ‘an opportunity for Finnish students to see from the inside how our schools and other schools work’. Another folk high school organized participant exchanges with Spain in order ‘to learn from each other’.

• The demographic challenge One folk high school organized a study trip to

Norway in order ‘to become acquainted with a border area’.

• Lifelong learning One folk high school organized regular courses

in another European country with the purpose of ‘increasing student confidence in commu-nicating in a foreign language and becoming acquainted with/meeting another culture’. An-other school took participated in an EU project with the purpose of promoting lifelong learn-ing through ‘the exchange of experience and the


development of language and IT-instruction for senior citizens’.

• Driving force behind cultural activities One folk high school organized study trips and

visits to various European countries with the purpose of ‘getting contact with cultural activi-ties in other European countries’. Another re-ceived visiting students from Poland and Uru-guay with the purpose of ‘providing interested persons with the opportunity to discover Swe-den and the folk high school’.

• Accessibility and opportunities for persons with disabilities

In collaboration with other Nordic educational and learning activities, one folk high school or-ganized a project which had the purpose of ‘cre-ating a hub for research, education and rehabili-tation/habilitation within neuropedagogik’.

• Public health One folk high school received visiting teach-

ers from an education and learning organiza-tion in Italy with the purpose of ‘deepening their knowledge about food, eating habits and other cultures’ views on raw materials and di-etary habits’. Another folk high school initiated a project with Norway, which had the purpose of ‘increasing collaboration with a newly started treatment home’.

• Sustainable development As a part of regular courses, one folk high

school ran projects and activities in collabora-tion with Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda with the purpose of providing ‘a better understanding of global conditions, various democratic perspec-tives as well as solid work experience for our students’. This activity was also arranged under the theme of global justice. Another folk high school contributed with folkbildning methodol-ogy in a project which had the purpose of ‘cre-ating sustainable livelihoods for coastal com-munities in India and Kenya’.

• Global justice One folk high school ran a course which includ-

ed working study visits to Bolivia. The purpose was ‘to see potential for the Convention on the Rights of the Child in another country based on a course on the rights of children and adoles-cents’. With the purpose of ‘providing informa-tion on how human rights can be used to defend democracy and human dignity’, another folk high school organized a project in Peru.

Diagram_2.3.2_Thematic_focus_in_total_and_per_principal_organizer_group._Proportion_of_categorizations._(Number of activities: 192. Non-categorized activities: 22)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60




Lifelong learning



Public health


Global justice

Per cent

n_RIO n_SKL n_Totalt

RIO SALAR TotalRespondents 146 46 192No response 17 5 22

A closer examination of the thematic focus per principal organizer group shows that global jus-tice was the most common thematic focus of both popular movement folk high schools and county council folk high schools. However, the proportion of activities with this focus was greater at county council folk high schools than at popular move-ment folk high schools. The second most common theme, lifelong learning, is present to about the same extent in both principal organizer groups.


The third most common theme of common fun-damental values was significantly more common among county council folk high schools. The re-verse was the case for the fourth most common theme, the challenges of the multicultural society, which was more common among popular move-ment folk high schools.

County council folk high schools had a greater number of activities arranged according to the theme of public health. This may have to do with the principal organizers (county councils and re-gions) having a mandate on public health that per-meates all mandates of the principal organizer. Popular movement folk high schools had more activities within the theme of sustainable develop-ment.

2.4 Purpose of the activities

Sweden and the Swedish

The expressions Sweden and Swedish have a domi-nant place in these thematic images (see diagram 2.4.1 on next page). This may be perceived as natu-ral as it is precisely Swedish folk high schools that have described the purpose of the activities. More surprising, perhaps, is that the word folkbildning has not been used to any great extent. Understand-ing seems, for example, to be a far more frequently used term, as is the case for knowledge.

Increase, create and learn

Among verbs, expressions such as increase, cre-ate and learn dominate the image. In many cases, these occur together with words such as knowl-edge, understanding, culture and opportunities.

‘To create understanding for the perspectives and conditions of different cultures by partici-pating in a voluntary project in another coun-try.’

‘To increase student confidence in communi-cating in a foreign language and becoming ac-quainted with/meeting another culture.

”To increase understanding and insight into liv-ing conditions and circumstances in the third world in terms of ecology, environment and sol-idarity.”

”A mutual increase of knowledge about other parts of the world. Get gender and democracy issues on the agenda; focus away from charity to a mutual and societal change process.”

”Create global alliances between popular movements to strengthen the common work for global justice.”

Giving, receiving and exchanging

Other words that appear in the image cloud are receiving and exchanging, but not to as great an extent as giving:

”Gaining knowledge about international issues, giving a greater understanding for other cul-tures, gaining a deeper knowledge of the work of peace and reconciliation.”

”To study the three religions, the political and cultural situation, have an exchange with peo-ple locally and make an assessment of the folk high school’s international work.’

”To increase knowledge about indigenous peo-ples and their situation. By studying indigenous peoples and the problems surrounding them, the participant gains another perspective on the society and part of the world that he/she lives in.”

Other activities are described as learning process-es in which folkbildning actors give something to someone else:


”To give students from other countries the op-portunity to come to Sweden and study at a folk high school.”

”Creating involvement and participating in so-cietal development. To raise the level of learn-ing through knowledge of the country in ques-tion. To create interest in another culture.”

”To educate and disseminate Swedish funda-mental values.”

Others, participants and students

In the diagram, others, participants and students are prominent concepts. Countries, teachers and people are also common. It is these groups which activities are primarily designed to reach or in-

17 Diagram 2.4.1 gives a focused picture of the concepts used by educators to describe the purposes of transnational activities. The principle behind the diagram is that a word is depicted as larger the more frequently it is used. Converse-ly, words appear smaller and more peripheral the less often they are used. The software for creating ‘word clouds’ of this kind can be downloaded from the internet at www.wordle.net.

fluence in some way. It therefore seems to be pri-marily people who are to be affected. It is less common for activities to focus on institutions or societal power structures.

Several geographic areas are prominent in the word cloud, especially Tanzania, but also Russia and Europe. This fits well with the image present-ed by the survey and which is presented below in Section 3.5 Geography of the activities.

2.5 Geography of the activities

Folk high schools throughout the world

The transnational relationships of folk high schools span large parts of the world (see diagram 2.5.1 on the following page). Most activities take place in Europe. Tanzania is the country outside Europe that stood out, especially with regard to activities in 2009.

Comparatively few activities took place in North America and in large parts of Asia. No ac-tivities that have been in collaboration with actors in Australia or Oceania were reported in 2009.

There are grants that can be applied for from

Diagram_2.4.1_The_purposes_of_folk_high_school_activities._17


various organizations which often have different purposes and are focused on specific geographical areas. These focuses sometimes change over time, which may be a possible explanation for the con-centration of a greater number of activities in spe-cific countries and areas.

Of most significance, probably, are already es-tablished contacts and networks between coun-tries. Collaboration between countries is also pro-moted by common umbrella organizations, such as the Nordic Folk High School Council in the Nordic countries and the organization Karibu in Tanzania.

18 One and the same transnational activity may include activities in different countries. The activities in the table therefore exceed the total number of reported activities (214).

Folk high schools in Europe

Europe can be said to be the epicentre of transna-tional activities. A total of 165 activities were or-ganized together with actors in Europe. Looking at the map of Europe, few countries are not repre-sented, though the number of activities per coun-try varies widely.

Diagram_2.5.2_Countries_in_Europe_collaborating_with_folk_high_schools.19_

Folk high schools have most transnational con-tacts with Germany, Finland, Denmark and Rus-sia, followed by Poland and Norway. That activi-ties in collaboration with these countries were so extensive can be explained by long-term relation-ships and cooperation.

Activities in collaboration with one of our neighbouring countries were particularly com-mon. A total of 62 activities were organized to-gether with another Nordic country. Folk high

19 This section reports the activities of folk high schools by country. The larger the circle on the map below, the more activities which are related to the specific country. The sur-vey describes activities that take place in both directions, that is, both inbound and outbound from Sweden. It is there-fore important to note that these activities do not always take place in the country in which they form part of the circle, but may have taken place in Sweden. http://geocommons.com/maps/30455.

Diagram_2.5.1_The_activities_of_folk_high_school,_by_part_of_the_world. 18

Part_of_the_world Activities Percentage

n Europe except. the Nordic countries 165 44n Africa 66 17

n The Nordic countries 62 16

n Asia 51 14

n North America 11 3

n Latin America 24 6

n Oceania/Australia 0 –Total 379 100


schools in northern Sweden work closely with neighbours on the Finnish side of the border. Con-tacts with Denmark belong primarily to folk high schools across the Sound. A certain collaboration across Nordic borders is organized with the aid of funds from the Nordic Folk High School Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Folk high schools outside Europe

Most transnational activities reported for the year 2009 were, as we have seen, in collaboration with actors in Europe. The second largest group of ac-tivities, a total of 66, took place in conjunction with a country on the African continent, prima-rily with sub-Saharan countries. In North Africa, Egypt was the most common country to collabo-rate with.

In sub-Saharan Africa, activities were organ-ized with a number of countries, primarily on the east side of the continent, e.g., Ethiopia, Zim-babwe, Rwanda, Kenya, Botswana, Malawi and South Africa. A small number of activities took place in collaboration with actors in countries in

20 http://geocommons.com/maps/30455.

Russia_and_Eastern_Europe_ _ __ _Besides the Nordic countries, Eastern Europe was well represented in the transnational work of folk high schools in 2009. Russia stood out in particular. In 2009, around 20 activities took place in collaboration between Swedish folk high schools and various actors in Russia.

A possible reason for this comparatively large number of activities could be that vari-ous organizations, e.g., the Swedish Institute, have over the years focused efforts on Russia, among other places. This has given folk high schools an opportunity to apply for the partial funding of projects in collaboration with that country. This may have attracted schools to create new contacts and promote already es-tablished relationships. Another possible expla-nation is that the countries have long-standing business and communication relationships due to a geographical proximity.

These are some of the purposes of activities in collaboration with Russia:

‘To build upon the perception of affinity in learning and life situation between Russia, Estonia and Sweden, as well as to create a permanent cross-border communication us-ing newly acquired IT skills for a societal group which does not usually have access to mass media.’

‘To strengthen ties between students in countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. An understanding for each other’s cultures and social situation.’

‘Our participants had the opportunity to vis-it another country, meet their peers and dis-cuss current problems.’

Diagram_2.5.3_Countries_throughout_the_world_collaborating_with_folk_high_schools._20


West Africa: Tanzania, Nigeria, Togo and Congo-Brazzaville. As the map shows, there are some countries of the world that stand out in particular. Tanzania is one of these countries.

A total of 51 activities were reported in collabo-ration with one or more Asian countries. These were mainly concentrated in the Middle East re-gion (excluding North Africa) and South East Asia.

Overall, 24 activities in collaboration with Cen-tral and South America were reported in 2009. Most activities in South America took place in collaboration with actors in Brazil, closely fol-lowed by Bolivia and Ecuador. Only eleven activi-ties were organized with partners in North Ameri-ca – the U.S. and Canada.

2.6. Organizational collaboration in transnational activities

The responsibility of ownership or a collaborating party

In transnational activities between different or-ganizations, it is normal for one party to own the activity and the other parties to have the role of collaborating parties. The responsibility of owner-ship means that the organization has the primary responsibility for planning and budgeting the ac-tivity. As a collaborating party, an organization can participate in several ways depending on the type of activity. It is common to contribute re-

Tanzania

Approximately 30 activities took place in col-laboration between Tanzania and Swedish folk high schools in 2009.

