What does democracy mean in practice when it moves from ceremonial speeches into classrooms and everyday encounters? In the AECED project, coordinated by the University of Lapland and funded by Horizon Europe, answers were sought through aesthetic and embodied means.

European democracy and the rule of law have faced significant challenges in recent years as social discourse has become polarised and populist movements have gained strength. Launched in 2023, the AECED project (Transforming education for democracy through aesthetic and embodied learning for democracy, responsive pedagogies and democracy-as-becoming) ensured that democratic values such as freedom, equality, and reciprocity did not remain mere abstract concepts. Instead, they were practised and recognised through embodied interaction.

This international project developed pedagogical methods for all levels of education, from early childhood to adult and higher education. The aim is grassroots-level change: when democratic practices are rooted as an embodied experience during one’s studies, they carry over into wider society.

Reflection on movement exercises through modelling wax and a collective collage. Photo: Pauliina Jääskeläinen.
Embodiment as a Tool for Democracy

The AECED project aimed to transform how democracy is taught and understood. Traditionally, education has emphasised cognitive skills, meaning knowledge and rules, but this project delved into democracy as a lived and embodied experience.

Postdoctoral Researcher Pauliina Jääskeläinen, who worked as a researcher in the project, emphasises that values must be translated into action.

“If democratic values were practiced and recognized through embodied interaction—which can mean, for example, identifying emotions or paying much more comprehensive attention to sensory experience—then they would, in a way, become rooted at the bodily level instead of remaining merely abstract ideas,” Jääskeläinen explains.

University Lecturer Sandra Wallenius-Korkalo conducted an experiment with her seminar group where the traditional expert-student hierarchy was deliberately challenged.

“I went to sit on the floor in the circle, and I noticed a small stir among the students. They were clearly wondering how to react to the fact that I was physically sitting lower than them,” Wallenius-Korkalo recounts.

Associate Professor Tomi Tuominen applied the project’s ideas to his own teaching experiment by using images as aesthetic and embodied tools. In his experiment, the focus was not so much on movement, but on the strong physical reaction evoked by visuality, as well as the teacher’s conscious reflection.

“I used images in lectures intended to produce a physical reaction, even making a person feel discomfort or pause. In this way, the aesthetic experience grounds the student and encourages them to think more deeply about the subject matter, such as questions of inequality,” Tuominen says.

Tuominen analysed his own feelings and sensations as part of the use of images, which strongly connects the example to the dismantling of hierarchies. When a teacher verbalises their own experiences and makes themselves vulnerable, the teaching situation becomes more open and democratic.

During the three-year project, a total of 19 case studies were conducted across various educational levels. Methods ranged from the use of visual elements and storytelling to movement and sensory-based exercises. The project developed models that increase understanding of diversity and reduce the emergence of alienating “otherness.”

Reflection on movement exercises through modelling wax and a collective collage. Photo: Pauliina Jääskeläinen.
International Cooperation and Practical Tools

The international project included partners from Finland, Germany, Portugal, Latvia, Croatia, and the United Kingdom. This collaboration resulted in a framework and guides that offer teachers concrete models to apply in their own teaching.

At the University of Lapland, the focus was on developing higher education and professional expertise, while in other countries, experiments were also conducted at other educational levels. During the project, significant country-specific differences were observed regarding existing democratic practices in education and the familiarity of embodied and aesthetic methods in teaching. Therefore, the models developed in the project are flexibly adaptable ideas rather than “one-size-fits-all” templates.

Although the three-year project is drawing to a close, its goals look far into the future. The aim is to create a “ripple effect,” where small micro-level encounters in teaching situations begin to break down societal polarisation and strengthen the sense of community.

Reflection on movement exercises through modelling wax and a collective collage. Photo: Pauliina Jääskeläinen.
Come and Hear More About the Project:
Contact Information:
  • Principal Investigator (PI): Susan Meriläinen, susan.merilainen@ulapland.fi
  • Project Manager: Pilvikki Lantela, pilvikki.lantela@ulapland.fi
  • Researcher: Pauliina Jääskeläinen, pauliina.jaaskelainen@ulapland.fi
  • University Lecturer, Researcher: Sandra Wallenius-Korkalo, sandra.wallenius-korkalo@ulapland.fi
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Fact Box: AECED Project (Aesthetic and Embodied Learning for Democracy)
  • An international Horizon Europe project (2023–2026), coordinated by the University of Lapland.
  • Total funding of €2.7 million (Horizon Europe and UK Research and Innovation).
  • The project developed and researched aesthetic and embodied teaching methods to strengthen democracy.
  • 19 case studies across different educational levels, from early childhood to adult education.
  • Partners from Finland, Germany, Portugal, Latvia, Croatia, and the United Kingdom.
  • As a final result, open-access pedagogical guides and a theoretical framework will be published at www.aeced.org.