40 representatives of workers’ organisations from Germany, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland and Romania met in Herzogenrath (Germany) from 11-13 February 2026 for a course on “Impact-oriented adult education on European social dialogue in the digital age”.
The course was funded by the European Union and organised by Nell-Breuning-Haus (NBH) in collaboration with EZA and speaker Ilona Arcaro from the Akademie für wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung an der Technischen Hochschule Köln (Academy for Scientific Continuing Education at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences), provided numerous new proposals for the contemporary design of European educational events on social dialogue.
The objective, among others, was to design the event planning for a conference, workshop or seminar in a way that produced results. A general definition of effect logic (understanding and defining effect) was first set out, and the three phases of an event were then presented. These three phases were then conceived in our own planning and the selection of targeted methods was explained.
Another part focused on the production and use of digital learning tools, which are becoming increasingly important, particularly in European educational programmes. The areas in which the videos could be used were defined and tools were presented that were helpful for creating the videos and an exercise section enabled participants to gain some initial practical experience.
Another key focus was the discussion on "Measuring impact – indicators and methods of data collection". Following some input from a relevant expert, various scenarios for educational planning were created and discussed in a planning workshop.
The exercise focussed on the topics that actually concern participants in their work of representing workers’ interests in their respective countries. The discussions covered a wide range of topics, including digitalization/AI and its impact on the labour market, intergenerational fairness, sustainability and the Green Deal versus job security. Fascinating themes that have now been assessed and finalised.
In general, theoretical and practical parts were combined to enable the participants to use the knowledge they obtained to make specific changes to future educational events on social dialogue that are more impact-oriented.