Collaboration between Tanzania and Swed-ish folk high schools dates back to the mid-1960s, when the country became independent. The Tanzanian Government identified at that time a number of areas that the country needed to work with and which required massive ef-forts in the field of adult education.

Inspired by Nordic folkbildning, a number of folk high schools, Folk Development Col-leges, were started with financial support from Sida and in collaboration with Swedish folk high schools, Linköping University and other partners. The political force behind this reform was the socialism reform launched by Julius Nyerere. The Karibu Association was formed about 30 years ago and has since then worked to promote collaboration between Sweden and Tanzania. There are currently about 60 Folk Development Colleges in Tanzania, many of which are twinned with Swedish folk high schools.

Historical relationships and contacts have thus existed between Sweden and Tanzania since the mid-1960s which helps to explain the large concentration of activities in Tanzania and Africa. Here are some quotations that de-scribe the various purposes given for collabo-ration between Sweden and Tanzania:

‘To stimulate informal learning and educa-tion for the rural population of Tanzania.’

‘To strengthen folkbildning through the work of the Karibu Association (an organization for folk high schools) in Tanzania on wom-en’s rights, HIV and AIDS, the right to edu-cation and sustainable development in rural areas.’

‘To strengthen local democracy in rural ar-eas in Tanzania and Zimbabwe through local libraries and knowledge centres. ‘


sources in terms of time, facilities, funding or ex-pertise.

Diagram_2.6.1._Folk_high_school_responsibility_for_the__activity.__(Number of activities: 211. Non-categorized activities: 3)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Participated as a collaborating party

The responsibility of ownership

Per cent

The diagram shows that for about two-thirds of the reported activities, a folk high school in Swe-den has had the responsibility of ownership. In other cases, a folk high school participated as a collaborating party. Folk high schools therefore had primary responsibility for a large part of the transnational activities they participated in.

Type of collaboration organizations

Swedish_collaboration_organizationsIt was most common for folk high schools in Swe-den to work with ‘other educational or learning activities’ – about 27 per cent of activities. 25 per cent of activities were organized together with another collaboration organization, such as the Swedish Institute, religious organizations or other non-profit organizations. Another 14 per cent was organized jointly with a member organization. In one third of the activities, about 34 per cent, a folk high school did not collaborate with anyone else in Sweden.

Foreign_collaboration_organizationsTwo-thirds of activities, therefore, took place in collaboration with another organization in Swe-den, and folk high schools had, in most cases, the responsibility of ownership. But which foreign or-ganizations were part of the collaboration?

Diagram_2.6.2_Type_of_foreign_collaboration_organization._(Number of activities: 164. Non-categorized activities: 50)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Per cent

Sister organization

Same principal organizer

Another educational or learning organization

No collaboration organization

The diagram above shows that, even when abroad, it was most common to collaborate with another educational or learning organization. This was the case in 50 per cent of the activities. These collabo-rating parties were in a number of cases foreign universities, state education coordinators or non-profit organizations. Collaboration organizations in the field of learning and learning centres were also represented, albeit to a much lesser extent. Just over one fifth of activities took place in col-laboration with a ‘sister organization’.21 One of the sister organizations which is mentioned several times is Karibu in Tanzania. Religious denomi-nations were another type of sister organization. In a small number of activities, folk high schools collaborated with an organization abroad with the same principal organizer.

Less than one fifth of activities were reported to take place without a collaboration organization in another country. But the folk high schools that participated in these activities can be assumed to have collaborated with another party or actor even in these cases because they considered the activ-ity to fall under the survey’s definition of transna-tional activity. For 50 activities, no response has been provided for this question, which should be regarded as a great loss of information.

21 The concept of sister organization can be used both by a school belonging to the same principal organizer and by a school that one has regular collaboration with.


2.7 Funding

The folkbildning activities of Swedish folk high schools are funded primarily by state and coun-ty council grants. In addition to this, folk high schools finance activities with their own revenue or through grants from other actors and organi-zations. The following diagram shows the main sources of funding used to finance the transna-tional activities which have been reported. 22

Diagram_2.7.1_The_main_source_of_funding_for_transnational_activities.23_(Number of activities: 164. Non-categorized activities: 50)

0 10 20 30 40 50

Sida/other aid organization

The European Social Fund

The Swedish Institute

The Nordic Council of Ministers

The International Programme Office

Grants from a member organization

Municipal or county council grants

The state folkbildning grant

Per cent

The diagram above shows that the state folkbildn-ing grant was the main source of funding for about 43 per cent, i.e., almost half the activities of folk high schools. Sida or another aid organization was stated as the next most common main source of funding.24 The International Programme Office

22 As regards the funding of transnational activities, the questionnaire responses only provide a basis for an analysis from a Swedish perspective, i.e., of how the Swedish party has financed its part of the transnational collaboration. 23 It should be noted that the size of the percentages in the diagrams below represent response rates – how often the main source of funding is provided by a funding authority – and not the financial size, i.e., not the amount of funds. If funding were to be stated in financial terms, these propor-tions might be different.24 The combined response category Sida/other aid organi-zation makes it impossible to tell exactly how large a propor-

for Education and Training and the Swedish Insti-tute were the primary funders of about one tenth each of the activities. The European Social Fund and grants from a member organization were the main source of funding for eleven activities each, and the Nordic Council of Ministers accounted for nine activities. Only three activities had munici-pal or county council grants as the main source of funding.

A more detailed study of main sources of fund-ing arranged by principal organizer group shows that activities have been funded by the state folk-bildning grant to the same extent for both princi-pal organizer groups. In addition, the activities of county council folk high schools are funded to a much greater extent by the Swedish Institute. The activities of popular movement folk high schools are funded to a greater extent by money from Sida or other aid organizations.

In connection with the question about the main source of funding, there was also the open-ended response option of ‘other actor’. The responses given here show that it was common for partici-pants to use their student aid to finance their own participation. Funding with the help of fundrais-ing and working study visits, for example, were not uncommon either. Funds also came from other organizations or actors other than those printed in the questionnaire, such as, the Folke Bernadotte Academy, the Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs and Nordplus. EU programmes such as Grundtvig and Leonardo Da Vinci are named as additional sources of funding.

In addition to the question about the main source of funding, the questionnaire contained a question about possible supplementary sources of funding. This question has been answered for 153 activities of the total 214 reported. For about 40 per cent of these activities, no other source than the main source of funding has been reported. For the remaining activities, supplementary funding has come from the state folkbildning grant (ap-

tion of funds from Sida is used. The greatest proportion of funds reported in this category comes, however, from Sida.


proximately 30 per cent of activities), municipal and county council grants (about 14 per cent of ac-tivities), Sida or another aid organization and the Swedish Institute (about 5 per cent of activities), as well as, to an even lesser extent, grants from a member organization and the International Pro-gramme Office for Education and Training.

In connection with the question regarding sup-

plementary funding, there was also the response option of ‘other actor’. The comments show that participants’ own forms of contribution, such as student aid/student loans, working study visits and fundraising, are common. Financial grants from municipalities, organizations and various founda-tions were less common, as were funds from the schools’ own development grants for teachers.


3. Transnational activities of study associations

3.1 Organization Level

Study associations in Sweden generally have three levels of organization, even though organisa-tional structures may differ between the associa-tions. All the associations have national offices, and most also have regions or districts. At the lo-cal level, there are either more autonomous local branches or local offices in the district/region. The number of branches varies widely between asso-ciations, from a handful to over 170 local branch-es with 300 local offices. Organisations are not static. Now and then, there are changes, such as branches being closed or merged. The generally low response rate from certain study associations, as previously described, may be related to changes in the organization of these study associations.

Diagram_3.1.1_Proportion_of_activities,_by_organization__level,_study_associations_in_total._(Number of activities: 124)

0 10 20 30 40 50

Federation offices

Districts

Branches

Per cent

Diagram 3.1.1 shows that all organization levels reported transnational activities in 2009. Overall, branches and districts were most active, while the proportion of federation offices was about fifty

per cent. It appears that the district or national of-fice coordinates activities within a covenant, but such coordination is not always evident in the re-sponses.

All NBV’s transnational activities were report-ed from branches, and about half the activities of the ABF and SV. SV’s national office reported one third of the association’s transnational activities. For Bilda and the Study Promotion Association, national offices accounted for a fifth. NBV report-ed no activities at association level.25

3.2 Type of activities and extent

The regular activities of study associations in Sweden consist mainly of study circles, cultural programmes and other folkbildning activities. The Swedish National Council of Adult Education statistics for 2009 show that, counted in hours of study, study circles were the largest activity, with cultural programmes in second place. If the com-parison is instead based on the number of events

25 Sensus reported only two activities, both from the same branch. The only activity reported by Medborgarskolan came from their national office, while the only activity stat-ed by Ibn Rushd came from a district. NBV has an office in Brussels for study visits, contacts, coordination of projects etc., which should result in a number of activities at associa-tion level. However, these are not present in the association’s questionnaire responses.


and number of participants, cultural programmes were the largest activity. Other folkbildning ac-tivities had fewer hours of study, fewer events and fewer participants.26

This is not the case for transnational activities. These consist largely of projects and study trips. It should be noted that these may include elements of both study circles and cultural programmes. The diagram below shows how study associations have categorized the transnational activities that they have reported.

Diagram_3.2.1_Type_of_activities._Study_associations_in__total._(Number of activities: 119. Non-categorized activities: 5)

0 10 20 30 40 50

Projects

Course activities


Employee exchange

Conferenses

Study visit


Cultural activities

Per cent

The study associations categorized just over 40 per cent of transnational activities as projects. The proportion of study trips was about half as large. There were cultural programmes in about twelve per cent, and courses were held to a more limited extent. A closer examination of the activities re-ported by the three organization levels showed that it was primarily local branches of study as-sociations which organized cultural activities and courses.

26 Other folkbildning activities are organizd in more free and flexible forms than the study circle. Sessions may be longer and be held more frequently. There may be a lower number of sessions and a greater number of participants, who may also include younger people.

Diagram_3.2.2_Type_of_activities._Per_study_association._(Number of activities: 119. Non-categorized activities: 5)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

SV

Sfr

Sensus

NBV

Mbsk

Ibn Rushd

Bilda

ABF

Total

Per cent

n_Participant exchange n_Conferenses

n_Cultural activities n_Course activities

n_Employee exchange n_Work experience travel

n_Projects n_Study visit

Respondents

No_response

29 0

23 1

2 0

5 2

1 0

1 0

22 1

36 1

119 5

Two-thirds of the SV’s activities and just over half of ABF’s consisted of projects. This proportion was slightly lower for the Study Promotion Asso-ciation (Sfr) and NBV. The Study Promotion As-sociation was the study association that had the greatest variety, with roughly equal proportions of projects, cultural programmes, study trips and conferences.

Bilda differed from the other associations through its strong focus on study trips, which rep-resented two-thirds of their activities. None of the other associations had study trips represent-ing more than one-fifth of their activities. Cultural activities were not organized to any significant extent in transnational activities, even though this has a large representation in Sweden. The Study Promotion Association and NBV had somewhat more cultural activities than Bilda and ABF. Most cultural activities were accounted for by branches.


Extent in time

The survey shows that the study associations’ transnational activities are often long-term.

Half of the activities were multi-year. But also occasional and shorter activities were relatively common, constituting one third of activities in total. Less common were one-year activities and those that were a part of regular activities.

Bilda and the Study Promotion Association dif-fered from the others by prioritizing occasional activities, which is probably related by the fact that their activities often took the form of study trips. Multi-year projects were most common with ABF, SV, NBV and also quite common with the Study Promotion Association. Bilda and NBV also invested in one-year projects.

