The national opening of LLW was impressive
Together with partners and the support of local communities, Lendava AEC opened this year’s LLW on 3 September. The rich cultural programme reflected multiculturalism, multilingualism, multigenerationality etc. – values we have defended and enforced with LLW for 26 years. Speeches by high representatives from the field of work and the host, Janez Magyar, Mayor of Lendava, distinguished the national opening of LLW 2021.
The winners of the awards for exemplary learners from Pomurje – Urška Fartelj from Murska Sobota, Ferenc Horváth from Lendava, Cilka Jakelj from Ljutomer, Anna Car from Dobrovnik and Laura Kovač from Lendava – received the most attention. They were presented with eloquent and artistically designed video portraits, and we also had the opportunity to meet them in person. We got to know their life paths and attitudes, which led them to constantly surpass themselves and encourage others to strive for a better quality of life. We were also impressed by Štefan Kardoš, a Slovenian poet, writer, editor, teacher and the winner of the Kresnik Award for the best Slovenian novel in 2008. He spoke about his life from 1966 to the present day and reminded us of changed life circumstances that bring a great danger of alienation from oneself and others. He advocated progress, which must be rooted in deep awareness and realisation of real values, among which, he believes, is also lifelong learning.
The event took place in the Theater and Concert Hall of the beautiful Lendava Cultural Centre. The entire event was broadcast live, we recorded it, and it is available at https://tvu.acs.si/sl/odprtje2021 (in Slovenian). The organisers also delighted us with a rich accompanying programme. They led us around Lendava, acquainted us with its bourgeois and Jewish past, and we climbed the Vinarium tower and laughed at the host of the Cuk Wine House. At the opening of LLW in Lendava, the renewed exhibition LLW – Festival of Learning, which we prepared at SIAE based on the findings and materials of the twenty-five years of our festival of learning, also had its premiere.
These will be ‘children from Zoom station’… – impressions from a local LLW event
This is how in a humorous and meaningful way, Uroš Kuzman, a young mathematician, musician and stand-up comedian from Velenje, named the generation of children who were/will be conceived in the covid period. His dynamic performance, which completely exhausted our laughing muscles, was a real attraction of Laughucation – the main event of LLW under the auspices of Koper AEC. The latter presented its educational and guidance activities in the Taverna Koper, directly next to the old port of Koper. Other local adult education providers, including the well-known Anbot association, also invited and involved participants in various activities. The performances of Andrej Bučar – Drill, a 24-year-old rapper who has been performing since he was 11 years old, also attracted the attention of the participants. His lyrics are especially meaningful and encouraging. He kept reminding the audience that it is never too late for the positive changes that can be achieved through learning.
On the day of the event, it was a very warm autumn day. Aloud and silently, we wondered how to attract participants in large numbers. The idea to connect learning to laughter, fun, joy, comedy and rap is excellent but is still not the decisive factor. I believe LLW organisers can only get halfway to people or perhaps a little further, but the desire to participate must ultimately arise in them. It cannot be forced. But we will not give up; next year, new ideas on how to bring the culture of lifelong learning closer to even more people will undoubtedly be born.
This is a confession of this year’s Ambassador of Lifelong Learning at the Koroška region, Andrej Logar. He served as an ambassador and had many other functions around the world. In Slovenia, he participated in the efforts for an independent Slovenia and the later first Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU. The flattering title was awarded to a graduate psychologist by Ravne na Koroškem AEC and the Municipality of Ravne na Koroškem.
After seven decades of life and 45 years of professional work, Logar is not sentimental, nor does he waste much time on words. An interview with him, which Janja Širnik skilfully led at the main regional LLW event, revealed bits of his rich life path. The latter led him back to Kotlje. I wondered how he feels now that his life has slowed down, gained new content but lost the excitement of dealing with the unknown, global challenges. I guess I identified with him a little bit and concluded that for everyone comes the time when it is necessary to learn to live differently, third age-appropriate. When we are no longer riding the turbulent waves of intense business events, but should instead recognise the new paths based on the acquired wisdom and continue to move along them with as much flexibility in our minds and bodies as possible. Logar concluded that lifelong learning is a kind of recreation for him, something he does for himself and his health. He values his newfound function of ambassador mainly because the local community granted it. It is these environments that, in his opinion, bear the most significant responsibility for the world to maintain its global beauty and wholeness.
This event of Ravne na Koroškem AEC, held on 14 September in the castle garden of the Koroška Central Library Dr France Sušnik, was one of 160 events being organised this year by more than 60 of its partners of the Koroška region. Each of them and all together recreated the symbolic meadow of daisies – an artistic background prepared for this event by the students of the Prežihov Voranc Elementary School under the guidance of mentor Alijana Tertinek. They centred around the slogan Learning always finds a way.
Health-promoting bridges – for cyclists and pedestrians
With great interest, I attended the professional event of the Learning Parade, organised by Slovenska Bistrica AEC, on 16 September. On this occasion, they also honoured their four secondary vocational graduates.
The lecturer was Viktor Markelj, a Slovenian civil engineer, entrepreneur and lecturer and one of this year’s three Ambassadors of Learning in Slovenska Bistrica. His most famous works include the bridge on Ada (Belgrade, Serbia, 2012), the Puh bridge (Ptuj, Slovenia, 2007) and the drawbridge for pedestrians and cyclists on the Island of Ołowianka (Gdansk, Poland, 2017). On this occasion, he also talked about his more minor challenges – bridges for pedestrians and cyclists. His challenge was to identify innovative methods in building bridges, which was also the topic of his doctorate dissertation.
Undoubtedly, he was constantly accompanied by learning in his nearly four-decade-long career. “Physical laws remain the same,” he admitted, “but their implementation in the construction of bridges in a variety of circumstances remains an indomitable challenge.” He also urges his students to be flexible. They see in him an example and proof that even a person from the Slovenian local environment can achieve great success on an international scale. For more information, visit our LLW social networks: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, where many highlights are posted using hashtags #TVU2021 and #Paradaučenja2021.
Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik, MSc (zvonka.pangerc@acs.si), SIAE
