Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) 4 Luke Street, London, EC2A 4XW, UK www.wea.org.uk Contact: Trish Land (TLand@wea.org.uk)
Northwest Regional Pact for Employment and Social Inclusion (PROIS-NV). Fluerasului Street, No 3, 400073, Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania www.prois.nv.ro Contact: Oana Ivascu, oana@ifes.ro
The MRS Consultancy Ltd Copthall Bridge House, Station Road, Harrogate, HG1 5SJ, UK www.mrsconsultancy.com Contact: Roy Smith, roy.smith@mrsconsultancy.com
ASSET Technology 2 Gioldasi & Roumbesi str. 11744 Athens, Greece www.asset-tec.gr Contact: Manos Andreadis (asset@asset-tec.gr)
Fundación INTRAS C/ Santa Lucía, 19, 1ª planta. 47005 Valladolid, Spain www.intras.es Contact: Henar Conde Valdivieso projd@intras.es
Consorzio ABN A&B Social Network Via F.lli Cairoli 24, 06125 Perugia, Italy www.consorzioabn.it Contact: Michela Lupi, m.lupi@consorzioabn.it
This project has been funded with support from the Grundtvig Programme of the European Union. The content of this publication does not reflect the official opinion of the European Commission. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in the publication lies entirely with the authors and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Our experiences may be useful for you LOCATE means “LOCal media for sustainable community AcTion in Europe”, that is, giving people at risk of social exclusion an opportunity to make their voice heard by using all kinds of media. Do we know what ordinary people want to say? Do we know about the everyday problems or successes of people around us? Do we know how “forgotten” people live in their daily lifes (their hopes, fears, problems, challenges)? We know that unemployed people, people with mental issues, people living in rural areas, migrants, people with low incomes, people with any disability… all of them have important things to say, but it seems like the world doesn’t want to give them an opportunity to express themselves. LOCATE wants to give them tools to be an active and sustainable part of society as a community. The Transferability Toolkit was not identified initially as a result for the LOCATE project but it has become seen by partners to be a very important tool to promote sustainability for communities across Europe. It is designed to commit participants to activities and to identify other potential users of project outcomes. The LOCATE partners feel a responsibility to ensure maximum dissemination of their project activities and to provide a coherent and appropriate picture of the initiative.
In this booklet we will try to explain what prompted the project, how we identified and approached the issues and, of course what we did. We will also indicate how the various communities are continuing the work and what lessons they, and us, have learnt. The Transferability Toolkit is not just this document. You will see frequent links to our web site, the web sites of our communities and to the social media we and they have employed. These are where you can enjoy the richness of what our learners have been doing. We hope that our experiences will provide you with the incentive and some of the tools to make it happen for communities with whom you are involved. Good luck and our best wishes The
as needed Why LOCATE w Our approach to tion Community Ac mmunity Training the Co ssadors Learning Amba ommunity Learning with C Reporters ommunities Piloting in the C
team
ing to sustain How we are try communities learnt and What we have our ons to others recommendati Useful links
Page 01
Why LOCATE was needed Sharing successful strategies across borders - whether supporting media literacy or driving digital entrepreneurial spirits … is also an objective that the European Commission can underwrite wholeheartedly. In diversity lies strength as our motto recalls; sharing the fruits of diversity helps everyone to succeed (Neelie Kroes: Vice-President of the European Commission, Commissioner for the Digital Agenda in ENPA Review 2011).
The aim of the LOCATE project was to develop a methodology and tools that would support communities across Europe to build platforms of local community learning, media and participation and so help develop community capacity and stimulate innovation (including social innovation), entrepreneurship and the capacity for change by encouraging the development and discovery of untapped potential from within communities and territories. Six organizations from United Kingdom, Romania, Greece, Italy and Spain, working in the educational field for adults (some of them at risk of social exclusion due to several reasons), were involved in the initiative. All the partners have previous experience of working with disadvantaged communities and also in European projects, so the LOCATE project has been in “safe hands”. This project was conceived to meet the specific barriers to lifelong learning and the active social participation of the diverse target groups of the partners. l Empowerment is particularly important in the current economic climate which affects all EU countries). The project supported disadvantaged learners and people at risk of social marginalization by the sharing of expertise.
l Lifelong learning is not being supported sufficiently in some partner countries and is suffering decline in others l Sustainability of active citizens and communities in the medium and long term remains a major issue and one that lifelong learning needs to address l Traditional local community media is in decline in all the partner countries and across Europe. LOCATE aimed to reflect the needs of local communities in shaping their community voice and exchanging those experiences and learning with other communities across Europe. LOCATE provided disadvantaged groups (adults with mental health issues, unemployed people, adults from isolated rural areas, etc.) with social abilities and digital competences through the use of Community Reporting and thus improved their visibility and integration into society. A key factor in the success of the project is that the local communities continue to use the dissemination channels they have developed. The continued use of media is an empowerment and learning tool that prompts and sustained other forms and processes of community activity.
