A chess club, sociolinguistc workshops, an amateur football team, German class in an association, Volunteering, debates club, playing in a band, Orientation races... What do they have in common? That's the question Denis Poizat, a French Ph.D of Lyon University asked.
Down you can see a cloud of words designed with the answer provided by the Parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe.
http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/X2H-Xref-ViewHTML.asp?FileID=8807&lang=en
Let's try to answer it in a non-formal way.
All those activities have several things in common. They are created and directed by the civil society. They can be considered as alternative methods to educationnal system to provide new skills to their members. This system is based on free will. This is the key of non-formal education because the motivation of the learner is based on the fact that he choses himself his hobbie according to his passions, wants and needs.
In Europe, NFE is also a way to promote intercultural communication on the territory. Through EVS, youngsters from all Europe meet each others and learn about a lot about cultures. They also bring their own culture to their new workplace where a mutual exchange take place between the volunteer and his hosts. All those exchanges are very important in a perspective of a peacefull future for our continent. If hatred comes from ignorance, learning about other difference and tolerance is a barrier against it, provided by civile society.
Non-formal education and non-formal learning in Europe are all about mutual benefits. Learners are earning new skills that school don't provide. Teachers or facilitators improve their methods and learn a lot by teaching. Even more, all Europe can benefit of those exchanges which enables european youngster to understand eachother better.
