BACKGROUND
The Xploit project builds on a double background.
On one hand, the European Commission are changing the focus of the Calls and the priorities these years. After many years with innovation projects, they are now more focused on putting the best projects and results into practice, that is to disseminate and exploit the projects – in other sectors, in other countries , in different contexts.
This is clear in all the sub-programmes, but the Transversal Action 4 has been set up precisely support on these strategies: to mainstream identified projects. As a consequence this Action requires linking the projects and the practices to the decision-making level, ensuring the sustainable implementation of the identified projects.
But there is more. The focus is not just on the individual project and it’s exploitation or mainstreaming, but on the learning community context. The strategy is to identify several projects, pool these projects, link them together and exploit them to build learning communities with strong political involvment.
On the other hand, the City Learning Net has worked towards the involvment of local or regional decision-maker levels for quite some time. The network has been involved in many strong projects and is still promoting and carrying out new ones. And is expected to go on doing so, also if the Xploit project is granted.
Many CLN related projects have strong community learning potentials and many partners in the network have for a long time systematicly approached local or regional authorities. Some of the partners have been very succesfull with these approaches.
Therefore the timing is perfect: to link together the new strategical focuses in the Commission and the development of the City Learning Net projects and political approaches.
