Grundtvig Globally: Does the Folk High School Have a Universal Core?

Grundtvig Globally: Does the Folk High School Have a Universal Core?

The Global Network for Folk High School Research invites you to a symposium and book launch at the historic Vartov in Copenhagen.

The idea of the folk high school was formulated in Denmark by N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) as a project to strengthen national consciousness among the Danish people. Since then, the folk high school tradition has evolved and spread across the Nordic countries, Europe, and large parts of the world.

At this symposium, researchers and practitioners will explore how the folk high school idea is interpreted and implemented in different regions, how it functions as a driver of civic engagement, and whether there is an emerging need for a global civic epistemology.

A ticket includes a book and a drink. Purchase HERE.

For free online participation, please use the following link: https://www.usn.no/english/for-partners/global-network-for-folk-high-school-research/calendar/book-launch-and-symposium-at-vartov-15th-of-january-2026?instance=0

Program (the program is preliminary and will be updated continuously):

Is the folk high school global? (14.00-15.15 CET)

• Welcome and song
• Outlining an epistemology for international civic education (Johan Lövgren (NO)/Dawn Murphy (USA))
• Freire, Tagore and Grundtvig – a connection transgressing time and place (Asoke Bhattacharya (INDIA))
• Thinking Folk – an international comparison (Garry Nicholson (UK))
• A Japanese perspective of the International Folk High School (Trine Pilegaard Villemoes (DK/JAP))
• The Danish Folk High Schools’ Global Journey 1925-2025 (Sara Skovborg Mortensen (DK))

Short break (15.15-15.30 CET)

People’s Future Lab – a global partnership project (15.30-16.45 CET)

• A song
• Peoples Future Lab – What was the purpose?
• Global Folk High School Community – between global change and Bildung-practice (Lars Heidtmann (DK))
• Towards a pedagogy for global sustainable transitions (Melanie Lenehan (UK))
• Troubling sustainable development in nonformal education, (Line Bilberg/Maria Jensen (DK).

Short break (16.45-17.00 CET)

Responses: The Folk High School is global – what does it matter? (17.00-17.30 CET)

Moderator: Ingrid Ank, head of the Grundtvig Academy, the Grundtvig Association

• Jonas Møller (DK), Head of the folk high school pedagogical training.
• Kirsten M. Andersen (DK), Chair of the Grundtvig Association.
• Anders Holm (DK), Associate professor at the Faculty of Theology, Copenhagen University.
• Jens Wendel-Hansen (DK), senior researcher at Center for Grundtvig Studies, Aarhus University.

17.30-18.30 CET possibility of conversation and a drink.

Background

From 2020 to 2023, researchers and practitioners collaborated in the People’s Future Lab — an action research initiative built around ten partnerships between Danish folk high schools and international organizations connected to the folk high school movement. The international partners represented countries such as Tanzania, India, Japan, England, the United States, Mexico, the Faroe Islands, Palestine, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

The project aimed to strengthen pedagogical practice, deepen global connections, and — through the participants’ engagement — invigorate the folk high schools’ role in the sustainable transformation of societies and was initiated by the Danish folk high school Association (FFD).

The anthology Perspectives on the Global Folk High School Movement and People’s Future Lab has been initiated and edited by the Global Network for Folk High School Research (GNFR). The publication–which will be launched at the symposium–seeks to advance understanding of the identity, diversity, and contemporary practice of the global folk high school movement.
More information about GNFR and the anthology is available here.