…even if the LOCATE project finishes, we are continuing with our magazine, because it has left a mark on us, because we feel like to continue and because our readers enjoy it, and so they say to us. We will go on till we are empty of ideas or the enthusiasm, but we believe that we are still plenty of both. (Spanish Community Learning Ambassador)
Page 02
LOCATE is designed to help communities develop a voice and to tell their stories. Todays’ knowledge society offers us a lot of instruments to reach people all over the world: blogs, radio, TV, photos, videos, social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Youtube, etc. LOCATE wants to use a mix of these media to empower people at risk of social exclusion within their communities: to help them understood and interact with other groups of people with similar problems, interests, characteristics, aims, etc. But LOCATE is also concerned that providing these skills and knowledge is not just a “one off”, that then disappears as the projects funding and support finishes. The major element of the project’s approach has been to help communites develop and structure sustainable tools that faciltate local media and that promote community activity.
To enable this LOCATE has developed three mutually supportive components:
Community Learning Ambassadors were choosen from within the community. They were specifically trained to lead the learning process in their communities, empowering the rest of their members using peer education and support. In particular they recruited and trained community reporters
Community Reporters talk about their daily lives using the most appropriate media. Several workshops and local events were organized and the work of the participants published in the media appropriate for their community – newsletters, web sites, magazines, or social media so anybody can access them.
Community Management Groups were set up in a form appropriate to the particular community. Their aims were consistent – to identify and secure the means to sustain and continue activities and media in their community. The profile of each of these organisations, however, depended on how each community saw itself and its role. The Community Learning Ambassadors were key components in the development of the management groups.
Page 03
Training the Community Learning Ambassadors Felxibility and adapatability have been bywords for the LOCATE project. The partners, the communities and the learners, however, have been able to use or refer to a common framework of training and learning. Partners designed and agreed five courses that might help Community Learning Ambassadors in the various cultures: l Community reporting l Marketing & promotion
l Peer engagement & communication l Research & evaluation
l Income generation & business planning Each community then used or adapted the resources as appropriate to their needs and capacities. You can see how what was used in
http://www.locateproject.eu/resources/
Page 04
The same approach of learner led training that applied to the Community Learning Ambassadors (CLAs) was also adopted by the CLAs and the supporting partners in their work with the community reporters. The diverse nature and capacities of the communities meant that different emphases had to apply – which media was being used, the audiences, locations, type of community and the interests and roles of the individuals. Flexibility and adaptability were also in evidence with the delivery of the training which ranged from formal courses to online learning to informal and 1:1 sessions. They took place when it fitted the community even at weekends and in the evenings. Some of the training materials are available in
http://www.locateproject. eu/resources/ and the results of some of the reporters work can be found in
The fundamental platform, however, was to tell the stories that the communities were interested in and wanted to relate. To help with this the partners agreed a basic format which provided a range of tools that could be used – writing, video making, social media, photography, graphics and audio.
http://www.locateproject. eu/showcase/
The reports of specific communities are in the pages that follow with links to appropriate media.
Page 05
What happened in Greece Initially, 4 CLAs were trained in August 2014, however, a further CLA was trained in May 2015 when an additional community asked to join the scheme. The piloting with community reporters and learners began in February 2015 in: l The rural Community, Karditsa, Thessaly Region where participants expressed their interest to make use of social media to promote their employability, as well as in Income Generation, identifying social economy as a key sector to sustain local development https://www.facebook.com/hermesthessaly l A community of people with mental disabilities, Athens, Attica Region where following the learners interest, the emphasis was given in storytelling and use of photos for the development of a newsletter http://www.locateproject.eu/showcase/ l The remote Community of Pylos, southwest Peloponnese where the interest was in the establishment of a Community Management Board based on the collaboration of local authorities, enterprises and other stakeholders and focus on a “Quality Agreement" for the provided services http://www.locateproject.eu/ showcase/ l Piloting in the Kiato Community, North Peloponnese, began later in May 2015. The learners asked particularly for training in social media for the promotion of local activities dealing with social, environmental, labor and cultural activities https://www.facebook.com/ TopsaSikionion
Page 06
Piloting took place in 4 communities rather than the initial plan for 3 communities with 5 CLAs (instead of the plan for 4) and 35 learners instead of the original target of 25. The impact in these communities was demonstrated with different forms of reporting newsletters with personal stories from people with mental disabilities, Facebook pages with job posts in Thessaly Region, Facebook page with community activities in Kiato area. Community management groups and agreements were also implemented in various forms and actors: Agreement for Quality in Pylos, Social Enterprise in Thessaly, consultations for Development Partnerships with various stakeholders.
