In between times: intermediaries of belonging and democracy

Democracy lives in the spaces between people, between memories, between what we have inherited and what we still hope to build. This workshop, co-created by Volonteurope and QUEST, explores how intermediaries connect us across past, present and futures, drawing on the gendered histories of democracy and the work of decolonising knowledge and education.

We will think of intermediaries as the living bridges that connect generations, disciplines and emotions. Parents, grandparents, teachers, facilitators, storytellers are translators and transmitters of experience. We will move through time. We will start with the past, where memories are passed down through generations and carried through the gestures, voices and silences of those who came before us; we will look at the present, where educators, civil society, communities, families among many others hold space for participation, dialogue and care; and as we look ahead, we will explore how intermediaries carry us forward into the futures. By…