NordPlus Adult Education sub-programme project
No NPAD-2025/10226
“Empowering Education Professionals for Sustainable Leadership: Awakening the Six
Senses”
From February 10 to 13, 2026, Agnese Lāce, regional coordinator for education at the Kurzeme Planning Region (KPR), and volunteers Ilze Ausekle, representative of the association “Dzintarstrauts”, and Agnese Lejniece, head of the Personality Growth and Development Department of the Education Development and Methodological Support Centre of the Liepaja Education Board – participated in the second partner working visit to Helsinki, Finland, as part of the Nordplus adult education project “Empowering education professionals for sustainable leadership: Awakening the six senses.”, NPAD-2025/10226.
The visit was organized by the Finnish partners of the project – Institute of Adult Education in Helsinki (Helsingin Aikuisopisto).
Exchange of experience and work on the guid
While the first visit to Kaunas focused on building a common understanding of the concept of sustainable leadership and testing environmental activities in practice, in Helsinki the main focus was on improving and structuring the methodological material “Recommendations for sustainable leadership in adult education”.
During two days of intensive work, the participants analyzed the methodological material and discussed what needed to be improved or added so that it would not only be descriptive but also practical for everyday work with various adult target groups. Through face-to-face discussions and working groups, we were able to draw conclusions and develop recommendations for the further development of the methodological material more easily and accurately, specifying recommendations for the development of leadership, cooperation, and reflection skills. Participants paid particular attention to the question of how to integrate a sustainable leadership approach into local communities and how to promote adult learning habits in the long term.
The practical work took place at Helsingin Aikuisopisto, an educational institution for adults, so we not only got to know the real school environment, but our Finnish partners also introduced us to the school premises, teachers, and operating principles, including the organization of adult education for migrants, both for basic education and interest-based education. The stories we heard and what we saw made us think about the differences in how adult education is organized in Finland and Latvia, and in the Baltics in general. It also made us evaluate how realistic such a model of adult education would be in our country and whether we assess immigration issues, adult education, and inclusive and sustainable education issues in a unified context.
And, of course, the Finnish representatives gave all of us participants the opportunity not only to observe, but also to participate in one of the interest-based education classes. At the end of the first day, we learned how to dance salsa. The class was both interesting and difficult, because for one hour we had to take on the role of adult students who had to listen to the teacher, perform practical tasks, and do all of this in time with the music.
An environmental hike as a tool for developing leadership skills
As planned in the project, on the second day of the visit we went on an exploratory nature expedition-hike to Nuuksio National Park (hipersaite ievietošanai: https://www.luontoon.fi/en/destinations/nuuksio-national-park ), which is a natural, typical Finnish landscape, mainly coniferous forest in a hilly and marshy area near Espoo. The park is visited daily by schoolchildren of various ages together with their teachers to learn and acquire the skills they need in accordance with the education program. It is a popular recreation spot for families with children or simply adults who want to enjoy the power of nature – its beauty, tranquility, and authenticity. The park’s operating concept is similar to that of the LVM Tērvete Nature Park in Latvia. The park team ensures the operation of the education center – cognitive and educational activities for children and young people indoors and outdoors, nature exhibitions, team-building and development programs for companies and teams, photo exhibitions in nature, practical master classes on cooking in nature, for example, in a huge yurt, and many other activities, as well as the actual maintenance and upkeep of the park in accordance with the laws of nature in a gentle, nature-friendly and sustainable manner.
We, the participants of the project’s mobility visit, also completed tasks to train our senses, analyzed our personal feelings and reactions, discussed self-directed learning in the “classroom” of nature for adult education leaders, and discussed the impact of empathy and cooperation on learners.
This experience reinforced our understanding of learning in nature as an effective tool in adult education, especially for developing leadership and sustainable thinking. Participants gained practical ideas on how to adapt outdoor education methods to work with different target groups, including seniors.
The second working visit to Helsinki marked the transition from conceptual research to the development of structured results, strengthening international cooperation and a practical approach to the development of sustainable leadership in adult education.
We will meet again for the third working visit of the project in May, which will take place on the Kurzeme coast, to experience different sensations in a different environment than before, through practical work, research, and analysis.
Follow the progress and results of the project on the Kurzeme Planning Region website.
Project Manager
Agnese Lāce
Regional Education Coordinator
Tel.: +371 28381229
E-mail: agnese.lace@kurzemesregions.lv