Participants from study associations

Diagram_3.2.3_Participating_groups_from_study_associations._(Number of activities: 122. Non-categorized activities: 2)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

n_0 n_1–2 n_3–9 n_10–20 n_More than 20

Per cent

Circle participants

Circle leaders

Other employees

All groups were represented in transnational ac-tivities. Circle leaders and other employees mostly participated in small groups of 1–2 persons (espe-cially in ABF, Bilda and the Study Promotion As-sociation) and to a slightly lesser extent in groups of 3–9 persons (mostly in SV, NBV).

The involvement of circle participants was more varied. They participated to the same extent in groups of 3–9, 10–20 and more than 20 persons. Circle participants in small groups of 2–3 persons were most frequent in ABF and the Study Promo-tion Association. Circle participants in the larg-

est groups were found predominantly in Bilda and NBV, which may be related to the fact that Bilda has a very high proportion of study trips and NBV a relatively high proportion of courses, two forms of activity where it is natural to work with large groups.

3.3 Thematic focus

Seven areas of activity justify a particularly high degree of state support for folkbildning. In the diagram below, study associations have arranged their transnational activities according to the themes of these seven areas. The seventh area of activity has, in the diagram (3.3.1 on next page) and in the statistics, been broken down into its three sub-areas: public health, sustainable devel-opment and global justice.27

The most dominant thematic focuses of study associations were global justice and lifelong learn-ing. These focuses each encompassed just over 30 per cent of activities. Between 20 and 30 per cent of activities were categorized as the challenges of the multicultural society, common fundamental values and sustainable development. About 15 per cent of activities were devoted to a driving force behind cultural activities. Few activities were des-ignated as the demographic challenge or accessi-bility for the disabled.

Below are some examples of activities within each theme:

• Common fundamental values A couple of study association made study trips

to Israel/Palestine to ”study the three world re-ligions, and experience on-site both the tradi-

27 The thematic arrangement in this section is thus based entirely on how educators have chosen to classify an activ-ity. One problem with this thematic arrangement of activities based on the areas of activity formulated by the State is that these areas are open to interpretation and are not mutually exclusive. This leads to somewhat arbitrary thematic ar-rangements.


tional and contemporary cultural and political situation.” Others made study trips to European folkbildning institutions to ”exchange experi-ences on folkbildning in other countries.” Sev-eral study associations focused on democracy, where some wanted to ”spread the Swedish model of trade union-political collaboration”, another association participated in a project to ”investigate and provide information about transparency between citizens and government in Hungary, Romania and Sweden”.28

• The challenges of the multicultural society An example of this area of activity is cross-

border New Year celebrations taking the form of a united drug-free festival for young people in two countries. Several projects considered the situation of women in the world, such as a cultural exchange under the name ”Dialogue between women of different cultures but a com-mon religion, with the purpose of discovering the situation of women in the world. The Simi-

28 In the questionnaire, it was possible to state several the-matic focuses for one and the same activity. Of the total number of activities reported by study associations, 124, nine are not included in the diagram below. For these, no theme was stated in the questionnaire responses.

larities and differences, and their roles in soci-ety.”

• The demographic challenge One study association organized a democracy

education which included the integration of schools at different levels in India, Nepal and Sweden and to talk about human rights, democ-racy and peace.

• Lifelong learning Several study associations organized leadership

training for persons active in trade unions and societies. Also under this heading were youth exchanges within the EU programme Youth in Action, which sought ”to get young people from different cultures to come together and work to-gether with theatre as a tool and, with intercul-tural learning in focus, to show that we are the same no matter where we come from.”

• Driving force behind cultural activities Here examples were given of poetry evenings,

theatre, rock concerts, and also a cultural con-ference with the objective of ”discussing forms for developing culture within the programme work.”

• Accessibility and opportunities for individuals with disabilities

Study associations did not report as many projects in this area of activity. One project however worked to give parents of children with disabilities increased opportunities for adjust-ment and income, and another worked to build up an orchestra for individuals with disabilities where they played together by means of a colour system in which all notes were coloured.

• Public health Public health projects were extremely varied.

One project was to collect glasses in Sweden, and with the help of an optician on-site in Ken-yan villages, organize eye tests there and adapt the glasses for various people needing help with

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35




Lifelong learning



Public health


Global justice

Per cent

Diagram_3.3.1_Thematic_focus._Study_associations_in__total._Proportion_of_categorizations.


their vision. Another project, located in Europe, dealt with ‘a folk dance exchange across na-tional borders’ and learning each other’s tradi-tional folk dances and new variations of already known dances. It was followed up by ”dance exhibitions at bazaars and in the town square to portray dance as a source of joy, exercise and culture.”

• Sustainable development Many of the activities with a thematic focus on

sustainable development had a broad perspec-tive. Courses in organic farming were held side-by-side within an activity which also offered training in the development of small businesses in Ethiopia. Another example was a project to create a basis for a web-based part of a climate exhibition.

• Global justice Global justice was the most common themat-

ic focus. Several study associations organized folkbildning for the empowerment of individu-als and groups, partly in the form of capacity development for organization leaders and partly in the form of training for circle leaders and studies organizers who would then be able to organize folkbildning in civil society. Specific courses were organized for emergency needs, such as to train non-violence educators and Middle East relations officers, or to give educa-tion about HIV.

Circle participants were not often involved in ac-tivities geared towards common fundamental val-ues, instead this category mainly comprised of circle leaders. Participants instead were the only ones to take part in activities focused on the driv-ing force behind cultural activities. Circle leaders were slightly more involved in lifelong learning and sustainable development than the participants.

Diagram_3.3.2_Thematic_focus._Per_study_association._Proportion_of_categorizations.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

SV

Sfr

Sensus

NBV

Mbsk

Ibn Rushd

Bilda

ABF

Total

Per cent

n_Common fundamental values

n_Challenges of the multicultural society

n_The demographic challenge

n_Lifelong learning

n_Force behind cultural activities

n_Accessibility for persons with disabilities

n_Public health

n_Sustainable development

n_Global justice

Respondents

No_response

27 2

20 4

2 0

6 1

1 0

1 0

21 2

37 0

115 9

An analysis of the individual associations’ the-matic focus showed that they differed in some re-spects. Diagram 3.3.2 shows that ABF was highest for life-long learning, Bilda for global justice, SV for sustainable development and lifelong learning. In the Study Promotion association, the challenges of the multicultural society were most common. The demographic challenge and accessibility for the disabled generally had very low figures. This was not something that was given priority in the context of transnational activities.


3.4 Purpose of the activities

Sweden, Israel, the Palestinian areas and Bolivia

Some countries have a more dominant position in the image of the study association’s statements of purpose. In addition to Sweden being dominant, we also see how countries such as Bolivia, Israel and Palestine are relatively frequently included in the vocabulary of study associations.

Knowledge, folkbildning, study circles, culture

Words such as knowledge, folkbildning, culture and activities are very common. This gives some

29 Diagram 3.4.1 gives a focused picture of the concepts used by educators to describe the purposes of transnational activities. The principle behind the diagram is that a word is depicted larger the more frequently it is used. Conversely, words appear smaller and more peripheral the less often they are used. The software for creating ‘word clouds’ of this kind can be downloaded from the internet at www.wordle.net.

indication as to what transnational activities are about according to the actual folkbildning educa-tors. The verbs in the diagram show that they of-ten relate to working, creating and building, stud-ying and disseminating.

”Active folkbildning efforts on environmental is-sues.”

”Establishing study circle activities as a tool for democracy in South Africa.”

”Young people from different cultures should be able to get together and work together with theatre as a tool. With intercultural learning in focus, young people show that we are the same no matter where we come from.”

People, women, cultures, organizations, conflicts and rights

In the diagram, words such as people, young peo-ple and women give us an idea about which groups the activities are intended to reach. Similarly, there seems to be a lot of interest in experiencing other cultures. The collection of words can also be

Diagram_3.4.1_The_purposes_of_study_association_activities._29


interpreted in the light of the fact that many activ-ities take place in communities of ongoing conflict and places where human rights are an extremely current issue. That the thematic images often re-late to strengthening and developing democratic organizations also seems to be clear.

”To support and train leaders and active per-sons in ABC, Bolivia.”

”To investigate the situation of Christians in Israel/Palestine and see how the conflict affects everyday life.”

”To contribute to Palestinian women increasing the power over their own lives in all areas and to the emergence of democratic and participant controlled associations. ”

”To provide further training for journalists with regards to the conflict in Israel and the Pales-tinian areas.”

Contacts, exchange, networks

The questionnaire shows that study associations have established contacts and collaboration across almost the entire world, so the fact that words such as contacts, exchange, experience and to-gether dominate in the word cloud is perhaps not surprising. Transnational activities often have the purpose of creating interaction between people who come from other or different cultures. An-other popular theme in the study association state-ments of purpose is exchanging experiences and learning together.

”To establish women’s networks to create the conditions for working with the issues of honour violence across several countries.”

”Exchanging folkbildning experiences with oth-er folkbildning educators in Europe.”

3.5 Geography of the activities

Study associations throughout the world

Diagram_3.5.1_The_activities_of_study_associations,_per_continent/region_of_the_world.3031

Part_of_the_world Activities Percentage

n Europe except the Nordic countries

74 37

n Asia 52 26

n North America 1 0,5

n Latin America 19 9,5

n Africa 22 11

n The Nordic countries 32 16

n Oceania/Australia 0 –Total 379 100

These Study association transnational activities, according to the responses, reach most parts of the world. The greatest concentration of relationships can be found in Europe. One possible explanation for this is that EU projects often require the par-ticipation of parties from several countries, so that

30 Note that the questionnaire responses reported in the diagram and table below show collaboration between coun-tries, not in which country an activity has taken place or how many countries participated in each activity. For study asso-ciations, this map is not complete either, but it gives an indi-cation of the trends and concentrations that exist.31 One and the same activity could involve collaboration with more than one country. Therefore, the ‘number of activ-ities’ in this diagram exceeds the total number of activities reported by study associations.


in Europe, one and the same activity can involve relationships with several countries to a greater extent than elsewhere. Study associations reported collaboration with a total of 58 countries in 2009.

Only a few activities were organized in North America. Apart from Europe, Asia is the conti-nent with which study associations collaborated most, with twice as many activities as Africa and Latin America combined. This can be explained by a large concentration in the Middle East, where one Swedish study association in particular had a large number of study trips to Israel and the Pales-tinian areas.

Many activities probably take place in the con-text of well-established contacts and networks and can therefore continue for years or even decades.

There are grants that can be applied for from a number of agencies, foundations and aid organiza-tions. They often have explicit purposes and are focused on certain geographical areas. This focus often has a time limit. When the focus is phased out, the effect is that folkbildning activities in the area decrease in number.

Study associations in Europe

In Europe, 35 countries were represented in the transnational activities of study associations, with a total of almost 50 per cent of reported activities.

The European countries which study associa-tions mainly concentrated on in 2009 were Fin-land and Germany. In the rest of Europe, they re-ported roughly the same number of transnational activities in Western and Central Europe as in Eastern Europe, but the countries they collaborat-ed with in Eastern Europe were greater in number.

Finland_a_common_collaborating_party_in_the_Nordic_countriesIn the Nordic countries, Finland was the domi-nant collaborating country. It is common for bor-der towns to work together across their borders, and in this case, collaboration related to actors at the border between Sweden and Finland, between

Swedish Tornedalen and Finnish Österbotten. Half of the activities were reported here.

Some activities followed longitudes rather than borders between countries. In these cases, there were collaborating parties in the whole of Nordka-lotten in the northernmost parts of Norway, Swe-den, Finland and sometimes also Russia, in the Barents region. There were also transnational activ-ities with Denmark, Iceland and Åland, albeit to a lesser extent. Activities were very different in pur-pose and content, and ranged from cultural activi-ties to the development of sustainable businesses.

