The UNESCO Chair Lifelong Guidance and Counselling University of Wrocław warmly invites you to participate in the next edition of the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) entitled Life Design for Hope: The Laboratory of Core Educational and Counselling Competencies in the Anthropocene.

The aim of the project is to develop and enhance key competencies needed in the Anthropocene era among students preparing for roles such as career counsellors, personal and professional development trainers, educators supporting life and career decision-making and labour market entry; doctoral researchers conducting studies in this area; as well as university staff committed to building bridges between theory and practice and ready to engage in the exchange of experience.

The Competence Laboratory is intended to become a space for experimentation, exploration, testing, and assessing the usefulness of contemporary educational and counselling methods, tools, and techniques. During the sessions, led by researchers and trainers, participants will have the opportunity to learn, test tools, and learn from each other by sharing their experiences gained in diverse social and cultural contexts.

Benefits for Participants

A key benefit of participating in the Competence Laboratory will be the strengthening of core competencies essential in the Anthropocene—particularly educational and counselling competencies.

Participation in the BIP will also offer an opportunity for mobility to students who, for various reasons, cannot take part in long-term Erasmus+ exchange programmes. Through both physical and virtual mobility, participants will not only gain experience in team-based work but also build networks for knowledge exchange, transnational cooperation, and intercultural transfer of innovation. The project’s transdisciplinary nature and its multicultural background (with contributions from French, Finnish, Portuguese, and Polish researchers) will foster a deeper understanding of research ideas and their practical implications.

The Life Design for Hope Competence Laboratory will also allow participants to recognise the need for communication between researchers and practitioners working across cultures as well as the importance of continuous lifelong learning. It will support the pursuit of developing research methodologies and seeking educational, training, and counselling solutions focused on building hope. Such an approach is essential for addressing the complex and multilayered challenges of today’s world. Ultimately, participants will be better prepared for effective professional functioning—as educators, trainers, and counsellors—taking into account the cultural and social diversity of various groups. In the long term, participants may also use the relationships established during the programme to build an international network of specialists.

Dates: 18–22 May 2026

ECTS Credits: 3 ECTS

Duration:

• 5 days of in-person lectures and workshops (from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.)
• Virtual component – 2 days / 2 online meetings (before and after the in-person part)

Virtual Component:

The virtual component will include lectures and the testing of tools, techniques, and methods that can be used in online education and virtual counselling. It will consist of 2 online lectures (opening and closing), online workshop and the creation of small virtual working groups responsible for completing group tasks and jointly developing educational and counselling materials.

Preliminary Schedule

1. Pre-arrival virtual component

Tentative date: May 15

• Organisational meeting – Introduction to the in-person component
• 17.00 – Online inaugural lecture: Prof. Maria Eduarda Duarte (UNESCO Chair – Univeristy of Wrocław, Universtity of Lisbon): Utopia Vs  Antropocene : Allegro ma non troppo  (educacional and counseling competences framed by hope)

2. BIP Sessions in Wrocław

Coffee breaks will be provided every day

May 18: DAY 1 – OPENING, BUILDING THE LEARNING COMMUNITY & NARRATIVE APPROACHES IN LIFE DESIGN

10.00 – 15.30

• Registration of participants
• Opening of the programme: Introduction to the goals, structure and learning outcomes of the BIP
• Lecture + Workshop + discussion: Prof. Valérie Cohen-Scali (INETOP-CNAM) Counselling Dialogues in Eco-Life Design

Lunch/Dinner and informal integration

May 19: DAY 2 – NATURE, EXPERIENCE & HOPE IN PRACTICE – DESIGNING FUTURE PATHWAYS 

Trip to the Arboretum of the University of Wrocław in Wojsławice Departure: 8.30 | Return: approx. 18.00

• Lecture + workshop + discussion: Violetta Drabik-Podgórna (UNESCO Chair, Institute of Pedagogy): From Uncertainty and Failure to Hope – Guidance-Based Approaches to Meaning-Making and Future Design. Working with metaphor cards in hope-oriented counselling
• Workshop: Nature as a Space for Reflection and Life Design – My Life as an Ecosystem (metaphorical outdoor exercise in the Arboretum space)

May 20: DAY 3 – GUIDANCE AS AN ART OF TRANSFORMATION: INTERACTION, BALANCE, HOPE AND COLLABORATIVE PLAY

10.00 – 15.30

• Lecture + interactive session + discussion: Prof. Sanna Vehviläinen (University of Eastern Finland): Guidance as an Art of Balance – Research on Guidance Interaction

• Lecture + discussion: Prof. Caroline Arnoux-Nicolas (Université Paris Nanterre): La vie SenSationnelle – The value of using a collaborative game in career guidance: the example of an original game design

May 21: DAY 4 – RESONANCE, RELATION & CREATIVITY

10.00 – 14.00

Lecture + Workshop + discussion: Prof. Jacques Pouyaud (University of Bordeaux) Resonance and its use in a creative approach to guidance

15.30 – Guided tour of the historic building of the University of Wrocław

May 22: DAY 5 – EMOTIONAL COMPAS FOR HOPEFUL FUTURES

10.00 – 15.30

Workshop + discussion: Moderated by the Life Design Student Research Group: Navigating Hope: Emotional Compass for Future Narratives

From Experience to Hope: Closing Ritual and Certificates

The programme concludes with a symbolic collective ritual that integrates experience, narrative and hope, followed by the awarding of certificates recognising students’ engagement in the co-construction of meaning and future pathways.

3. Final virtual component

• May 25: Heros Navigares for Hope online workshop – work in small groups (hours to be agreed) Dr Violetta Drabik-Podgórna (UNESCO Chair, University of Wrocław)

• May 26: Tuesday, 17:30 Portuguese time / 18:30 in France and Poland : Online lecture closing the project: Prof. Maria Paula Paixão (University of Coimbra): Paths, Roots and Flows; Nature as a Metaphor of Hope in Life Design Counselling
• Final summary and evaluation of the project

BIP funding

Each participating university covers the travel and subsistence costs of its students and staff, using funds available within the Erasmus+ programme. The University of Wrocław is responsible for the academic and organisational aspects of the BIP, including the preparation of materials, the organisation of lectures and workshops, and the provision of coffee breaks for participants.