PHERECLOS

PHERECLOS stands for “Partnership for Pathways to Higher Education and Science Engagement in Regional Clusters of Open Schooling” and is a project funded by the EU in the Horizon 2020 program with 15 partner organizations from Europe and Latin America. Under the leadership of the Vienna University Children’s Office, PHERECLOS aims to break down institutional barriers between universities and society. With the establishment of “Local Education Clusters”, LECs for short, projects at the interface between formal and non-formal education sectors are initiated and promoted. One of the six LECs is located in Vienna.

The LEC Vienna

In Vienna, there are two networks, the 36 existing or developing Bildungsgrätzl and the KinderuniWien, which carry out projects in the field of innovative education for children and young people with a strong perspective on the aspect of social inclusion. Although both networks pursue similar goals, there is no direct connection or cooperation so far.

The LEC Vienna will connect both networks and promote the establishment of a common, sustainable and structural cooperation between the different actors. The aim is to build a bridge between different educational sectors (from primary to tertiary) as well as non-formal educational institutions. As an alliance for innovative activities in the field of scientific engagement, the LEC Vienna will strengthen holistic, open and lifelong learning for 10,000 children participating in Kinderuni activities and 70,000 children attending school in an “Bildungsgrätzl” every year. The aim of the pilot project is to bring scientific perspectives more strongly into the Grätzl and at the same time to make the perspectives of children and young people at universities visible.

Are you interested and do you want to network with other educational actors? Become a member of the PHERECLOS community and join the group “LEC Vienna”. People from the formal and non-formal education sector discuss current topics and initiate new project ideas.

To register: https://www.phereclos.eu/community/

To give an insight into the projects of the LEC Vienna, we present the cooperation with the Bildungsgrätzl Kaisermühlen and the Bildungsgrätzl Wallenstein 2.0.

Bildungsgrätzl Kaisermühlen: The virus and us!

Together with responsible persons the team developed experiment boxes on the topic “The virus and us”. To give the children a more comprehensive insight into the topic the experiments were divided into three thematic blocks:

• Making the invisible visible
• Protecting and strengthening
• Staying connected

The goal of the boxes is to let the children do their own research and get them excited about science with hands-on experiments.

Among others, the kindergarten of MA10, Wagramer Straße 5, under the direction of Romana Engelbrecht, is actively involved in the Bildungsgrätzl Kaisermühlen. Together with her team and the children, the boxes were tried out and the topic discussed. Marijana Bozic, who is responsible for the project, on the cooperation:

The project the VIRUS and US has taken its course through special small impulses and has led to a special exchange between the University of Vienna and our educational institution. This collaboration has proven to me that the best materials and the best starting position are not always the priority. I have found much more important in this project:

• To have contact persons for other points of view and impulses (UNI),
• to have the feeling of not working alone on something (networking),
• to be part of something big (“Bildungsgrätzl-Kaisermühlen”), where the experience of one can benefit the other.

The cooperation with the University of Vienna has moved my pedagogical work to another dimension. I am very grateful for that.

The children’s artwork created in the project:

Bildungsgrätzl Wallenstein 2.0: Ready for university! The First Generation Program

The First Generation pilot project was launched with the Gymnasium Augarten. 35 young people, who want to be the first in their family to study at an Austrian university, got to know the world of the university better in 5 workshops.

In 2022, the project will be expanded in cooperation with the University of Vienna’s Teaching Affairs and Study Services Department and the Vienna Education Grätzl. All information can be found at www.first-generation.at.