The focus of the semester is on the highly topical subject of "sustainability".
The new semester with around 1,600 courses (online and on-site), lectures and excursions starts on February 22. Registration is now open.
As in many other areas of our lives, course operations, processes and course planning at the Schiller-vhs were shaken up by the coronavirus pandemic last year. Several forced breaks and the adaptation of course organization to the applicable hygiene regulations and protective measures have placed great demands on the staff of the adult education center, the course instructors and participants. In addition, since October 2020, some of the vhs employees have been supporting the Ludwigsburg district health department in the various tasks involved in dealing with the coronavirus crisis. This special staffing situation and the search for suitable course rooms meant that this time the new program will not be published shortly before Christmas as usual, but only in mid-January. Despite all the obstacles and uncertainties, the Schiller-vhs has put together a varied and extensive continuing education program for the spring/summer semester 2021. Even and especially in times of crisis, it is the social task, mission and goal of the adult education center to enable education and social participation for all. District Administrator Dietmar Allgaier: "The Schiller-vhs enables further education under pandemic conditions."
For this reason, the Schiller-vhs has expanded its digital offering even further: The "vhs digital" section includes more than 140 online courses. From IT, language and cooking courses to personal development, education and political discourse, the adult education center offers various digital formats for further education and exchange from home.
In addition to the digitalization of learning, face-to-face courses remain an important part of the vhs offering. In order to enable social learning even in Corona times, to reach all target groups and to convey content that cannot be transformed into digital formats, on-site courses will start again as soon as possible. Of course, the health of participants and teachers is the top priority: events and lessons will take place in much smaller groups and in compliance with social distancing and hygiene rules. Due to the much smaller groups, fee increases are unfortunately unavoidable in some courses.
In addition to the tasks of coping with the pandemic and digitalization, the conscious use of material and social resources is also one of the main challenges of our time. The Schiller-vhs has therefore chosen the topic of "sustainability" as the focus of its new program. A large-scale semester event with several hundred participants is currently not possible due to the coronavirus situation.
However, with around 80 lectures, practical courses, guided tours and visits, the "Sustainability" focus is particularly extensive and diverse. The lectures "I would like to be more sustainable, but...", "City, country, food", "The future of the energy transition", "Hemp - the plant of the future", "Waste and use", "Sustainable shopping", "Plastic in everyday life" and "Urban gardening" provide impulses for resource-conscious behavior and critical consumption. With new knowledge and a broader understanding of interrelationships, participants can critically question their own consumption behavior and establish new habits that contribute to a sustainable lifestyle. Practical skills that can be put into practice immediately can be learned in the "Fruit tree pruning course", "Boiling natural soaps" and "Making your own beeswax cloths", in the "Forest pharmacy in spring" or with "Ideas for garden planning". In the "Chocolate workshop - conscious consumption and fair trade", interested connoisseurs will learn that sustainability and delicious enjoyment are not mutually exclusive, but go hand in hand. Exciting and informative glimpses behind the scenes can be found during guided tours of the AnNa unverpackt store, the Demeter farm, the organic market garden, the organic winegrower, the beekeeper, a sewage treatment plant, the solar village, the Ingersheim wind turbine and numerous nature walks.
The digital program in spring and summer features numerous new online courses. As relaxation methods make an important contribution to health, especially in times of crisis, Laughter Yoga, Anusara Yoga and Qi Gong are now available as online courses. Creativity is not neglected either with online painting courses on various techniques. The new online cooking courses teach healthy eating and cooking fun. The lists of ingredients are provided in advance and then delicious dishes are conjured up step by step from a variety of recipes in your own kitchen, connected via video chat and with expert guidance.
The lecture series "Countries of the Arab-Islamic world" is a new addition to the general education section. The online lectures on Oman, the small Gulf states, Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and the current situation in the Middle East focus on the diversity and complexity of these countries against their cultural and historical background - beyond the well-known trouble spots. The digital seminar series "Divided societies, divided politics?" takes a look at current political events and social developments, from the coronavirus crisis to the USA after the presidential elections, over five themed evenings.
The digital science program "vhs.wissen live" offers the opportunity to follow lectures by top-class experts from science and society online and then discuss with them live in the chat. The topics range from "Quantum technologies" to "Closed stages, empty theaters: What remains of culture after Corona?" to "Peace project Europe?" or "Doping and shadow economy instead of the Olympic idea: How sick is sport?".
In the area of professional development, workshops on Office 365, Word, Excel, Power BI and PowerPoint as well as parts of the Xpert Business learning network take place online. In terms of home office, the course "Designing attractive web meetings" is particularly recommended. Classroom courses in the field of IT as well as commercial training and smartphone seminars can be converted to digital formats if necessary.
For summer 2021, several "Culture and Enjoyment" bike tours are planned on the Route des Grand Crus, to the Rheingau and to the lavender blossom in the Luberon.
In 2021, the Marbach Forum Zeitgeschehen will be dedicated to the topic of "Crisis management in democracy". The kick-off event will take place on March 3. Prof. Peter Bofinger will kick off the lecture series with his lecture "After the corona shock: Germany under pressure to adapt". On March 11 and 12, experts will engage in a lively exchange and discussion with the audience on the topics of "Protests in post-democracy", "Crisis response and sustainable adaptation in a democracy-autocracy comparison", "Conspiracy theories", "Student survey on distance learning", "Risk and resilience" and "Women and role patterns in the crisis".
As with all face-to-face events this semester, the same applies to the Marbach Forum Zeitgeschehen: Despite all careful planning, the almost unpredictable developments in the corona pandemic can lead to changes at short notice. With flexibility, understanding and optimism, it will nevertheless be an exciting, productive and instructive vhs semester that offers a lot of potential for professional and personal development.
Information on all vhs events can be obtained from the Schiller-vhs staff on 07141 144-2666. Registration is now possible: by telephone, online at www.schiller-vhs.de, by email to info@schiller-vhs.de or in writing using the registration card enclosed with the program booklet.