Some piloting experiences in Perugia, Italy Consorzio ABN worked with various groups: 1. ENS (Ente Nazionale Sordi) is a regional-level organisation of deaf people. 2. Borgo S. Antonio is a grassroots local organisation aiming to reclaim urban space. 3. Lineas de Nasca is a grassroots organisation of Peruvian migrants living in Perugia. Their main interest is to promote the Peruvian Culture at local level and – furthermore- to cooperate with Peru, particularly with the Nasca area. The approach used was much related to Action Learning: meet the communities regularly, stimulate discussion and peer discussion, promote codesign of community reporting projects and of other initiatives such as crowdfunding projects and supporting them in developing these initiatives. The participants were encouraged to develop shared narratives and thus to write articles about their stories, the activities they organise and events they promote. Some of those were published in the free-press magazine Luoghi Comuni http://www.luoghicomunimagazine.it/ The results have been extremely positive. It is important to differentiate the target communities, which had specific needs, some overlapping (particularly around the topic of fundraising to address the issue of sustainability), but some being quite different. ENS: Their interest in community reporting revolves around their strong perception of the "invisibility" of their disability and the need to become more visible to the wider community, raising awareness about the issues faced by deaf people in their daily life. They were keen to participate and have been very happy particularly with the training on video editing and with the published articles on their inclusive theatre project, where the
actors are deaf and non-deaf people. Finally, they were trained and supported to create an on-line fundraising platform using crowdfunding: https://www.produzionidalbasso.com/project/ rumori-nel-silenzio-progetto-teatrale-tra-sordi-eudenti/ Borgo S.Antonio: In recent years, Perugia has been experiencing strong active citizenship activity. Many new organisations were created at neighbourhood level to reclaim urban space and revive run-down and neglected areas of the city. This trend has been very successful in general and LOCATE, through the collaboration with Luoghi Comuni Magazine, was well positioned to support this trend. These organisations, in fact, often lack the skills necessary to promote themselves, their activities and events. LOCATE provided them with exactly those skills, as well as financial sustainability skills, such as fundraising strategies and crowdfunding. Lineas de Nasca: This is an organisation of Peruvian people living in Perugia. They organise activities and fundraising events, particularly for projects in Peru. Their interest lies primarily in social inclusion, promotion of events and fundraising for the organisation and the projects they support. LOCATE supported all these aspects.
Page 07
Community activity in Maramures, Romania The members of this remote rural community near the Moldavian border were very enthusiastic and involved in all the activities. At the end of the project the village boasted 3 CLAs and 25 Community Reporters. Of the 3 CLAs recruited, one of them is the priest, the most involved person in the community, a real interest to the project, another one is a professor, deeply involved in education of young people from the community, but also in attracting stakeholders, providers of trainings courses for unemployed or low skilled adults. The third person is an unemployed woman, very motivated to learn new things and to help members of her community. With Mayor’s help, the team entered into an agreement with a local newspaper and many interesting articles were be published when needed (http://www.graiul.ro), most of them about important events that took place in the community. During the training a free website was developed http://ifescluj.wix.com/valea-viseului where are the most important news and activities. Feedback from the learners also indicated improvements in: l How to work in a team (conflict resolution, respect others’ opinion). l Increase of self-esteem and self-confidence. l Increase of creativity. Beside this, a young couple (Community Reporters) participated in a competition for Business ideas and WON - they have now created a track for ATV’s- All Terrain Vehicle and also will organize trips for tourists that will develop tourism in the area.
Page 08
This project had a big impact on the attitude of community members. Until now the idea of having a business or promoting tourism in the area seemed out of reach. LOCATE raised the interest and the confidence of people in creating small income generating businesses and the community and PROIS-NV hope that in the future, they will succeed in developing the area.
Working with a mental health community in Spain The project was with people with severe mental health problems attending the day care center of Intras in Valladolid. The group of 10 learners (eventually) was smaller than target given the nature of their capacities but it is now part of the Intras curriculum in 3 of its centres. They have produced a miscellaneous magazine Veintemetros with reports and topics of culture, sport, news in the Foundation, health, cooking, etc. The results have been amazing; the participants have developed a good magazine every two months and they have published already 8 issues. Intras did not expect this to be possible The users are very involved and motivated in the reporting activity. They are always available to work on the magazine, no matter the day or the time (this is something that does not happen with any other activity) and take the initiative to approach new topics and reports. They feel the magazine as something of their own; it is their creation and they want to continue producing it.
