IO1.A: The SAFE Learning GuideHow to create and maintain a safe space for adult learning

The goal of this guide is to support adult educators, trainers, organisers and other adult education providers in how to create and maintain safe spaces for learning.

The concept of safe space is broad and complex and can relate to different aspects of educational practice, whether it is connected to the physical aspect of the space, online setting, or the role of the trainers, organisers and/or learners in creating the safe learning atmosphere.

Within this complex framework, the project has come to an understanding of how the ideas around safe spaces for learning should be framed not through static notions of “safe” and “unsafe” but rather through relational work between all the agents in the learning process, as well as through constant work of cultivating them.

The SAFE Project consortium within its activities with diverse groups of learners collected examples of how the safe learning environment promotes education for difference and welcomes inclusive spaces for different backgrounds (sexual orientation, cultural or religious).

–> The topic of safe space for us is connected to all learning environments, including:

–> Formal educational spaces (schools, universities…) Informal (public spaces, open communities…)

–> Non-formal (nonformal organisations, associations, and community intervention projects…)