Blog Posts

As part of ECER 2025, AECED colleagues and sister project partners Democrat and Critical Change Lab led workshops and shared multi-cross case analysis strategies in qualitative research. This blog comprises reflections from five members of the AECED team.

The Republic of Croatia declared independence in 1991, with the aspiration to build a state founded on the rule of law, free elections, and the protection of human rights. Since joining the European Union on July 1, 2013, Croatia has strengthened its democratic foundations and embraced the responsibility of continually developing them.
In 2024, a primary school in Zagreb joined the AECED project, an international initiative exploring how aesthetic and embodied learning can foster democratic education. Ten participants – eight teachers, a school psychologist, and a school pedagogue – took part in a participatory action research (PAR) process involving both in-person and online sessions.

In our AECED Project, the German Project Team use the Pattern Language of Commoning (PLC) for supporting democracy-learning in higher education settings. In order to dive deeper into such art-based and embodied creative approaches to democracy-as-becoming, the German Project Team invited students to produce video clips relating to some Pattern Language of Commoning (PLC) cards, choosing the cards they felt drawn to engage with.

When running a project that is focused on enhancing democracy, the inevitable questions that haunt us are: Is our project, or its ways of working, democratic? Am I enhancing democracy on a daily or weekly basis through my work? These questions have led me to ponder the rhythms of democracy.

Democracy is in danger and must be defended. As we see on a global scale, democracy is at risk in parliaments and parties, societies and governments. Anti-democratic and right-wing forces are gaining power, and we are facing and feeling the need to cultivate democracy not only in people’s daily lives but also in our institutions and organisations

Recently, we have seen a remarkable shift towards deep and engaging learning experiences in Education. The incorporation of aesthetic and embodied learning approaches in which the body as well as the participant’s feelings and senses are brought into play has resulted in deeper engagement in online courses.

The AECED project thrives on collaboration, reflection, and the exploration of democracy-as-becoming. Across different contexts and institutions, our partners engage in building transformative educational practices that enhance democracy through aesthetic and embodied learning (AEL). This blog brings together reflections from three of our six partner institutions.

AECED colleague Karine Oganisjana, Riga Technical University, shares her tale of democratic sensibility and transformation inspired by a pomegranate’s journey.

Sharing insights from the AECED project, discussing creative methods and space for exploration, and connecting with the research community at SRHE 2024 .

“Movements” is an innovative dance performance developed by students of Philipps University of Marburg, Germany, under the guidance of Dr. Lea Spahn.

The German team of the AECED project, in cooperation with the German Commons Institute, conducted a practical workshop on the applications of the Pattern Language of Commoning at the beginning of October 2024.

I am working on aesthetic and embodied learning for democracy in the AECED project at Philipps University of Marburg, collaborating with European partners while pursuing a Master’s in Educational Research.

Latvia’s role in the AECED project focuses on integrating arts-based and embodied learning methods, like drama and collage, into civic education and study disciplines to enhance democracy-focused teaching.

By Dr Suzanne Culshaw At the end of June, the UK AECED team had the opportunity to lead a workshop at the Creative Research Methods conference at the University of Hertfordshire (UH). The conference had been designed to be an accessible, central point for creative...

Pauliina Jääskeläinen of University of Lapland/Lapin Yliopisto debriefs us on a recent conference hosted by the Democrat project, AECED's 'sister project' under the Horizon Europe scheme. It was a pleasure to attend such a well-organised conference by our sister...

EN/FI The team at University of Lapland/Lapin Yliopisto explore equality with university teachers through movement and drawing. Project researcher Pauliina Jääskeläinen facilitated a series of embodied methods workshop for the university teachers. The aim of the...

EN/FI The team at University of Lapland/Lapin Yliopisto update us on a recent workshop, which invited university teachers to participate in collective collage. Going through a variety of embodied exercises under the theme of responsiveness, the participating...