As part of the project Learning Through Space, a series of exchange visits and workshops connected partners from Sweden and Finland in a shared process of methodological development, testing, and implementation. Structured as a preparatory phase for a future Erasmus+ Small-scale Partnership, the collaboration explored how participatory art and public space can function as powerful tools within adult education.

The first workshop, held in Helsinki, focused on the development and initial testing of the Learning Through Space framework. Designed as a pilot within the Opstart phase, it introduced participants to public space as an active pedagogical environment. Through guided urban exploration, observation, and reflection, participants engaged with the city as a layered social and cultural landscape.

The workshop brought together a small but highly diverse international group, enabling an intercultural perspective on urban experience. Participants explored Helsinki through structured tasks that directed their attention to specific spatial and sensory aspects. The reflection process revealed that the character of the city was most strongly understood through contrast—by comparing Finnish urban culture with participants’ own backgrounds.

Learning occurred simultaneously on multiple levels: participants gained insight into the city, developed awareness of others’ perspectives, and reflected on their own relationship to public space. The workshop also confirmed the transferability of PRAHO! project’s core values—mindful observation, attention to everyday details, and non-judgmental sharing—into a Nordic adult education context.

Building directly on this foundation, the second workshop in Stockholm shifted the focus from methodological exploration to real-world implementation. This phase, supported by Kulturfonden för Sverige och Finland, tested the Learning Through Space framework in an active urban environment and expanded its application through participatory artistic intervention.

A central outcome of the Stockholm workshop was the realisation of Public Sentences, the first public installation of STOCKHOLM! project in Sweden. Developed in collaboration with VAAF Studio, the mural introduced open-ended questions in Swedish and English, inviting passersby to respond directly in the public space. This transformed the site into a living platform for dialogue, where learning emerged through both introspection and interaction with others’ perspectives.

Alongside the installation, a facilitated workshop allowed participants to directly experience and reflect on participatory methods in public space, including the use of simple, low-threshold tools such as interactive walls. Additional programme elements, including visits to Subtopia and Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, provided further context for understanding the local cultural and educational ecosystem.

The Stockholm phase validated the methodology in practice, demonstrating how public space can function as an inclusive, accessible, and dialogical learning environment. It highlighted the potential of combining artistic practice with adult education to foster reflection, connection, and civic awareness. 

The project is realised with support from Kulturfonden för Sverige och Finland.