In a study of the individual study associations, the Study Promotion Association, followed by ABF, appeared to be the associations which were most active at the border with Finland. SV had the most variation and collaborated with almost all the Nordic countries. ABF was the only study as-sociation that ran activities in collaboration with Iceland. NBV had the least Nordic collaboration.

‘Rajarock gathers young rock musicians be-tween 14 and 18 years of age from the Barents

32 This section reports the activities of study associations by country. The larger the circle on the map below, the more activities which are related to the specific country. The sur-vey describes activities that take place in both directions, that is, both inbound and outbound from Sweden. It is there-fore important to note that these activities do not always take place in the country in which they form part of the circle, but may have taken place in Sweden. http://geocommons.com/maps/30459.

Diagram_3.5.2_Countries_in_Europe_collaborating_with_study_associations._32


Region . They participate in workshops and in concerts with all the participating Nordic coun-tries. Bands receive good instruction and a lot of exchange, plus contacts. The purpose is also drug-free activities for young people.’

”Development of the tourism industry from a sustainability perspective in collaboration with Northern Norway, Northern Finland and Italy.”

Extensive_collaboration_with_GermanyGermany was, after Finland, the country in Eu-rope which study associations collaborated most with. Spain, Italy and the UK were also common collaborating parties, with Ireland, France, Aus-tria, Greece and Turkey also collaborating parties in several activities. The choice of German collab-orating parties was often a result of the German learning institutions Volkshochschulen. Here are some examples of quotations about activities with German collaborating parties:

”To gain a European perspective on folkbildn-ing and exchange experiences with folkbildning educators in other countries through study vis-its to folk high schools in Germany.’”

”To increase knowledge of how to work with immigrant groups.”

In 2009, Lithuania, Russia, Belarus and Bulgaria were the most frequent collaborating countries in Eastern European.

ABF primarily organized most of their activi-ties in collaboration with Lithuania, while SV col-laborated the most with Belarus. Here are three examples of activities in collaboration with East-ern European and Russian folkbildning educators or participants:

“To start projects with Belarus with a focus on ceramics.”

“Young people from various countries discuss-

ing issues of democracy.”

“To increase the understanding of civil soci-ety and to impart knowledge and experience of work within organizations, which belong to civil society.”

Study associations outside Europe

Diagram_3.5.3_Countries_throughout_the_world_collaborating_with_study_associations.33

The transnational interests of study associations extended in 2009 to all parts of the world except Australia/Oceania. Together with actors from 15 Asian countries, 36 activities were initiated or completed, of which nearly half was related to the Middle East. Israel and the Palestinian areas were highly dominant. Africa was a co-party in 24 ac-tivities in a total of 12 countries, and Latin Amer-ica in 19 activities in nine countries. No activities were reported from Oceania/Australia.

The_Middle_East_dominated_in_AsiaAsia was the continent, after Europe, where study associations reported most transnational activi-ties in 2009. Collaborating countries were mainly India, Nepal and Iran, but also China, Iraq, Ti-bet, Afghanistan, the Philippines and Japan. The greatest concentration of collaboration was with the Middle East, where Israel and the Palestinian areas were in particular focus.

ABF was the study association which had most activities in Asia, with several activities in India and in Nepal, and a few in Iran, Iraq and the Phil-

33 http://geocommons.com/maps/30459.


ippines. NBV was the only Swedish study asso-ciation which collaborated with China and Japan. Bilda was represented in Afghanistan and India.

”In collaboration with the organization Bayani-han, we ran a voluntary project for two weeks with the Philippine Red Cross in Manila.”

”Educational activities for democracy, human rights and peace. We collaborate with organiza-tions and schools in India and Nepal...”

Africa_–_most_collaboration_with_Kenya_and_TanzaniaStudy association activities south of the Sahara were concentrated in the countries of the east

coast of Africa, Ethiopia and Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa. On the Atlantic coast, there was collaboration with Namibia, Cameroon, Gambia, Senegal and Sierra Leone. There were no activities at all north of the Sahara.

Most activities took place in collaboration with Kenya, where ABF, SV, the Study Promotion As-sociation and Bilda were represented, and with Tanzania, where the Study Promotion Association and NBV participated. Next came South Africa, where ABF and SV had collaboration projects, the Gambia, where ABF and NBV had activities, and Zimbabwe, where SV was involved in several col-laboration projects.

The_Middle_East

Approximately 20 activities took place in the Middle East in 2009, mostly in the form of study trips to Israel and the Palestinian areas, but also to Syria. Bilda was the owner of 18 of these activities, and the coordinator of these study trips and projects was Bilda’s study cen-tre in Jerusalem. Some other study associations ran occasional activities. These activities were primarily study trips with a focus on meeting people in a world of conflict, but also on the study of the roots of Christianity:

”Bilda’s study trip concept involves prepa-ration through a study circle, participation in planning the study trip programme, daily reflection and processing thoughts during the trip and follow-up at home. Each travel project lasts about one year. Participants will get to meet Jews, Christians, Muslims, settlers and persons living in refugee camps. They will visit schools in both Israel and the Palestinian areas to form their own opinion on the situation.”

”Train non-violence educators and Middle East relations officers in collaboration with the Swedish Fellowship of Reconciliation.”

”Young women in Sweden/Israel/the West Bank work with UN resolution 1325 on wom-en’s participation in societal development, and work with conflict management and non-violence. Exchanges with travel in both di-rections. The purpose is knowledge of one’s own situation and a greater understanding for the situation of others.”

Participation fees accounted for approximately one third of the financing of activities in the Middle East, but the state folkbildning grant was also used. Typically, in other cases, costs were covered from many different sources, such as the Folke Bernadotte Academy, Sida, the Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs, the Church of Sweden, the Swedish Institute as well as fundraising.


Below are some examples of statements of pur-pose for activities in the countries concerned:

”Through education/study circles, there is an increase of awareness and knowledge of the above-mentioned areas so that the area and its inhabitants may continue living in self-sufficien-cy and in better health…”

”To spread our experience of the study circle method to movements with similar values and aspirations, and bring home practical experi-ence of using the circle method in contexts other than at home in Sweden.”

”To increase awareness of the history of previ-ously marginalized groups and its part of the common history of South Africa. To identify in-volvement and an organizational structure for cultural environment education in the country.”

”To develop small business in Ethiopia.”

More_activities_in_Latin_America_and_Central_America_than_in_North_AmericaIn Latin America, study associations collabo-rated primarily with Bolivia and Colombia, but also with Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru and El Salvador. In Central America, there were projects in collaboration with Cuba. ABF had a well-developed collaboration with Bolivia, and SV with Colombia. ABF and SV predominantly ran project activities with the South American coun-tries. In North America, only occasional activities were reported.

The projects often focused on folkbildning and popular movements, democracy and associations, but there are also examples of purposes related to the development of cooperatives or local busi-nesses.

”To support and train leaders and active per-sons in ABC Bolivia.”

”To strengthen the local population by setting up/strengthening democratically organized folk-

bildning units with local support and national collaboration.”

”To get women active in associations and folk-bildning.”

”To building up a trade union school in Sao Paolo.”

”To pass on knowledge and experience concern-ing cooperatives for the production, processing and sale of fruit and vegetables in Colombia.”

3.6 Organizational collaboration in transnational activities

The responsibility of ownership or a collaborating party

In transnational activities between different par-ties, it is normal for one party to own the activity and the other parties to have the role of collabo-rating parties. The responsibility of ownership means having the primary responsibility for the planning and budgeting of the activity. A collabo-rating party can participate in various ways de-pending on the type of activity. It is common to contribute resources in terms of time, facilities, funding and expertise.

Diagram_3.6.1_Study_association_responsibility_for_the__activity._(Number of activities: 119, non-categorized: 5)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Participated as a collaborating party

The responsibility of ownership

Per cent

The diagram above shows that study associations themselves had the responsibility of ownership


for nearly two-thirds of the activities they had re-ported. A closer examination of individual study associations and organization levels revealed that is the case primarily for ABF, Bilda and SV, while the Study Promotion Association had responsibil-ity for nearly half of the activities.

As regards the different organization levels of study associations, the district took on the respon-sibility of ownership for two-thirds of the activi-ties they reported, while the national office and branches seem to have had the responsibility of ownership for about half ‘their’ activities.

Type of collaboration organizations

Swedish_collaboration_organizationsIn many transnational activities, study associa-tions collaborated with other organizations both in Sweden and abroad. The collaborating parties of study associations in Sweden were primarily member organizations and collaboration organi-zations. 39 per cent of activities were carried out together with member organizations, 27 per cent with collaboration organizations and 11 per cent with representatives of other educational or learn-ing activities. For 23 per cent of activities, associ-ations had no collaborating party in Sweden.

Foreign_collaboration_organizationsDiagram_3.6.2_Type_of_foreign_collaboration_organization._Study_associations_in_total.__(Number of activities: 91, non-categorized activities: 33.)

0 10 20 30 40 50Per cent

Sister organization

Same principal organizer

Another educational or learning organization

No collaboration organization

The most common collaborating parties in other countries were actors offering other educational or learning activities. These participated in almost

half the activities. Here we notice, for example, foreign universities, democratic institutions, Ger-man Volkshochschulen, cultural societies, trade union organizations, educational publishers and churches.

A quarter of activities were organized in col-laboration with a sister organization. The asso-ciations named sister organizations such as ABC Bolivia, ABF Norden, or organizations with a re-ligious orientation such as the Orthodox Christian Church. The term sister organization usually re-fers to organizations similar to their own in terms of objectives, which have a principal organizer with a similar focus as their own, or to an organi-zation there has been close and continual collabo-ration with. Study associations also, in some cas-es, indicated an affinity with principal organizers in a broader sense, such as when a study associa-tion with ties to Catholic or Protestant teachings collaborates with institutions linked to the same religion in other countries.

14 per cent of activities were organized with a collaborating party other than those listed in the diagram above.34 Study associations were shown, in several activities, to have collaboration with cities, municipalities or town district committees in the collaborating country. This can possibly be explained by associations in some cases also hav-ing close contact with their own municipality in Sweden. Other examples of collaborating parties from the open-ended response category were pri-vate businessmen or cooperatives, women’s cen-tres and local interest groups.

Individual_study_associationsAt association level, there were certain differ-ences between study associations. SV and the Study Promotion Association followed the general picture and mainly collaborated with other edu-cational institutions. ABF also had a lot of col-laboration with other educational institutions, but even more with its sister organizations. Bilda also

34 The questionnaire provided an opportunity for leaving comments if the response alternatives were not sufficient.


differed from the overall pattern and collaborated mostly with the same principal organizer (53 per cent) and only then with sister organizations (24 per cent).

3.7 Funding

A prerequisite for transnational collaboration is that study associations are able to finance their participation in the activity. Often, several sourc-es of funding are required, both a main source of funding and supplementary funding. Associa-tions have been able to use their ordinary state folkbildning grant for certain transnational ac-tivities. They can also turn to municipalities and county councils and apply for grants. Grants can also come from their member organizations, par-ticularly in cases where they are in close collabo-ration with them. There are also grants that can be applied for from Sida and other aid organiza-tions, the Swedish Institute, the Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs, the International Pro-gramme Office for Education and Training, the Nordic Council of Ministers and the European Social Fund, ESF. The focus of the various donors changes over time, and this may affect the focus and location of activities.35

Study associations in total.

