About Us

The Story

Colearning emerged in 2019 at the Effinger Coworking Space in Bern. What started as an informal experiment – learning in a coworking space – became a movement.

The questions that drove us: What if we didn't separate learning from life? What if we connected the worlds of work and learning? What happens when we bring people of all generations together as communities of learning?

The Vision

Colearning is self-learning in community.

We create convivial places of learning in the midst of life.
They are places of encounter, of generations and of diversity.
They are spaces of freedom where people flourish.
We shape the world and make our experiences visible.
And so people learn from people, incidentally, playfully, and full of joy.

Colearning.org Association

Colearning.org is a Swiss association dedicated to promoting Colearning. We support people who want to build Colearning in their region. We connect colearners and Colearning initiatives and develop Colearning formats and materials.

The Team

Colearning doesn't have a classic team. There are people who carry more responsibility, and people who contribute occasionally. Everyone is part of the movement.

The current board of directors:

• Fredi Zumbrunn
• Paula Duwan
• Sandro Schmid
• Marco Jakob

The People Behind the Framework

Editorial & Main Text: This framework was brought into its current form – structured and written – by Marco Jakob. Over many years, text contributions, conceptual design, and critical feedback came from Fredi Zumbrunn. His ideas and questions have profoundly shaped the DNA of this framework.

Impulses, Practice & Strategy: Key strategic decisions, fresh impulses, and hands-on engagement came from Paula Duwan, Christoph Schmitt, Sibille Tschanz, Tom Bucher, Hermann Flükiger, Joris Schwarzenbach, Ben Zaugg.

Colearning Community: Many others might not have written much, but built, carried, enabled, moderated, repaired, planted, cooked, and organized on the ground – making Colearning what this framework is actually talking about.

Our thanks go to the contributors from the very beginning, the coworkers at Effinger, and the Colearning pioneers and accomplices: Jonathan Bucher, Joscha Tschanz, Maël Duwan, Levyn Schneider, Sandro Schmid, Prisca Beuchat, Nadine Fesseler-Besio, Tibor Janos Kiss, Tavi Venzin, Markus Roos-Haas, Simona Zäh, Matthias Tobler, Manuel Bürli, Jonathan Hess, Timon Marmet, Urs Vögeli, Werner Schuller, Reto Stalder, Rolf Arni, Christiane Daepp, Jonatan Dollenmeier, Barbara Zesiger, Rubén Fructuoso, Beat Wipf, Chrige Walser, and many more.

Note: If a name is missing, let us know and we'll happily add it.

Copyright & Licensing

Colearning is designed to be open: take what fits your context, build on it, and share what you improve.

The content published on this website (particularly the Colearning Framework) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

This means: You may copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and remix, transform, and build upon the material – under the following conditions:

• Attribution – You must give appropriate credit and rights notice
• ShareAlike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license

Connect with others – and if you can, give something back (for example through donations, contributions, or joining in). This isn't a license requirement; it's an invitation. If you're unsure how to use Colearning, or how to support the Colearning movement, get in touch.

Further Information

• Legal Disclosure