Workshops D
Workshop abstract
Authors and their institutions:
Professor Gunnar Berg, Mid Sweden University, 87188 Härnosand, Sweden
Mr Kamran Namdar, Mälardalen University, Box 325, 63105 Eskilstuna, Sweden
Mr Tommy Nilsson, Sundsvall municipality, 85185 Sundsvall, Sweden
Mr Roger Sträng, Karlstad University, 65188 Karlstad, Sweden
Title: From school development to urban community development
From school development to urban community development
The central issue raised by this workshop is that while schools are usually conceptualized as sites for replication of the societal structures within which schools are embedded, it is also possible for the school, as a learning organization, to spearhead developmental learning processes in the surrounding community. The workshop will be based on a case study from Sweden, where a three-year project, involving all the major societal agencies and the inhabitants of a socio-economically marginalized and culturally diverse urban district, was inspired by, and subsequently modeled on, a successful concept of school development. The model of school development referred to is one authored by Professor Gunnar Berg, and represents a democratic, bottom-up approach to organizational or societal development. The workshop will present the main features of Professor Berg’s school development model and the ways in which it was applied in a project of urban community development, highlighting the advantages gained by this approach.