Sida or another aid organization was the most common main source of funding for study asso-ciations.36 These aid organizations were the main source of funding for 43 per cent of activities,

35 As regards the funding of transnational activities, the questionnaire responses only provide a basis for an analysis from a Swedish perspective, i.e., of how the Swedish party has financed its part of the transnational collaboration. 36 The combined response category Sida/other aid organi-zation makes it impossible to tell exactly how large a propor-tion of funds from Sida is used. The greatest proportion of funds reported in this category comes, however, from Sida.

while the state folkbildning grant accounted for 24 per cent, and municipal and county council grants for 12 per cent. Often, associations were also re-quired to use additional financial resources. In these cases, the state folkbildning grant was used as supplementary funding in one third of activi-ties. On top of this, there were additional resourc-es from municipal and county council grants, which accounted for 15 per cent of supplementary funding.

Funds from the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Swedish Institute, the ESF and the Interna-tional Programme Office for Education and Train-ing did not, taken individually, constitute large amounts, but when combined, they accounted for 18 per cent of the main source of funding.

Grants from member organizations were not common and occurred in only five per cent of ac-tivities. Participation fees, student aid and money from fundraising, as reported in comments to the open-ended question on other funding, consti-tuted a much larger part. About 30 per cent of all

37 It should be noted that the size of the percentages in the diagrams below represent response rates – how often the main source of funding comes from a funding authority – and not the financial size, i.e., not the amount of funds. If funding were to be stated in financial terms, these propor-tions might be different.

0 10 20 30 40 50

Sida/other aid organization

The European Social Fund


The Nordic Council of Ministers

The International Programme Office

Grants from a member organization

Municipal or county council grants

The state folkbildning grant

Per cent

Diagram_3.7.1_The_main_source_of_funding_for_transnational_activities._Study_associations_in_total._37(Number of activities: 84, non-categorized activities: 40)


the responses received on supplementary fund-ing referred to their own revenue, fundraising and loans.

The different organization levels of study associations

A detailed study of organization levels shows that all three levels – national offices, districts and branches – had Sida as the most common main source of funding, and that the state folkbildn-ing grant was the most common source of supple-mentary funding at all levels of the organization. Branches and districts used funds from munici-palities and county councils as sources of fund-ing more often than national offices did. National offices, in turn, applied for and obtained grants more often from the International Programme Of-fice for Education and Training, the Nordic Coun-cil of Ministers and the ESF.

Grants from Sida or from other aid organiza-tions accounted for just over half of the main source of funding for ABF and SV. The Study Promotion Association utilized municipality/county council grants for one third of activities and grants from Sida and the state folkbildning grant for one fifth each. The Study Promotion As-sociation also named municipal and county coun-cil grants as supplementary funding for 29 per cent. A small part of activities in ABF and SV was contested by the Nordic Council of Ministers, while the Study Promotion Association and SV reported a number of smaller grants from the ESF, the Swedish Institute and the International Pro-gramme Office for Education and Training.

Bilda used the state folkbildning grant by far the most, amounting to three-fifths of their main

source of funding. The corresponding figure for the Study Promotion Association was one quarter, and for NBV two-thirds. SV did not have the state folkbildning grant as their main source of funding for more than eight per cent of their reported ac-tivities. SV did, however, have this as supplemen-tary funding in one third of their activities. ABF used the state folkbildning grant least, for only one fifth of their activities, and as supplementary funding for only five per cent.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

SV

Sfr

Sensus

NBV

Mbsk

Ibn Rushd

Bilda

ABF

Total

Per cent

n_The state folkbildning grant

n_Municipal or county council grants

n_Grants from a member organization

n_The International Programme Office

n_The Nordic Council of Ministers

n_The Swedish Institute

n_The European Social Fund

n_Sida/other aid organization

Respondents

No_response

25 4

19 5

1 1

3 4

0 1

0 1

10 13

26 11

84 40

Diagram_3.7.2_The_main_source_of_funding_for_transnational_activities._Per_study_association._(Number of activities: 84, uncategorized: 40. )


4. Summary analysis: Transnational folkbildning

In this concluding chapter, the results of the sur-vey are analyzed in three areas of specialization:

• Sources of funding: Where does the money come from and for what is it used?

In this first area of specialization, we look at the type of grant which transnational activities rely upon and what connections there are between sources of funding sources and forms of activity (courses, projects, conferences, study trips, cir-cle leader exchanges, etc.).

• Thematic images: What do folkbildning educa-tors want to accomplish?

The second area of specialization provides an analysis of the purposes and thematic images of study associations and folk high schools. In what way do folkbildning educators think that activities relate to the overall areas of activity? What values and what direction do they per-ceive the learning activity to have?

• Geography: What do folkbildning actors’ tran-snational networks look like?

Finally, the international connections of folk-bildning actors are analyzed, with focus on geo-graphical location. The travel patterns of folk high school participants are compared with the mobility of Swedish university students as well as with the geographical distribution of Swedish development aid.

4.1 Sources of funding: Where does the money come from and for what is it used?

Folkbildning in Sweden is largely funded through support from the state, county councils/regions and municipalities. In addition to these public funds, various forms of compensation for the re-sponsibilities and project activities, conferences and other activities, and participation fees and sales revenues for the study associations part. Also in the case of transnational activities, differ-ent sources of funding are reported.

As we have seen in previous sections, folk high schools and study associations have partly differ-ent ways of financing their transnational collabo-rations. For folk high schools, the state folkbildn-ing grant represented the main source of funding for 43 per cent of reported activities in 2009, while the corresponding figure for study associations was 24 per cent. As regards funding from Sida or other aid organizations, the proportions were, in principle, reversed: Sida was the main source of funding for roughly 43 per cent of study asso-ciation activities compared to 18 per cent for folk high schools. Also municipal and county council grants accounted for a higher proportion of study association transnational activities than for those of folk high schools. In the case of other grants and funding authorities specified in the question-


naire, the funding patterns of study associations and folk high schools are about the same.

Participation fees and fundraising accounted for a comparatively large proportion of the funding for both folk high schools and study associations. In almost 30 per cent of all the responses about the main source of funding, reference was made to self-financing. In the questionnaire, however, this type of financing was reported in the com-ments section under ‘other funding’, which brings a measure of uncertainty to its proportional share.

As regards supplementary funding, fundraising and participation fees were stated as having been used in almost three out of four activities. This can be interpreted as participants often being personal-ly motivated to take part since they seem willing to use their own resources to make the projects a real-ity. The overall picture of sources of funding (Dia-gram 4.1.1) shows that public funds are the primary resource base for transnational activities.

Diagram_4.1.1_The_main_source_of_funding_for_transnational_activities._Study_associations_and_folk_high_schools._

Main_source_of_funding %_Number_of_activities

State folkbildning grant 36% 90

Sida/Other aid organization2 26% 65

International Programme Office 8% 19

The Swedish Institute 8% 21

Member organization 6% 15

The European Social Fund (ESF) 5% 13

Municipality/County council 5% 13

The Nordic Council of Ministers 5% 12

Total 100% 248

Almost all the activities reported by study associ-ations and folk high schools were funded primari-ly with the help of Swedish public funds. The state folkbildning grant and grants from Sida together appear to account for the main source of fund-ing for just over 60 per cent of activities. All this points to the conclusion that the internationaliza-tion of folkbildning depends primarily on govern-ment money.

Similar funding structures have previously been described by researchers who have examined the transnational processes of the university sector (Sörlin, 1994).3 Civil society’s organizations there-fore appear, in a similar way to universities, to be embedded in processes where institutional contact networks are widening and links with the outside world are being established. However, the re-source allocation system that facilitates this devel-opment is still largely possible to trace back to the state budget bill. This phenomenon has therefore previously been termed as a state-sponsored form of transnational activity (Cf. Sörlin, 1994, 225).

Who pays for what? In the short-term or long-term?

The figures in Diagram 4.1.2, which is based on a cross tabulation between source of funding and form of activity, show how the state folkbildning grant, Sida funds and the main source of fund-ing from the Nordic Council of Ministers and the European Social Fund (ESF) are used in relation to various forms of folkbildning (projects, confer-ences, courses, study trips, etc.).

Diagram_4.1.2_Main_source_of_funding,_by_form_of_activity._Study_associations_and_folk_high_schools._

The_state_folkbildning_grant_ Sida

Nordic_&_ESF

Main_Funding Antal % Antal % Antal %

Participant ex-change/Visiting students 9 10 1 2

4 16

Conference 3 3 4 6 0 0

Cultural activity/ Cultural programme 4 4 0 0 0 0

Course 36 40 5 8 0 0

Teacher/Circle leader exchange 5 6 0 0 2 8

Work experience travel 2 2 2 3 1 4

Project 6 7 48 74 18 72

Study trip/Study visit 25 28 4 6 0 0

Total_number_of_activities 90 ≈100 65 ≈100 25 100_


The diagram shows that courses, study trips, par-ticipant exchanges and projects are the most com-mon forms of transnational activities. If we com-pare the different funding sources, it seems that activities financed by the state folkbildning grant in a total of 80 per cent of activities were partici-pant exchanges, courses and study trips. Funds re-ceived from Sida, the Nordic Council of Ministers and the European Social Fund (ESF) are instead used primarily for project activities. This means that in relation to other sources of funding, the state folkbildning grant was primarily used for ac-tivities of a more regular and long-term nature.

The patterns found in the table above are also reflected in the figures we have already presented. In a comparison of study associations and folk high schools, it emerges that the state folkbildning grant is the most common main source of fund-ing for folk high schools, with Sida being the most common for study associations. Just over half of the folk high schools reported activities focused on courses, participant exchanges and study visits, while only 30 per cent were described as projects. Study associations use grants from Sida more of-ten. Of the reported activities, almost half were projects, while about one third were courses, par-ticipant exchanges or study visits.

4.2 Thematic images: What do folkbildning educators want to accomplish?

In the name of global justice

Why do study associations and folk high schools participate at all in transnational work? What do they want to accomplish?

A first step towards finding answers to these questions might be to explore how folkbildning actors themselves perceive their activities to relate to folkbildning’s seven areas of activity:

Diagram_4.2.1_Thematic_focus._Study_associations_and_folk_high_schools._Proportion_of_categorizations._38

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45




Lifelong learning



Public health


Global justice

Per cent

Both study associations and folk high schools de-fine most of their transnational activities as be-ing primarily related to the seventh area of activ-ity. This relates to just over 60 per cent of study association activities and approximately 70 per cent of folk high school activities. More specifi-cally, many of the activities deal with the creation of global justice. In just over 30 per cent of study association activities and more than 40 per cent of folk high school activities, global justice is at the top of the agenda. It is also common for ac-tivities to relate to sustainable development and public health. Study association activities with a focus on global justice were primarily designed as projects, study trips or conferences, while folk high schools, for the most part, stated this theme as a focus for its courses.

Even activities in the context of lifelong learn-ing, multicultural society challenges and common fundamental values are common. Study associa-tions and folk high schools categorized 20–30 per cent of their activities within each of these areas. This primarily related to courses and projects

38 In the questionnaire, it was possible to state several the-matic focuses for one and the same activity.

n_Folk high schools n_Study associations


for folk high schools and temporary projects and study trips for study associations. A relatively high number of courses focused on lifelong learn-ing, and quite a high number of cultural activities were also came under the heading of challenges of the multicultural society. Transnational work involving participants with disabilities or which was conducted within the framework of the demo-graphic challenge seem to be less common. This includes both study associations and folk high schools, even if there can be great variation be-tween individual folkbildning organizers.39

Allowing folkbildning actors themselves to re-late the activities to the areas of activity showed,

39 It was not primarily the very young, the oldest or partici-pants with disabilities who were involved in transnational collaboration. In cases where activities also related to these groups, they usually consisted of study trips or projects or-ganized by study associations or courses run by folk high schools.

in summary, that there is a solid idea that folk-bildning can help create more justice in the world. It was also in the seventh area of activity that the vast majority of activities were considered to be-long.

Receiving, giving or sharing?

