EN 
DE 
By Annett Kschieschan
Dresden. Learning through play - that's easy to say, but it's by no means always put into practice. Especially when the focus is not on children or young people, but on adults. But adults often learn more easily when content is presented visually or can be experienced interactively. The Adult Education Center Leipzig and the Wisamar non-profit educational company mbH Leipzig have implemented this with their project "Story Comb" and have now won first place in the competition for the Saxon Innovation Award for Continuing Education received. The declared goal of the Leipzig project: to provide solid instruments for so-called storytelling for adult education. Among other things, this was implemented via an orientation map modeled on the classic board game Sagaland. The message: learning often takes place pictorially and there are different ways to reach the goal.
This also applies - albeit in a narrower context - to the other award winners. The Association Action Civil Courage Pirna has developed a concept for the training of moderators in crisis situations, which may be necessary, for example, in current events or also in various formats of citizen participation. The association "Youth - Work - Education (JAB) contributes to neighborhood networking in Dresden with its very practical educational project. Since 2020, JAB has been cultivating a site on the Messering and reviving areas damaged by the Elbe floods. The harvested fruit and vegetables exclusively benefit people in need. The initiative Awareness wants to make nightlife safer and make organizers and visitors aware of stable and at the same time open event formats.
Keeping pace with change
Four projects that could hardly be more different, and yet have something crucial in common: Confidence in educational concepts that go far beyond the school setting and even the traditional training and study sector. The importance of innovative continuing education concepts became clear at the awarding of the Saxon Innovation Prize in mid-September. "Continuing education is the engine for progress. Whether at work or in our private lives, we need to keep pace with change. Digital developments in particular make lifelong learning indispensable. To do this, people need competent guides. The award honors precisely this work of continuing education providers. They connect people and enable participation. In this way, they contribute to a vital Saxony," says Minister of Education Christian Piwarz. All non-profit institutions based in Saxony, as well as associations and foundations active in continuing education, were eligible to apply. 37 entries were submitted in 2023. The Innovation Award itself was presented for the 22nd time.
A total of 40,000 euros will now benefit the award-winning projects and help them to implement or further develop their projects - playful, social, communal, environmentally oriented or cultural.
