Through their Learning Hub, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) works with local experts around the world to shine a light on global issues and to create accessible best-practice guides for educators. Ana Barfield, global practice lead at the AKF, shares more about the Learning Hub's mission and resources—many of which can now be found in the LabXchange library!

What does your organization do?

The Aga Khan Foundation's Learning Hub opens the doors of opportunity to everyone by combining local knowledge with global best practices and making them accessible as public goods, in 30 different languages.

The Learning Hub shares free learning resources that combine local knowledge with global best practices. Developed by practitioners for practitioners, the learning resources on The Learning Hub focus on: Agriculture and Food Security, Civil Society Strengthening, Climate Resilience, Early Childhood Development, Education, Health and Nutrition, and Work and Enterprise.

It is through partnerships with local communities, civil society, and business as well as government and international aid agencies, that we can bring transformative and sustainable change for a brighter future for all.

On The Learning Hub, content is created to be as practical as possible, keeping in mind the needs of real people in the communities where AKF works. Thanks to AKF’s low-cost content development model, our partners around the world can create their own content to meet the needs of the communities they serve.

The Aga Khan Foundation is a leading global development organization working to tackle the root causes of poverty. For more than 50 years, AKF has helped create strong community institutions that support sustainable, locally driven initiatives to improve the lives of millions of people.

Rooted in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, our staff have unique insights into the complex challenges people face today as well as the opportunities for tomorrow. By combining local knowledge with global best practices, we strive to bring about transformative and long-lasting improvements to quality of life. Taking a generational approach, we have built the trust required to do this work even in the most fragile contexts. The Aga Khan Foundation is building a future where we all thrive together.

What's one fun fact that LabXchange users should know about your organization?

Although they may look and sound like real Hollywood and Bollywood stars, most of the people you see in our video-based courses have never stood in front of the camera before!

The people appearing in our video-based courses are Aga Khan Foundation staff, volunteers, partners, and community members. With a little coaching and practice, anyone can become a dynamic and engaging “talking head”! If anyone out there is looking for actors for their next movie, just get in touch!

Which Aga Khan Foundation content are you most proud of / excited by?

There is a lot to choose from. The learning content we’re most proud of is probably the content produced by our colleagues at the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in India in Gujarati and Hindi. All of this content was produced at our offices in Gujarat, by colleagues who are technical experts in agriculture, food security, nutrition and other technical topics but with minimal training in scriptwriting, videography, and acting.

How can learners and educators best use your content?

First, we recommend learners and educators take a look at the range of content available on The Learning Hub. We’ve made searching easy, as you can filter your search by Sustainable Development Goal, language, theme, or resource type. All our resources are practical, accessible, and jargon-free.

Because our resources are largely video-based, it is easy for educators to build activities around them, from reflection activities to experiential projects. They also connect easily to many themes of relevance to learning environments, such as climate resilience and global citizenship. We have seen them used in high schools, colleges and universities, as well as in different types of organizations. We would love to hear how you are using our resources, so please do get in touch to tell us your story!

Our focus is always on the application of learning. So, whether you want to improve your facilitation skills or improve the energy efficiency of your building, our learning resources are action-oriented and impact-focused. This means they are useful not only as professional development resources but also for project-based learning and independent, skills-focused learning.

Please note that most of the courses on The Learning Hub were designed to be delivered in a blended fashion. This means that, in addition to the video-based materials, educators can also access the Facilitator Guides for the in-person portions of these courses. If interested to access a Facilitator Guide for a course, please contact us at thelearninghub@akdn.org.

What motivates you to continue your work in science education?

Until we have a clear pathway to a future where we all thrive together, the work we do must continue, guided by partnership and purpose.

By making learning accessible, we can do our bit in building a society where the doors of opportunity are open to everyone. This, and the passion and commitment of our colleagues and community, continues to motivate us.

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Check out the Aga Khan Foundation's resources on LabXchange:

• What Is Climate Change and Why Does It Matter? (video)
• Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment (pathway)
• Individual and Collaborative Learning (pathway)