ABSTRACT
Cooperating and networking are together one of the key issues of the community education approach in the Federal Republic of Germany. As in all western countries, it is essential both between the various agencies and institutions within the educational system and between the educational system and the various resources and movements outside in the community. The latter includes industry and commerce, the social services, libraries, theatres and museums and, increasingly, the major social movements: for example, the peace movement, the environmental issues movement (the ‘Greens’), the women’s liberation movement and the rights of ethnic minorities. The main goal of cooperating and networking is to benefit the whole community by empowering the people: by enabling them to speak up for themselves, to direct their own lives with greater confidence, to utilise existing resources for learning, to demand new resources appropriate to their needs, problems and aspirations and, above all, to participate in the decision-making processes.