Another way to examine the motives of folkbildn-ing educators is to observe how they, in their own words, choose to describe the objectives of their activities (see diagram 4.2.2).

In earlier sections, the motives of study associa-tions and folk high schools were presented sepa-rately in word clouds. Each section also contained a number of examples of phrases taken from the reported activities. The purpose of this section is to broaden the previous reasoning.

The vast majority of verbs that describe the pur-

Diagram_4.2.2_The_collective_response_of_study_associations_and_folk_high_schools_to_the_question:_“What_do_you_want_to_accomplish_with_the_activity?”_


pose of the activities are change and development oriented. Folkbildning actors gladly use the words create, give, increase, deepen, learn, strengthen, disseminate, develop, educate, build and establish. Areas to be developed include culture, knowledge, understanding, perspective, democracy, collabo-ration, methods, contacts, and awareness. Judging by diagram 4.2.2, it is primarily different partner-ing countries, participants and individuals in other parts of the world that are the subjects of this re-form agenda.

A detailed analysis of the response shows that it is mainly Swedish folkbildning educators who are described as proactive in the activity. It is much more common for Swedish folkbildning actors to appear to be giving something to someone else, than the contrary, that they are receiving something from someone else. Transnational contacts are also more often described as a developmental process in which Swedish folkbildning educators share their knowledge and experience to the benefit of the for-eign collaborating partners. The overall picture created by the statements of purpose is that other countries have something to learn from Swedish folkbildning, for example, by comprehending the didactic approach, pedagogical models, or other ar-eas related to folkbildning expertise.

Through an analysis of the statements of pur-pose, based on the three verb paradigms to give, to receive or to exchange, the attitudes that Swed-ish folkbildning educators bring to their transna-tional initiatives become clearer.

Increase_knowledge,_spread_the_word_and_help_others:_Folkbildning_as_a_mission_Many descriptions illustrate a donation-driven at-titude. In its most extreme form, the partnering countries constitute a kind of folkbildning-related tabula rasa. Folkbildning initiatives break virgin territory and the challenge for folkbildning actors is to preach folkbildning forms or basic pedagogi-cal outlook. These descriptions create the image of only the partnering country benefiting from activities. The objectives can be described in the following manner:

”To transfer and establish the experience of Swedish folkbildning to be used as a resource within human development and change man-agement (..) in Ukraine.”

”To implement study group activities in 16 or-ganizations in Belarus.”

”To establish the idea of folkbildning in Egypt.”

”(The study association) assists the trade union (..) in creating folkbildning activities aimed at building up a trade union school in Sao Paolo.”

In these objectives there is a tendency for Swedish folkbildning educators to appear as the transna-tional activity ”democracy experts”. It may relate to the Swedish actor representing folkbildning as a phenomenon or a successful example of democ-ratization. Quite often folkbildning is portrayed as a tool for broader forms of social change: ”Establishing study circle activities as a tool for

democracy in South Africa.”

”Increasing and strengthening leaders in democ-racy, leadership, social involvement and pov-erty reduction.”

”Improving the understanding of civil society and to impart knowledge and experience of work within organizations, which belong to civil soci-ety. Show how civil society can collaborate with the public administration. Convey basic knowl-edge of democracy and association activities.”

”Spread the Swedish model of trade union-politi-cal interaction.”

These quotations are based on the idea that folk-bildning expertise communicates and assists over-seas nations with what they perceive as traditional folkbildning methods or models.

However, Swedish folkbildning is not always portrayed as a democratic miracle cure. Transna-


tional activities can also be presented as part of a broader and more complex strategy of change:

”This is a project that, in collaboration with the trade union movement in Europe, deals with the creation and implementation of a course for union representatives in multi-national compa-nies that provides knowledge about their rights to information and consultation in multi-nation-al companies. We will hold workshops with the same content in the countries involved in the project . Thereafter, the courses will be nation-al.”

”To carry out initiating measures by means of collecting glasses in Sweden by VFA (Vision For All = opticians organization), measuring the strength of the glasses and distributing them locally in villages and organizing eye tests, for one day per village, by an optician from VFA .(..) The purpose is to help find opticians locally that can take over and run a continuous activ-ity.”

”At the invitation of the Ministry of (...), to im-plement adaptation courses for the visually im-paired, as well as educational efforts, to serve both as encouragement and as an example of the development of domestic vision initiatives in Kurdistan.”

”The overall objective is for Palestinian women to increase the power over their own lives and for democratic and member/participant control-led associations to emerge. The project’s goal is that women in the villages (..) become willing and able to increase their influence over their own lives both from a financial and social per-spective, that their status in the family increases through this and that they actively take part in the construction of a local women’s organiza-tion.”

Even though these activities appear to be donor driven, i.e., that the direction of the folkbildn-

ing initiative is still seen to go from Sweden to other locations, the goal for folkbildning educa-tors seems to be less focused on exports. Though these latter project descriptions are still based on the idea that folkbildning educators give skills or resources to someone else, the statements here are closer to the old aid development mantra of ”help-ing people help themselves”. The objective of an activity is to is to make itself redundant.

One way to interpret the dominance of donor-orientation in the statements of purpose is to as-sociate them with the overall structure. In the survey’s previous sections, it was found that both study associations and folk high schools, in most cases, have the responsibility of ownership for ac-tivities, which means they have a major commis-sion to govern issues such as content, budget and implementation. This can also make an impact on how activities are designed and how the actual theme is developed. Giving is also about establish-ing a dominance relationship.

With_the_world_as_a_workbook:_Folkbildning_as_anthropologyThe survey also reported a number of transnation-al activities where the primary objective was more described in terms of receiving. Here the purpose is set out to the effect that Swedish folkbildning educators must learn from their partners, rather than try to transfer knowledge to others. In the recipient-oriented statements of purpose it is often knowledge of general living conditions in other countries and other peoples’ ways of relating to the world that comes into focus:

”A two-week trip to Spain for the participants on a general course with an international pro-file. The aim is for participants to sample a new language, see another country, quite simply to experience something outside Motala’s ‘ four walls’.”

”The participant should gain knowledge and awareness of global issues in general and Af-rica in particular. He/she shall, in an independ-


ent and critical way, evaluate news reports and other information dissemination on the conti-nent.”

”To increase understanding and insight into liv-ing conditions and circumstances in the third world in terms of ecology, environment and sol-idarity.”

”Knowledge of Latin America specializing on Ecuador. Preliminary studies in economics, politics, the life of society, environment and lan-guage. Work experience in rural areas in Ecua-dor shall give the student insight into the lives of small farmers as well as development in the Spanish language.”

A recurring objective is for participants to gain perspective on the part of the world that they were brought up in and to form their own opin-ions about this with the help of experience from other countries. Activities are designed to give the Swedish participants greater world understanding and – in the long-term – for the participants to dis-seminate their newly acquired external knowledge to others:

”To increase our understanding of living con-ditions in the countries of the South, to make contacts with people in the universal Church, to recognize that the link between material wealth and general well-being is weak.”

”The participants studied societal and social is-sues in Riga, Latvia in order to make compari-sons with the situation in Sweden.”

”A greater understanding of how people live in other cultures, it also provides a wider perspec-tive on the situation of individuals with disabili-ties.”

”To increase knowledge about indigenous peo-ples and their situation. By studying indigenous peoples and the problems surrounding them, the

participant gains another perspective on the so-ciety and part of the world that he/she lives in.”

”We want to give participants the opportunity to study, reflect and meet people from an area that is at the forefront of media attention, name-ly the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. Our par-ticipants get to meet Jews, Christians, Muslims and settlers, living in refugee camps. They visit schools in both Israel and the Palestinian ter-ritories and so can form their own opinions on the situation.”

In activities with this type of recipient-oriented purposes, there is for the most part no mention of foreign experts who are considered to convey specialized knowledge, neither do they single out a specific focus that participants are expected to focus on. To receive knowledge and experience in this context seems to relate to being present in a, as far as the Swedish are concerned, foreign en-vironment. The world is an open workbook from which you can learn.

As a rough description, it can be ascertained that in the first and more donor-oriented state-ments of purpose they describe how Swedish folk-bildning experts make statements or provide other understanding of democracy, adult education and popular mobilization. It often relates to descrip-tions where active folkbildning educators travel out into the world to preach the real or imagined merits of Swedish folkbildning. The more recipi-ent-oriented statements of purpose present instead Swedish folkbildning participants as anthropolo-gists who through their study of foreign customs gain a perspective on their Western lives.

Mutual_learning_processes:_Folkbildning_as_exchange_The third type of statements of purpose empha-sizes more clearly how collaboration parties learn from each other or that participants from different countries shall learn things together. The objec-tives often relate to how individuals from differ-ent places work towards common societal-political


objectives or more generally work together to get to know each other better. The activities’ state-ments of purpose are often focused on creating platforms where the participants’ own ideas and work processes can be the guide:

”To, by means of the method of exposure, work with their own self-image and become better equipped to meet others in a positive way. To become more responsive and attentive to events in their own and other people’s lives as well to the outside world. To practise being attentive and to increase in knowledge so that they can penetrate and reveal damaging structures in society. To practise consideration and reflection together.”

”On Gotland, they dance old forms of Swed-ish folk dances, something which also occurs in Norway. In 2008, Norra Gotlands Folkdanslag (Northern Gotland Folk dancers) received visits from friends in Norway, and in 2009 it was the islanders turn to go to Norway. Through the ex-change, they learn new variations of old danc-es. Via dance exhibitions at bazaars and in the town square they spread the joy of dancing and portray the dance as a source of joy, exercise and culture.”

”A mutual increase of knowledge about other parts of the world. Get gender and democracy issues on the agenda; focus away from charity to a mutual and societal change process.”

”‘Rajarock gathers young rock musicians be-tween 14 and 18 years of age from the Barents Region. They participate in workshops and in concerts with all the participating bands. Bands receive good instruction and a lot of exchange, plus contacts from other Nordic countries. The aim is also to provide drug-free activities for young people.”

What is distinct about these statements of pur-pose is that they do not stop at either party learn-

ing something from someone else. Instead, they underline how a political vision or a specific cultural expression can generate learning proc-esses that are reciprocal in nature. However, it is not entirely clear that the parties are projected as equal just because the statements of purpose relate to exchange. In some statements of purpose it is considered that individuals from both partnering countries need to learn different things:

”Give the South African participants education with a focus on folkbildning, leadership, politi-cal leadership, democracy, outdoor education and multicultural issues. To give the Swedish students (at-risk youth, general programme) knowledge of global issues and understanding of international collaboration, practical experi-ence of democracy-building and leadership in a nation with a short democratic history, the op-portunity to study and experience the methods of conflict resolution.”

According to this description, the South African participants need to learn one thing and the Swed-ish something quite different. In South Africa, they need to learn how to lead others, to be a good democrat and to live side by side, bridging the dif-ferent ”cultures”. The Swedish participants can, however, concentrate on observing living condi-tions. In this case, they also have the chance to ”study and experience the methods of conflict res-olution” as this is considered a key aspect of South African democracy-building.

Analyzing folk high school thematic images is not just a question of who is considered to learn things and who is considered to teach things. It may well be interesting to analyze transnational folkbildning work on the basis of the content that is considered suitable for different participants. There is a risk that the direction of this learning work is coloured by the status, position and stand-ing of those involved.40

40 Critical studies of folkbildning’s transnational work expe-rience, from a post-colonial perspective, have been covered by, inter alia, Berg (2007) and Dahlstedt & Nordvall (2009).


4.3 Geography: What do folkbildning actors’ transnational networks look like?

Folk high schools and study associations in different countries

By defining transnational activities as activities in-volving the exchange between Swedish folkbildning organizations and at least one party (organization or person) in another country, the working defini-tion in this study is broad and covers a wide range of activities. This is important to bear in mind when looking at the overall statistics and the maps presented in the preceding two chapters.

