The 2025 Grundtvig Award goes to the Citizens Xelerator project!
The Citizens Xelerator, coordinated by Mentortec, received the 2025 Grundtvig Award from the European Association of Education of Adults (EAEA) due to its value and impact as a flexible learning pathway in adult learning and education.
Marta Reis and Andreia Monteiro from Mentortec received the award from the EAEA President Lauri Tuomi from the Finnish Lifelong Learning Foundation, at the Annual Conference of EAEA that took place from 3rd to 4th of June 2025 in Leipzig, Germany.
The Grundtvig Award of EAEA, an organisation that plays a crucial role in advocating for and promoting adult learning across Europe, was created to distinguish projects that stand out for their innovation and excellence!
“Receiving this award is a significant milestone for Mentortec and for us, as it recognises the transformative impact and innovation of Citizens Xelerator. We have demonstrated that combining creativity with practicality successfully supports inclusion and democratic engagement, and that adult education remains a driving force for meaningful societal change. Thank you to our partners and participants for their dedication and commitment to empowering adult learners through flexible and inclusive education across Europe,” says Marta Reis from Mentortec.
The Citizens Xelerator rely on the approach commonly applied in entrepreneurship, to empower adults to be democratically and civically actives in their local communities:
- Spotting challenges and opportunities – think tank sessions for the identification of problems in local communities
- Into action – microlearning sessions to work on financial, digital, sustainability, media, democratic and health literacy to support adults in planning civic initiatives to overcome local problems
- Mobilisation of resources – guidance and activities to work on self-regulation, flexibility, empathy, collaboration, communication, empathy, growth mindset and managing learning to empower adults in promoting civic engagement and mobilisation to celebrate diversity, democracy and social participation.
These activities were promoted in 8 Citizens Xelerator Action Labs established in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Romania, Croatia, and Germany, and with the support of a network of 69 organisations.
“We want to thank the EAEA for the recognition and for the opportunity of receiving this award. This journey began three years ago with a team of dreamers and learners who decided to build a project to guide adults in becoming “entrepreneurs of themselves,” and this is what Citizens Xelerator means. Nine partners, from eight countries, faced all kinds of challenges, with passion and strength, and altogether we managed to make a difference of around 1900 learners in sessions, actions, celebrations, and in developing adults’ literacies. Altogether, we managed to grow with adults and start dreaming of taking Citizens Xelerator everywhere!”, words of Andreia Monteiro from Mentortec when the award was delivered.
Citizens Xelerator is a project designed by dreamers, implemented by Xelerators, and embraced by learners! Interested to know what the team and learners think about the project? Check out YouTube.
