A learning community is people linked to each other for a relatively long time, and among whom personal contacts have led to the development of special mutual relations in which all the people influence the decisions and rules of how the community functions.

Through learning, involving informal, non-formal and formal approaches (e.g. when socialising, in study circles or in school), the community finds self-fulfilment and preserves/builds upon/adapts to circumstances its common identity across generations. The community identity includes:

• the community's past (e.g. historical memory) and its orientation to the future (common vision);
• the economic aspect (economy of functioning) and non-economic aspect (solidarity, volunteering, community symbols).  

These aspects must be balanced among each other, since only in this way can the responsibility of members of the community and the surrounding area to the community and resources for its survival and prosperity be fulfilled. The common identity includes both the community's past (e.g. historical memory) and its orientation to the future (common vision).