Developing Learning Capabilities through the EUKN platform: methodological perspectives

The Portuguese NFP promoted an applied study on the advantages of using the EUKN e-library to support knowledge and competence building in practice. Carried out under a contract with the Territorial Studies Centre (CET) of the Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa (ISCTE), in Lisbon, and inspired by ‘communities of practice’ learning methodology, the study had as subjects of the experiment a Portuguese municipal spatial planning department and a group of post-graduate students from a Portuguese university. The aim of this work was to explore a process for supporting the use of content on the EUKN platform with a view to creating some methodological guidelines for helping people to use that content.

The document entitled  ‘Developing Learning Capabilities through the EUKN Platform’, discusses the outputs of this pilot-study and aims to contribute to  a critical approach to the use of information and communication technologies in urban development planning.

The aim of the document is also to explore how Web2.0 tools accessible through Open Source could potentially support Communities of Practice (CoPs) engaged in the domain of improving urban areas in crisis. Communities of Practice are self-organized groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn together how to do it better. New online tools can be used strategically to support the activities of these groups and for facilitating the interaction of its members.

This document can be seen as a contribution to identify concrete possibilities of producing knowledge and skills starting from the content of EUKN platform. It can be understood as a “living document” having an exploratory role and opening the debate around issues considered to be relevant by the Portuguese EUKN National Focal Point.