Közélet Iskolája

Közélet Iskolája (abbreviated KIA) is a Hungarian civil-society community education and research center, described as a community school for adults working against oppression and for genuine democracy. Its mission is to help citizens who want to act organize into movements and effectively stand up for their interests, so that everyone can participate in public life and in the decisions that affect them regardless of social status. The organization is based at the Auróra community house in Budapest's District VIII, where its office has been located since its founding in 2014 and where most of its trainings take place. The school's methodology is built on critical pedagogy, aiming to unsettle taken-for-granted social and power relations so that people can recognize systemic social injustices and their own position within them, and then begin to shape public life and assert their own interests. Its core activities fall into four main areas: civic and political education for adults; books and a knowledge repository; participatory action research; and strategic planning for civil organizations. It offers free and open programs on social inequality and civil rights for disadvantaged people, interactive trainings and professional materials on advocacy, group building, activism, critical pedagogy and communication for those already organizing, and film clubs, conversations, a knowledge repository and interview volumes for the general public. Közélet Iskolája publishes and edits volumes and articles on advocacy, critical pedagogy, participatory research and group organizing, and produces interview volumes amplifying activists' experiences. Its free public affairs paper Feketemosó appeared monthly between 2015 and 2017; the interview volume Velünk beszélj, ne rólunk! appeared in 2016 and Anya kiáll és beszél in 2017. Its book The Liberating Power of Research presents the theory and practice of participatory action research, and its self-developed board game Szerveződj! teaches advocacy and campaign organizing. It also offers free downloadable resources including a social inequalities reader, a Választás mindenkié! guide to grassroots election campaigns, and an online moderation handbook. In participatory action research, the school provides professional consulting, lectures and trainings, and conducts its own research projects such as Tettek ideje, Önállóan lakni and the Küzdelmeink története participatory action research group. Through strategic planning it supports existing civil organizations to represent excluded groups effectively, aiming for movements and organizations in Hungary that operate democratically, build on a mass base and have a clear vision. The organization has received Ashoka membership, an international recognition for social entrepreneurs.

Közélet Iskolája was founded in 2014. Its founders met through the work of the A Város Mindenkié (The City Is for Everyone) group. The idea of creating the school took shape under the influence of the training experiences of the AVM Akadémia, because they wanted to teach the methods of advocacy and activism beyond the framework of the A Város Mindenkié group as well. Since its founding, the school's office has been located in the Auróra community house in Budapest's District VIII, and most of its trainings also take place there. The school's methodology is built on critical pedagogy. The goal of this critical pedagogy is to unsettle taken-for-granted social and power relations. The aim is that, through the tools of education, people can recognize systemic social injustices and their own position within them. Through this recognition, the path leads to beginning to shape public life and to assert their own interests: ultimately, to transform oppressive power relations. Over the years the organization developed four main activities. In civic and political education it organizes free trainings and programs for adults so that as many people as possible can participate actively as full citizens in public processes affecting social affairs. Several introductory programs address social inequalities, while many trainings cover conscious advocacy, knowledge and assertion of civil rights, activism, campaign organizing and their broad communication. Because the school believes change is achieved by a well-functioning group, it emphasizes developing the internal operation of organizations, movements and teams organized around good causes such as human rights and collective interest representation. In its books and knowledge repository, it writes and edits volumes and articles related to advocacy, critical pedagogy, participatory research and group organizing. Its interview volumes amplify activists' experiences so that more people can learn from these stories. It also edits its own readers, guides and teaching aids on the organization's key topics, with the primary consideration that the resulting texts be easily understandable to everyone regardless of education. The free public affairs paper Feketemosó appeared monthly between 2015 and 2017. The interview volume Velünk beszélj, ne rólunk! was published in 2016, and Anya kiáll és beszél in 2017. The book The Liberating Power of Research presents the theory and practice of participatory action research. The school's self-developed Szerveződj! board game teaches advocacy and campaign organizing in a playful way. The social inequalities reader and the Választás mindenkié! guide to grassroots election campaigns, as well as the online moderation handbook Hogyan beszélgessünk az online térben?, are freely downloadable. In participatory action research (abbreviated RAK), research is a tool of social change. The Indian-American anthropologist Arjun Appadurai developed the idea of the "right to research," whose essence is that everyone, regardless of social status, has the right to ask questions, conduct research and produce knowledge. Participatory action research is one way of asserting the right to research, in which people affected by a topic or problem examine the reality around them in order to understand and then change it. Közélet Iskolája provides professional consulting in participatory research and holds lectures and trainings on the topic. It also conducts its own research: Tettek ideje and Önállóan lakni, as well as the Küzdelmeink története participatory action research group, are excellent examples. In strategic planning, Közélet Iskolája wants to be not only a catalyst for new movements but also to support the work of already operating civil organizations so that they can effectively represent the interests of excluded groups. The goal of Közélet Iskolája is that in Hungary movements and organizations representing citizens' interests operate democratically, build on a mass base and have a clear vision of their goals. It regularly helps numerous organizations develop this strategic operation. The organization has received Ashoka membership. Ashoka is the world's largest international civil organization connecting social entrepreneurs, present in more than 80 countries with more than three thousand Ashoka members worldwide. After a complex, multi-stage international selection process, the organization selects new members whose activity demonstrably and long-term serves the good of society.

• 2017

  The interview volume Anya kiáll és beszél is published; Feketemosó ceases monthly publication.

• 2016

  The interview volume Velünk beszélj, ne rólunk! is published.

• 2015

  The free public affairs paper Feketemosó begins monthly publication (continuing through 2017).

• 2014

  Közélet Iskolája is founded; its office is established at the Auróra community house in Budapest's District VIII.

• The organization receives Ashoka membership.

A community school and research center for adults that uses critical pedagogy to help citizens organize into movements and stand up for their interests, aiming for a world where everyone can participate in public life regardless of social status.

• Feketemosó

  Free public affairs paper published monthly between 2015 and 2017.

• Velünk beszélj, ne rólunk!

  Interview volume published in 2016.

• Anya kiáll és beszél

  Interview volume published in 2017.

• The Liberating Power of Research

  Book presenting the theory and practice of participatory action research.

• Szerveződj!

  Self-developed board game teaching advocacy and campaign organizing in a playful way.

• Társadalmi egyenlőtlenségek szöveggyűjtemény

  Freely downloadable reader on social inequalities.

• Választás mindenkié!

  Freely downloadable guide to grassroots election campaigns.

• Hogyan beszélgessünk az online térben?

  Online moderation handbook.

• Tettek ideje

  Participatory action research project.

• Önállóan lakni

  Participatory action research project.

• Küzdelmeink története

  Participatory action research group.

1. 1Főoldal - Közélet Iskolájakozeletiskolaja.hu
2. 2Közélet Iskolája - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Közélet Iskolája - Wikipedia (Hungarian)hu.wikipedia.org