With this broad definition of ”transnational work” the folk high school’s and study associa-tion’s international network of contacts is spread over large parts of the world, with a clear concen-tration in Europe and Scandinavia:

Diagram_4.3.1_Folk_high_school’s_(brown)_and_Study_association’s_(yelloworange)_transnational_cooperation_countries_throughout_the_world._

As shown in Diagram 4.3.1, folkbildning’s transna-tional activities are relatively well distributed across the world map, except for Oceania and some parts of South East Asia, the Middle East and North Af-rica. Both study associations and folk high schools have their greatest concentration of connections in the neighbouring Nordic countries and Europe.

That the exchange is concentrated in the Nordic countries and Europe is not surprising, especially since the figures above include all forms of courses,

teacher exchanges, projects, conferences, exchang-es, etc. What is more striking is the special, close relationship that seems to exist with actors in Af-rica and the Middle East. On the part of folk high schools, it mostly relates to exchanges with Tanza-nia, and on the part of study associations with Pal-estine/Israel. Study associations also appear to have relatively strong ties to Kenya, Colombia and Bo-livia, while folk high schools gladly cooperate with operators in Russia, Egypt and India.

If we compare between the continents/regions, it seems that folk high schools have slightly more activity in Europe, North America and in Africa than study associations, while study associations are represented more than folk high schools in Latin America. The main difference, however, is that almost twice the proportion of activities re-ported by study associations – 26 per cent com-pared with folk high schools’ 14 per cent – is con-ducted in collaboration with Asian countries.

The geographical location of folk high school participation

Folk high schools have, at least since the 1970s, had regular course activities that included trips to other countries. In this section, statistics will be presented showing where folk high school par-ticipants, mainly through participation in travel-ling courses, study abroad. A comparatively large share of folk high school transnational exchanges take the form of such courses. Folk high school participants’ travel patterns are then compared with corresponding data on student mobility at university level, as well as with the geographical distribution of Swedish development aid.

Diagram 4.3.2 below shows activities where folk high schools reported that outbound travel is a part of the permanent and regular courses. Com-pared with previous maps in this report, all types of short-term projects, teacher travel, conferences and Swedish courses have now been deleted.

The proportion of non-European activities has in-creased relatively (especially in comparison to Eu-


rope) if only the folk high school regular outbound courses are taken into consideration. Folk high school courses are therefore directed more to non-European countries than transnational folkbildning activities in their entirety. If the statistics are made more precise to show which countries are repre-sented most by folk high school participants’ out-bound trips, the following set of nations emerges:

Diagram_4.3.2_Folk_High_School_participants_per_country._Based_on_the_number_of_reported_travellers,_financial_year_2009._

0 5 10 15 20 25

Tanzania

India

Germany

England

Finland

Latvia

South Africa

Brazil

Ecuador

Estonia

France

Holland

Kenya

Poland

Ukraina

USA

Bangladesh

Denmark

Iraq

China

Nicaragua

Palestine

Russia

Uganda

Hungary

Nomber of participants

Diagram 4.3.2 shows that in addition to a relative-ly large number of courses run in collaboration with actors in Tanzania, nine more regular cours-es were destined for the African continent among the reported responses. In Asia, the courses in In-

dia and Bangladesh dominate. Even Latin Ameri-ca is relatively well represented, through activities in Ecuador and Nicaragua.

In the rest of Europe, Germany, Finland, Latvia and England have the most registered travellers. The diversity of the destinations is probably among the different motives that drive folk high school participants out into the world. Courses in Germa-ny, England and France are quite simply a species apart from the courses run in collaboration with, for example, Bangladesh, Iraq or Palestine.

Distributed in participant volumes and percent-ages, the breakdowns by continent/region are as follows:

Table_4.3.3_Folk_high_school_participants_in_different_continents/regions._Estimated_number_and_percentage,_in_2009.41_

Number_of_outgoing_exchange_participants

Part_of_the_world/RegionEstimated number Per cent

Africa 627 38

Latin America (including Central America) 215 13

Other Europe (including Russia) 209 13

England/Germany/France/Spain 206 13

Asia 152 9

The Baltic States 112 7

The Nordic countries 88 5

North America (U.S. & Canada) 32 2

Oceania 0 0

Total 1_641 100_

41 The respondents in this questionnaire had the task of choosing between five response categories: 0, 1–2, 3–9, 10–20 or more than 20. In this calculation, the responses have been aggregated from the following numbers: 1, 6, 15 and 25. The category 0 has been completely excluded. Non-respondents have also been excluded. The figures in this table 4.3.4 have thus been estimated in two stages. First, the survey respondents estimated how many individuals par-ticipated in the reported activity, then the average figure was calculated to form the basis of this presentation. There may be cases where courses have been jointly reported and other cases where several schools have reported the same exchange programme. Naturally, the information has, wher-ever possible, been reviewed in order to eliminate any cases of double reporting. However, some caution is recommended in relation to the presented results.


The results show that most folk high school partic-ipants in the outgoing courses study in Africa or in Europe – making up approximately 38 per cent in each region It is worth noting in this context that countries like the United Kingdom, Germa-ny, France and Spain together, do not attract more than about 13 per cent of the total population. Nei-ther the U.S. or Australia appear to be particularly popular. After Africa and Europe comes Latin America (13 per cent) and Asia (9 per cent).

Comparable examples: Student mobility and aid distribution

The two numerically largest forms of international student exchanges at university level are student exchange, where the universities conclude agree-ments and establish links with each other to facili-tate movement and free movers whereby students organize their own foreign study tours. During the academic year 2009, just over 27, 000 Swedish students were registered as either free movers or exchange students around the world. Their study pattern differed in several respects from the folk high school participants:

Diagram_4.3.4:_University_students_with_student_grants_in_different_continents/regions_in_2009._Number_and_per_cent._Source:_CSN_4

Outgoing_students_Part_of_the_world/Region Number Per cent

England/Germany/France/Spain 9 272 34

Other Europe (including Russia) 4 822 18

North America (U.S. & Canada) 4 857 18

The Nordic countries 3 385 12

Asia 2 357 9

Oceania 2 056 7

Latin America (including Central America) 557 2

Africa 177 1

The Baltic States 125 0

Total 27_608 ≈100_

A large majority of university students choose to study in North America or in one of the EU coun-

tries. Moreover, approximately 40 per cent of all students study in Anglo-Saxon countries, i.e. in the UK, U.S. or Australia. For a more detailed re-port of Swedish student mobility, see Appendix 3.

This means that large numbers of students and folk high school participants conduct their studies in different regions of the world. While very few university students study in Africa (one per cent) and Latin America (two per cent) these two areas were the two highest visited regions of the world for folk high school participants. In the case of Af-rica, both the proportion and number of folk high school participants (38 per cent, 627 participants) was significantly larger and more than university students (1 per cent, 167 students). It also appears to be much more common for folk high school participants to be attracted to the Baltic countries. Conversely, Oceania (Australia) and North Amer-ica (U.S. and Canada) are regions with almost no Swedish folk high school participants, while al-most 25 per cent of university students studying abroad travelled there in 2009. 42

The folk high school transnational courses are thus directed towards other countries to a greater extent than the university’s courses. While uni-versity students primarily visit the northern hemi-sphere, folk high school participants visit both the north and south. Folk high school courses also ap-pear to be distributed more widely over the world than university courses. The folk high school students’ destinations, with the exception of the

42 Two other related exchanges at university level may be worth mentioning in this context. Within the framework of the Minor Field Studies (MFS) each year approximately 500 university students are given the opportunity to write an es-say at a Swedish university, where the topic and materials must be derived from a field visit to other parts of the world. These scholarships include and are paid only for Swedish students in a developing country and are only provided at an advanced level. Linnuaes-Palme is also an exchange pro-gramme for teachers and students within higher education. During the academic year 2007/2008, the programme in-cluded 209 outgoing students from Sweden. In relation to the size, there are many more folk high school participants than university students who travel each year on either of these two types of travel scholarships.


concentration in Tanzania, are not concentrated to any specific country. Although the folk high school travellers in actual numbers amount to no more than about 1,600 they were represented in many different countries. 43

As Sida has proven to be a key financier of the folk high school transnational work, and partici-pants expressed the idealistic motives such as the creation of global justice, one could imagine that the folk high school mobility more closely re-sembles the map of the Swedish development as-sistance than the Swedish student mobility. That seems not to be the case:

Diagram_4.3.5_Sida’s_support_to_nongovernmental_organizations_by_country_(in_SEK_million)._Operational_year_2009.44

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

Moçambique

Tanzania

Afghanistan

Kenya

Palestine

Kongo, dem rep.

Uganda

Sudan

Bangladesh

Ethiopia

Bosnia-Hercegovina

Bolivia

Somalia

Mali

Zimbabwe

Nicaragua

Million SEK

Sida’s support to civil society organizations is mainly directed at countries in sub-Saharan Af-rica. Sida’s primary assistance objective is to com-

43 A more in-depth study of student mobility in higher edu-cation is given in Mikael Börjesson’s thesis Transnationel-la utbildningsstrategier (Transnational education policies) (2005).44 Sida (2010).

bat poverty by promoting the growth of democrat-ic institutions. While the overall objectives seem to resemble the thematic images voiced by the ed-ucators in this survey, we do not see such a large overlap between the countries where folkbildning actors are present and the allocation of Swedish assistance.

The country that tops the list of popular study destinations among the folk high school outreach courses – Tanzania – receives comparatively large assistance grants from Sida. Other countries that are both major recipient countries for Sida funds and popular folk high school study destinations among participants are Kenya, Palestine, Uganda, Ukraine, and Nicaragua. But there are also many countries that receive proper assistance but who do not appeal to some folk high school partici-pants and vice versa.

The geography of folk high school participa-tion seems to summarize a distribution that is nei-ther similar to student mobility and distribution of Swedish development assistance.

4.4 Conclusion: The value of broad global connections

One of the clearest empirical results which the survey transnational public education led to is that the departures of folk high schools are prima-rily to countries with low GDP per capita, whereas university students go to countries with high GDP per capita. Another outcome is that folkbildning participants have partnerships with a myriad of different countries and thus appear to have a very wide-ranging international network of contacts.

The comparison with the university world is in-teresting as their international exchange is strictly concentrated to the former colonial powers. Folk high schools are, relatively speaking, and as an institution, considered, to have a more diverse and geographically extensive network of contacts. That the folkbildning transnational activities in-


clude broad and diverse contacts with the outside world should also lay the foundations for a more thorough and adequate knowledge of the outside world. If people travelling to the same countries learn the same language and acquire the same im-age of the outside world, they are simply more single-minded than when they encounter a greater diversity of cultures, languages and lifestyles.

Institutional networks of this type structure, in many ways, which other cultural experiences are given the chance to perform and become in-corporated into our way of relating to the world. The languages that the future idealists acquire, the intercultural marriages (and divorces) that oc-cur and the extent of the geographical coverage of future friendly relations, are all actually depend-ent on the breadth of these types of transnational networks. The folk high school as an institution thus has the potential to cultivate knowledge and contacts beyond the former colonial powers and strongest economies.

The idealistic spirit of the Swedish folkbildn-ing educators will be expressed in different ways. In this questionnaire, we have witnessed how the educators described the transnational activities either as a kind of mission to help others or as an anthropological quest to understand and familiar-ize themselves with how other people live. Addi-tional thematic images describe more egalitarian forms of exchanges. By thinking about the direc-tion of the cultural initiatives, such as whether the folkbildning actors receive, give or exchange knowledge about the world, we have tried to de-scribe how folkbildning can accommodate a va-riety of different motives and purposes. At least as important as the places where the folkbildning actors interact and the money that pays for their activities is of course the manner in which the ac-tivities are in fact conceived. But this is, as they say, another story.


