JavaScript is Disabled
Your browser's JavaScript functionality is disabled. It has to be enabled to use this function of ConfTool.
Here you can find information on how to enable JavaScript
If you have any problems, please contact the organisers at ecer2026@eera.eu.

Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 19th Aug 2026, 21:30:16 EET

Daily Overview

Session

00 SES 0.5 WS I: (NW 32) Democratize Now! Aesthetic and embodied learning for democracy-as-becoming.

Time:

Tuesday, 18/Aug/2026:

9:00 - 11:30

Session Chair: Susanne Maria Weber

Location: Sopraano | Tampere Hall | 2 Fl.

150 cap

Tuesday Morning Workshop - no registration required

Presentations

00. Central & EERA Sessions
Research Workshop

Democratize Now! Aesthetic and embodied learning for democracy-as-becoming

Susanne Maria Weber¹, Kardelen Cazgir¹, Susan Meriläinen², Karine Oganisjana³

1: Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany; 2: University of Lapland, Finland; 3: Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia

Presenting Author: Weber, Susanne Maria; Cazgir, Kardelen; Meriläinen, Susan; Oganisjana, Karine

We invite the ECER Community to explore the practice materials developed through the Horizon Europe project AECED – Aesthetic and Embodied Learning for Democracy-as-Becoming (aeced.org). Partners from six European countries have contributed to this project and explored the potential of democracy-as-becoming within institutionalised learning settings. Together, we have explored methods that engage all the senses across different educational settings.
In our Mini-Workshop we intend to introduce the framework, guides and practice companions as resources for learning experience based approaches to democracy -as – becoming.
The material maybe used in courses with HE students for Teacher Training and is suitable for training professionals in further education settings. It may be used in your own practice contexts or consultancy settings or contribute to professional training for democratizing our institutions.
We will offer insights into what works in exploring aesthetic and embodied approaches in any classroom setting, introduce embodied and dance-based approaches used in the AECED project and show the impact of embodied approaches. We may see, what collegues from 6 european countries have been exploring with students, principals and schools. Moreover we may experiment with novel methodologies, such as the Pattern Language of the Commoning Card Deck.
We invite all interested colleagues from all networks to explore the potential of democracy-as-becoming within our institutionalised educational settings.
In order to offer the best fit to your interest, we will provide different parallel session opportunities for different contexts and interests.
We will be happy to respond to any requests and expressions of interest aimed at addressing the urgent need to democratize our educational institutions and to build strong democratic foundations in response to right-wing shifts we observe in many of our European countries.
Please join, bring a friend, and contribute – happy to stay in touch!

Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used
.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings
.
References
• AECED. (2026). Pedagogical Framework.
• AECED. (2026). Practice companion for Adult, Professional, Organisational Learning Guide
• Spahn, L.; Weber, S.M.; Jääskeleinen, P; Mpahanga, K.; Neves, C.; Organisjana, K. (forthcoming).‘Lifting the Roof’ with Democracy-as-Becoming The potential of aesthetic and embodied learning for innovating Governance in Educational Institutions. A Pattern Approach. In: Journal of Awareness based System Change.
• Jääskeläinen, P., Woods, P., & Oganisjana, K. (2025). The importance of the aesthetic-embodied dimension in learning for democracy. https://aeced.org/resources/
• Weber, S. M. (2025). Towards Sustainability and the Common Good: Pattern Language as an Epistemic Strategy for Learning in Commoning Organisations. In W. Leal Filho, J. Newman, A. Lange Salvia, L. Viera Trevisan, & L. Corazza (Eds.), North American and European Perspectives on Sustainability in Higher Education (pp. 101–119). Springer.
• Woods, P. (2024). The four dimensions of holistic democracy. https://aeced.org/resources/
• Woods, P., & Pazur, M. (2025). Democratic sensibility (Position Paper No. 3). https://aeced.org/resources/
• The Pattern Language of Commoning Card Deck: A toolkit of "solutionary patterns" used for reflection and envisioning democracy as a lived experience and the transformation towards it.
• Woods, P. A., & Roberts, A. (2018). Collaborative school leadership: A critical guide. Sage Publications.