Landcommanderij Alden Biesen

About

The Grand commandery Alden Biesen positions itself as a centre of expertise for the art of storytelling in Flanders and Europe. Under that heading, Alden Biesen is the motor behind a host of activities.

It organizes a number of festivals that put the art of storytelling in the picture. The annual international Storytelling Festival is a unique multilingual storytelling festival that aims at secondary schools and adult education while WinterMagie focusses on pre- and primary education. Both festivals have become fixed educational excursions for many schools in the region and beyond. Our Dutch storytelling event ‘Stories in the Park’ is open to everyone who loves storytelling. This intimate autumn festival is an outdoor event that offers story walks through the beautiful surroundings of the Grand commandery.

But that is not all. Alden Biesen focusses on applied storytelling too. It hosts and organizes various workshops for a national and international audience. Both basic (how do I become a storyteller) and more specific courses for different target groups (e.g. how can I use storytelling techniques as didactic tool in education) are part of the offer. In the past Alden Biesen ran European projects on Applied Storytelling in different fields like Sheherazade, TALES and Story regions. And last but not least Alden Biesen is the official seat of FEST.

 

Events

NEW! From 2021 on it will organize international 5-day CPD-courses for teachers in which the variety of storytelling techniques as didactic tool are explored under the expert guidance of renowned storytellers. We plan to repeat these courses annually.

All these courses are eligible for Erasmus+ KA1-funding!

Storytelling in the classroom is much more than telling stories in the classroom. Stories, storytelling and narrative teaching approaches are known to help improve student’s verbal and communication skills in the mother tongue and/or in a foreign language. It also impacts imagination, creativity, social and civic competences, values, intercultural understanding, cultural awareness and expression. By offering subject content as a narrative, transformed into images, one improves the quality of the transfer of this content. A school where education is partly offered through storytelling approaches will have a greater appeal on pupils’ motivation because of the open atmosphere, the interactive and creative elements and the valuing of different cultures.

Registrations are open now