References

Akselsson Le Douaron (2010)

Berg, Linda (2007) Internacionalistas. Identifika-tion och främlingsskap i svenska solidaritetsar-betares berättelser från Nicaragua (The identi-fication and alienation in the Swedish solidarity worker stories from Nicaragua). H:Ströms.

Bjerkaker, Strula & Summers, Judith (2006) Learning Democratically, National Institute Of Adult Continuing Education.

Börjesson, Mikael (2005) Transnationella utbildn-ingsstrategier vid svenska lärosäten och bland svenska studenter i Paris och New York. (Tran-snational education strategies at the Swedish university and among Swedish students in Paris and New York.) Uppsala University. Uppsala.

Dahlstedt, Magnus & Nordvall, Henrik (2009) ”Folkbildning i (av)koloniseringens skugga (Popular Education in the shadow of (de) colo-nization): Demokrati, nationella mytologier och solidaritetens paradoxer”, Utbildning & Demokrati (Democracy, national mytholo-gies and paradoxes of solidarity”, Education & Democracy). Vol 18. No 3. Theme: ”Vuxnas lärande” (Adult Learning). Örebro.

The Folkbildning Bill (2005) Lära, växa, förändra (Learn, grow, change) 2005/06:192. The Minis-try of Education and Research Stockholm.

The operating report of the Swedish National Council of Adult Education’s 2009 annual re-port (2009)

Korsgaard, Ove (2010) ”Den rene hojskole som ideal. Den orene som praksis.” I Två sidor av samma mynt? Folkbildning och yrkesutbildning vid de nordiska folkhögskolorna. (Two sides of same coin? Folkbildning and vocational train-ing at the Nordic folk high schools.) Lundh Nils-son & Nilsson (red.). Nordic Academic Press.

In 2006, Kerstin Mustel – Kartläggning och ana-lys av folkbildningens internationella kontaktnät (Identification and analysis of folkbildningen’s international contact). The Swedish National Council of Adult Education Stockholm.

Page (2010) Sweden’s development cooperation in numbers.

Sörlin, Sverker (1994) De lärdas republik: Om vetenskapens internationella tendenser. Framti-dens Europa. Liber-Hermonds.

Internet_references_

www.folkhogskola.nu (24-04-2011)

www.geocommons.com (24-04-2011)

www.wordle.net (24-04-2011)


Appendices

Folk high school questionnaire

Operating_across_national_borders_–_transnational_activities

There is a lot of work within folk high schools and study associations that extends beyond the borders of Sweden. With regard to the extent of this activity, its focus and content, it is difficult to say. The purpose of this questionnaire is to review the current situation.

By highlighting the work of folkbildning across borders, we present an important activity that might other-wise be invisible.

In the questionnaire we ask you about the transnational activities you were involved in during 2009. By transnational activities, we mean activities that involve some form of exchange between you and at least one other party (organization or individual) in another Nordic country, Europe or elsewhere in the world.

The exchange can take place in both directions, i.e., it can relate to both activities abroad and activities in Sweden, when parties based in other countries are involved.

In order for the activity to be classed as transnational in this context, it must involve a hands-on collabo-ration with active partners in these countries. It is not enough that the activity deals with other countries (such as language, geography, politics, etc.) or that the participants have previously lived in other countries (e.g., Swedish for immigrants).

1._Did_your_school_ran_transnational_activities_in_2009_(in_accordance_with_the_above_definition)? No (Thank you for your participation. The questionnaire has been completed)

Yes (In the remaining part of the questionnaire you will answer questions about the transnational activities that you completed in 2009, one by one. Twelve questions are asked about each activity.)

Appendix 1. Questionnaire for folk high schools and study associations


2._Activity_1_Enter a title, name or designation for the transnational activity

3._How_should_this_transnational_activity_be_categorized?Choose the answer that is most applicable.

Project

Course

Participant exchange/Guest student

Teacher/Circle leader exchange/Guest teacher

Conference

Study trip/Study visit


Cultural activity/Cultural programme

Other, please specify (e.g., social forum, festivals)

4._Thematic_focusDescribe the activity’s main thematic focus.

the common fundamental values

the challenges of the multicultural society

the demographic challenge

the lifelong learning

driving force behind cultural activities

accessibility and opportunities for persons with disabilities

public health

sustainable development

global justice

Other specialization...

5._What_do_you_want_to_accomplish_with_the_activity?Describe the purpose of this activity.

6._How_long_is_the_period_of_the_activity_in_total? A few occasions in 2009

One year

Several years

Ordinary activities


7._Which_groups_at_your_folk_high_school_participated_in_activities_in_2009?Select the number of persons in each category who participated

0 1–2 3–9 10–20 more than 20

Student at a folk high school

Teacher at a folk high school

Other staff at the folk high school

8._Which_country/countries_do_you_interact_with,_within_the_framework_of_this_activity?

9._What_type_of_organization_have_you_worked_with_in_Sweden_in_connection_with_this_activity? Member organization

Cooperation organization

Other training or educational activities

No cooperation organizations

Other, please specify

10._What_type_of_foreign_organization_have_you_worked_with_in_Sweden_in_connection_with_this_activity? Sister organization

The same principal




11._What_level_of_responsibility_does_your_folk_high_school_have_for_this_activity? Owner, i.e., responsible for the activity and has budgetary responsibility

The collaborating party, i.e., another organization is responsible for the activity and has budgetary responsibility

12._Who_provides_the_main_funding_for_this_activity? State folkbildning grant

Municipal/county council grants

Grants from member organizations

International Programme Office

Nordic Council of Ministers


European Social Fund (ESF)

SIDA/aid organization

Other funding (e.g., collections, student aid etc.)


13._What_other_funding_sources_have_been_used? State folkbildning grant








No other source of funding


14._Did_you_run_any_other_transnational_activities_in_2009? Yes

No

15.Activity_2–10

The_answers_are_saved_when_you_click_OK


Study association questionnaire

Operating_across_national_borders_–_transnational_activities

There is a lot of work within folk high schools and study associations that extends beyond the borders of Sweden. With regard to the extent of this activity, its focus and content, it is difficult to say. The purpose of this questionnaire is to review the current situation.

By highlighting the work of folkbildning across borders, we present an important activity that might other-wise be invisible.

In the questionnaire we ask you about the transnational activities you were involved in during 2009. By transnational activities, we mean activities that involve some form of exchange between you and at least one other party (organization or individual) in another Nordic country, Europe or elsewhere in the world.

The exchange can take place in both directions, i.e., it can relate to both activities abroad and activities in Sweden, when parties based in other countries are involved.

In order for the activity to be classed as transnational in this context, it must involve a hands-on collabo-ration with active partners in these countries. It is not enough that the activity deals with other countries (such as language, geography, politics, etc.) or that the participants have previously lived in other countries (e.g., Swedish for immigrants).

1._Study_association_name_and_unit(Example, ABF Stockholm)

2._Did_you_run_transnational_activities_in_2009_(in_accordance_with_the_above_definition)? No (Thank you for your participation. The questionnaire has been completed)

Yes (In the remaining part of the questionnaire you will answer questions about the transnational activities that you completed in

2009, one by one. Twelve questions are asked about each activity.)

Yes (but the answers were given by another respondent)

3._Activity_1_Enter a title, name or designation for the transnational activity


4._How_should_this_transnational_activity_be_categorized?Choose the answer that is most applicable.

Project

Course


Teacher/Circle leader exchange

Conference

Study trip/Study visit


Cultural activity/Cultural programme

Other, please specify (e.g., social forum, festivals)

5._Thematic_focusDescribe the activity’s main thematic focus.

the common fundamental values

the challenges of the multicultural society

the demographic challenge

the lifelong learning

driving force behind cultural activities

accessibility and opportunities for persons with disabilities

public health

sustainable development

global justice

Other specialization...

6._What_do_you_want_to_accomplish_with_the_activity?Describe the purpose of this activity.

7._How_long_is_the_period_of_the_activity_in_total? A few occasions in 2009

One year

Several years

Ordinary activities


8._Which_groups_at_your_study_association_participated_in_activities_in_2009?Select the number of persons in each category who participated

0 1–2 3–9 10–20 more than 20

Circle participants and other participants

Circle leader

Other employees

9._Which_country/countries_do_you_interact_with,_within_the_framework_of_this_activity?

10._What_type_of_organization_have_you_worked_with_in_Sweden_in_connection_with_this_activity? Member organization

Cooperation organization




11._What_type_of_foreign_organization_have_you_worked_with_in_Sweden_in_connection_with_this_activity? Sister organization

The same principal




12._What_level_of_responsibility_does_your_study_association_have_for_this_activity? Owner, i.e., responsible for the activity and has budgetary responsibility

The collaborating party, i.e., another organization is responsible for the activity and has budgetary responsibility

13._Who_provides_the_main_funding_for_this_activity? State folkbildning grant










14._What_other_funding_sources_have_been_used? State folkbildning grant

Municipal/County council grants






Sida/aid organization

No other source of funding


15._Did_you_run_any_other_transnational_activities_in_2009? Yes

No

16._Activity_2–10_Enter a title, name or designation for the transnational activity

132._Have_you_conducted_more_activities_and_need_more_space_for_the_report?Enter Title, followed by Type of activity

The_answers_are_saved_when_you_click_OK


• Workers’ Educational Association (ABF), has 60 member organizations and also cooperation agreements with 57 organizations. Member or-ganizations are primarily from the labour move-ment and cooperative movement, but there are also many national federations for the various disabilities, as well as many ethnic federations.

• The Study Promotion Association (Sfr), has 19 member organizations, most of them are nature and recreational organizations, as well as large organizations within the youth field. The Study Promotion Association cooperates with sev-eral thousand local associations and networks around the country.

• Adult Education Association (SV) has about 100 member organizations and cooperation organi-zations. The largest are the Centre Party, the Liberal Party of Sweden, the Norden Associa-tion, the Federation of Swedish Farmers, as well as many local heritage societies, folk dancing guilds, genealogy societies and numerous na-tional associations for the disabled etc.

• Studieförbundet Bilda (Bilda) has about 60 member organizations and cooperation or-ganizations. They can be divided into differ-ent groups: Associations and their youth related organizations, the Catholic Church, Orthodox churches and Ecumenical organizations.

• The Educational Association of the sobriety movement (NBV) has 16 member organizations, such as IOGT, KRIS, MHF and a number of temperance societies.

• Sensus has 31 member organizations, among them are humanitarian organizations, the YWCA-YMCA movement, Scouts, self-help and support organizations, and the Swedish Church and related organizations.

• Medborgarskolan (Mbsk) include members such as the Moderate Party, the Confederation of Swedish Conservative and Liberal Student, the Moderate Youth League, Aktiv Ungdom, Aktiva Seniorer and the Royalist Association.

• Ibn Rushd has a number of Muslim member or-ganizations.

• Folkuniversitetet (FU)

Appendix 2. Study association’s member organizations


0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500

Great Britain

USA

Denmark

Australia

Spain

France

Germany

Poland

Italy

Japan

Norway

Hungary

Holland

China

Switzerland

Canada

Rumania

Austria

Finland

Singapore

Chech Rep.

Ireland

Chile

Hong Kong

Number of travellers

Swedish_students_with_study_grants,_number_of_travellers_by_destination_country,_2009._

Appendix 3. Mobility at university level

Folkbildningsrådet

Box 380 74, 100 64 StockholmVisting address: Rosenlundsgatan 50Tel: +46-8-412 48 00, fax: +46-8-21 88 [email protected]

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