Human Learning Systems: Public Service for the Real World

In association with Dr Toby Lowe and the wider Human Learning Systems Collaborative, we have come together to write and launch a new e-book Human Learning Systems: Public Service for the Real World, a resource and guide for organisations or teams working in public service who feel they want to change the current way they’re working. Human Learning Systems offers an alternative approach to funding, leading and managing all forms of social intervention and public service and features nearly 50 case studies from across the world.

If you design, deliver or work with people and are dissatisfied with the current processes and ways of working, HLS offers an alternative approach to public management based on being human, continuously learning and nurturing healthy systems. It fits really well with social pedagogy and, as the case studies by Empowerment and Lighthouse show, HLS can create the organisational conditions for social pedagogical practice to thrive.

Ahead of the e-book launch, you can sign up to join us for an exclusive webinar on the 17th June. At the webinar, you will hear from practitioners on how they have been using the Human Learning Systems approach to transform the way in which they work. Click here to register.

‘Creating Hope in Dystopia’ is the conference for you if you are concerned or even overwhelmed by the increasing social inequalities and divisions we’re all confronted with in day-to-day practice. How can we create hope, not just for the people who are most affected by these challenges, but also for ourselves? And how can we face these seemingly insurmountable issues with a sense of resilience, hopefulness and energy, clearer insights into the complex conditions, and inspirational ideas of how we can contribute to positive change? To help us explore meaningful answers to these questions, we’re bringing together an excellent line-up of keynote presenters:

• Towards a Planetary Social Pedagogy: Arto Salonen (Professor for Social Pedagogy, University of Eastern Finland) on extending our perspective to encompass the ecosystem that we’re part of (see details).
• Social Pedagogy and Social Education: Karla Villaseñor (Autonomous University of Puebla) on what we can learn from the current situation in Mexico.
• Play in an Anxious World: Carrie Lobman (Rutgers University) on the role of creativity and playfulness in thriving amidst uncertainty (see details).
• Rehumanising Public Service through Human Learning Systems: Toby Lowe (Centre for Public Impact) on the paradigm shift away from New Public Management to create space for social pedagogy (see details).
• Working with Complexity and Gut Instinct: Lotte Harbo and Charlotte Vange Løvstad (VIA University College Aarhus) on the role of intuition and evidence-based manuals (see details).

Add to that a broad range of interactive workshops, roundtable conversations and presentation sessions, as well as lots of interaction and networking opportunities, and you’ll find yourself in highly stimulating surroundings!

If you know us, you’ll be aware that we want to make a genuine positive difference in the world – we’re a social enterprise for a reason. That’s why many of our learning resources are free and why we try hard to keep any charges for longer learning events as low as we can. As a member of the SPDN, you get $25 off the full conference fee. And until the end of May, you can still receive the early bird rate of just $110 for the full 3-day programme (including all recordings). Best of all, if your organisation won’t be funding your conference fee, you only pay the $65 self-funder rate (that’s just over £45). So there’s every reason to join us!