Together for a Diploma recognized as adult social-cultural work
We have something to celebrate: a new step in the development of Samen voor een Diploma! Thanks to its recognition as an operation within the Flemish decree social-cultural adult work 2026-2030, Samen voor een Diploma will grow in the coming years into a movement for “right to learn.
Together for a Diploma starts as an entrant in social-cultural adult work.
For us, this feels like an important step. Also as a boost. The recognition of our approach strengthens us enormously in our mission: continuing to build equal educational opportunities, in Brussels and beyond.
Written together, carried together
This file was not written in one fell swoop. It came after much deliberation, rewriting and fine-tuning, together with the team, students and volunteers and in close cooperation with our board of directors. We were looking for the right words, but above all for a plan that fits with who we are and where we want to go.
That we are now recognized for the first time as an organization in social-cultural adult work feels like a logical continuation of what we have been doing for years in practice: working from proximity, trust and cooperation.
Why this work remains necessary
Educational inequality remains stubborn, both in Brussels and in Flanders. Adults who want to study again often come up against barriers that have little to do with talent or motivation: language, a limited network, financial worries or simply no one to fall back on when the going gets tough.
With Samen voor een Diploma [Together for a Diploma] we want to counteract this. No quick fixes, but a warm learning environment in which people regain confidence in their own abilities. This recognition also makes it clear that this story does not stop at Brussels’ borders.
Growing from Brussels
Since 2019, we built Together for a Diploma step by step in Brussels from research to initiative, together with students and volunteers who believe in learning as something you do together. We were able to do this with the support of FCC Welfare, Health and Family & ESF. Diversity and multilingualism are not an obstacle, but a strength.
In the coming years we will expand this Brussels model to the Brussels periphery, and later also to another Flemish university town. We will do this in a well-considered way, with attention to quality, proximity and cooperation with local partners. New territory, but with our familiar strengths as our compass.
From three to five years
We were able to build for the past three years thanks to impulse grants from Polsslag Brussels. That period gave us room to learn, test and grow. Thanks to the decree social cultural adult work, we now have the time to deepen that, with a solid plan in five years.
That time is important. To anchor what works. And to allow the movement for the right to learn to grow sustainably.
Connected to civil society
At the same time, we realize that this round of grants also had difficult consequences for other organizations. Six organizations, despite a positive assessment, lost a large part or even all of their resources. We show our solidarity with them.
We are nevertheless pleased, as a new organization, to be part of civil society in order to work with others to strengthen people’s learning and development opportunities, broaden social networks, create space for experimentation and innovation, and build a strong, democratic and inclusive civil society together.
With great enthusiasm, we are stepping into this new phase. Because we believe in the talents of people. And in what becomes possible when we do it together.
You can read who the 10 new entrants are within Adult Social Work here.
Photo: ©socius