Urban education in the Making of Social Capital. The Case of Marja-Vantaa.

In this paper, we will concentrate on analyzing how education can be beneficial to the regional development. At the center of the analysis it is our aim to show how education can increase the social capital of the region and, thus, the general well-being of its inhabitants. Social capital is about the connections of the individual, social networks, the norms of reciprocity and trusting the others. The focus of our research is to demonstrate that by building new structures in co-operation with others, one can create new forums for democratic participation for all the current and future inhabitants in the area of Marja-Vantaa.

In our actor-inspired regional development, education will change into the well-being of the people of Marja-Vantaa. Students participate in the regional development by working together, side by side, with the inhabitants and active MarjaVerkko operators. New working methods such as drama, video, dance and art can increase social capital of the region.

In our R&D project (Laurea UAS, MarjaVerkko and Marja-Vantaa) we will take a closer look at how education can contribute to the development of the large new housing and working area in Vantaa, Finland. Today, the Marja-Vantaa housing and working area has about 4500 inhabitants. In the future (within the next 20 years) it is calculated that it will consist of about 30,000 inhabitants and about 25,000 working places. The aim of the Marja-Vantaa R&D project is provide tools for the sustainable development of the Marja-Vantaa area by using educational and research methods. We will concentrate on analyzing how the above-mentioned methods, both the educational and research methods, contribute to the development of positive social capital of the area in question.

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