The research is based on the field of social pedagogy and explores informal learning in a non-formal group. The chosen non-formal group is defined as a subculture of freegans, because it is a culture within a broader mainstream culture, with its own separate values, practices, and beliefs (Subberwal, 2009). The values of freegans are strongly environmental, connected with animals-rights, ecology and nonconsumerism. Practices include environmental activism (happenings, meetings, movies for public) and collective practice such as cooking vegan meal or obtaining recycled articles.

The aim is to describe the process of informal learning, including its products, which are values, in the case of this research, which young people learn in the subculture. The research question was: "How does the process of informal learning take place in the subculture and what values ​​are significant for subculture of freegans?" The selected methodological approach is qualitative research, which is described below.

The theoretical framework is interdisciplinary. It consists of subculture theory, the theory of informal learning and social pedagogy. The theory of subcultures are reflected through the point of view of the Chicago school, e.g. Cohen's theory of subcultures (Cohen, 1958, 1966) over the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (Hall, Jefferson, 1976)  and to the postsubcultural theory (Bennet, Kahn-Harris, 2004). The theories of informal learning are put into a broader context of learning (Jarvis, 2006). Informal learning  is defined and compared to lifelong learning and the emphasis is on informal learning in the contemporary documents such as the European Commission Memorandum on Lifelong Learning. Complement to the theoretical knowledge are theories related to social pedagogy, especially the process of socialization (Berger, Luckmann, 2011) and characteristics of the target group of young adults.
The definition of informal learning is based on the Memorandum on Lifelong Learning and defines informal learning as "a natural accompaniment to everyday life. Unlike the formal and nonformal learning, informal learning is not necessarily intentional learning, and so may well not be recognised even by individuals themselves as contributing to their knowledge and skills". Informal learning occurs in a variety of places and subcultural environment is one of them. Informal learning is effective because „it is personal, just-in-time, customized and a  learner is motivated and open to receiving it. It also has a greater credibility and relevance“ (Cross, 2011).

Subculture environment opens a new space of exploration for the learning process. The present study relates to the subculture environment, the selected theories and shows the possible methodological procedures to explore learning.  

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