Conference Program

In a context marked by democratic backsliding and accelerating socio-ecological crises, Learning Communities (LCs) are increasingly framed as transformative environments that extend learning beyond the boundaries of individual institutions (Agostini 2016). While many LC models are grounded in neighbourhood-based community pacts, we argue that LCs must also be reconceptualized as trans-local democratic infrastructures capable of connecting situated educational practice with broader European civic engagement. Such infrastructures foster student agency and participatory competence through project- and problem-based learning, applied inquiry, and collaborative classroom projects, enabling schools to engage with complex societal challenges while connecting global knowledge to local contexts.

We illustrate this principle through Schools Beyond Regions and Borders (SBRB), a transnational Learning Community linking secondary schools across thirteen European countries with universities, regional authorities, and civil society organizations. Drawing on socio-ecological perspectives and the theory of situated learning (Lave and Wenger 1991), we conceptualize schools as nodes within a multi-level learning ecosystem, where knowledge circulates across institutional and geographical scales and is interpreted in locally meaningful ways. SBRB combines centralized access to expert knowledge with locally contextualized classroom projects, enabling students to engage critically with issues such as gender equality, peacebuilding, hate speech, and environmental sustainability, to name a few. While cross-school collaboration is not systematically prescribed yet, the framework already facilitates conditions for trans-local reflection and dialogue, supporting a distributed learning space that balances common thematic engagement with local autonomy.

In line with Biesta and Lawy’s (2006) notion that democracy is learned through participation rather than transmitted as content, SBRB emphasizes learning processes in which students actively engage with complex issues, interpret them in relation to their local contexts, and apply insights in classroom projects, fostering critical thinking, agency, and participatory competence. Based on observations from student engagement, classroom activities, webinar interactions, and teacher reflections, we discuss emerging patterns shaping trans-local Learning Communities, including the ways global knowledge is locally interpreted, the role of institutional partnerships in sustaining participations, and conditions that enable or limit cross-school collaboration. Building on Wenger-Trayner and Wenger-Trayner’s (2020) work on value creation in social learning spaces, our reflections highlight the importance of durable alliances between schools and higher education institutions, strategically supported by digital infrastructures, in maintaining continuity, reciprocity, and the transformative potential of trans-local LCs.

Overall, SBRB exemplifies how a Learning Community framework can extend the democratic space of schooling beyond local boundaries while preserving contextual sensitivity. The case demonstrates that multilevel learning infrastructures, combining centralized expertise with locally situated pedagogy, offer a replicable model for schools seeking to foster critical agency, collective knowledge, and active engagement with complex societal challenges.