For such a fan of informal learning it took me way too long to finally get it together to go to a Montreal University of the streets event (which by the way is a bilingual gig). The format here: a guest speaker (in relation to the theme of the day) gets the conversation going and a moderator “manages” the lively conversation. It’s been going on for 5 years.
I love these type of events - informal learning spaces where a sense of “personal mastery” and collective exploration helps thinking advance and community to emmerge.
Another informal learning network percolab is part of in Montreal is the Knowledge Kafé (café des connaissances), similar, but with a different formula. Before meeting to share and converse everyone agrees to read a specific text based on the theme of the month. And this event is 15 years strong!
In my quest to further explore informal learning structures (yes, you can put those two terms together), I intend to discover more of these conversation spaces, such as the Récit des écoles des citoyens in France, and others that I find out about.