They are very concentrated on their work and have developed a cohesive team. The reporting activity and the magazine have also had a beneficial impact on their mood - they are more enthusiastic and optimistic, and that is favourable for their recovery. All the issues of Veintemetros magazine, released up to now can be found on:
http://issuu.com/fundacion_intras/docs/ veintemetros
Page 09
Learning disabled groups in Bradford, UK The piloting was very successful and the project exceeded the targets originally envisaged. Our 3 CLAs (although one of them discontinuously due to his condition) trained 29 reporters, 12 more than what we expected. The CLAs, who are learning disabled, have taken a lead role in designing resources for the community reporters and the sustainable vehicle the Video Service Directory. The Reporters have developed their self-esteem, independence & selfassertiveness together with their abilities to tell stories & use social media.
Other outcomes also exceeded expectations: l Alex Millar, trained as Community Reporter, has become part of the Video Service Directory as responsible of the maintenance of the web site You Can Do. l The Video Service Directory has attracted the interest of Bradford Council and new partners are joining the project, in a process that will continue after the end of the project. l 15 extra CRs have been trained in a WEA Community Reporting course within the HFT Learning Zone. The course will carry on for academic year 2015/16 with other students, empowering people through the use of social media. l A specific web site has been developed by the partnership to formalise the Video Service Directory at the following address: Page 10
http://youcandobradford andkeighley.blogspot.co.uk l The Video Service Directory as a Partnership managed by a CMB has been very successful and has attracted so far 15 day services/service providers:
- Local media in Yorkshire countryside, UK The piloting took place in and around Boroughbridge with 3 CLAs (two more than planned) engaged and 8 reporters trained to work on Lower Ure News (LUN). The project exceeded expectations: l An additional member of the Editorial management group was recruited (trained as a reporter initially). l
The engagement process and ongoing information on the project via LUN has enabled it to recruit a distribution manager and 4 new distributors of the newsletter.
l The advertising sales pack developed by the CLAs and MRS has proved successful and has attracted long term advertisers and sponsors. l The new approach using the web site and social media has alerted the local government offices to opportunities. l The community reporters have regularly produced a monthly newsletter distributing it to 2000 homes: They have developed the Lower Ure News web site with links to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube which can be seen http://lowerurenews.co.uk/
Some of the work is also on the Locate website in l The development of the web site and in Showcase www.locateproject.eu/showcase/ particular social media is encouraging the wider community to participate in providing material. This is being found, initially, with photos on Facebook and feedback via Facebook & Twitter
Page 11
The core of LOCATE is to sustain active community participation – initially using local media as the tool but not denying other opportunities to engage with peers and promote activity. The project recognised that not only were CLAs and community reporters essential to meeting this aim but that they must also have an organisation in which they could flourish. The project initially sought in the bid to establish a firm management structure and policies for participating communities – Community Management Boards. After stakeholder consultations and the recruitment of communities and CLAs in early 2014 it became evident that “one size did not fit all”. The partnership revised its approach by designing a framework of guiding principles that could be adopted and adapted by communities. The partners did not wish this to be just a dry document gathering dust on the shelf but a dynamic tool. The solution was to develop a checklist which would enable a community to consider and reflect on their needs and resources and to structure an appropriate organisation for sustaining activities.
Page 12
This checklist tries to reflect and set out functions, structure, roles and overall responsibilities that an effective CMB should take into account before its establishment, as well as supporting further developments and actions in order to achieve LOCATE’s objectives. Partners are aware that the model outlined here can be tailored to meet participants and local community’s needs, and variations may be due to target-groups chosen, stakeholders involved, and the cultural, social and economic contexts in which they work. The checklist is available in
http://www.locateproject.eu/resources/
What we have learnt and our recommendations to others Setting up a project
l Build and secure cooperation and partnerships with local stakeholders, community members, organisations, institutions etc. Our stakeholder meetings were crucial entrees as they built understanding and trust amongst leaders, peers, trainers, learners and surrounding actors l Become acquainted with and respect the cultural differences that support community activities in particular and social inclusion in general. One size does not fit all communities and cultures. l Encourage informal and collaborative peer learning rooted in daily life settings around life relevant topics. The stories, experiences and organisations are within the community not “parachuted” in from outside.
Making it happen
l Involve community leaders and peers in in the learning process. The CLAs were the community activists in not just media but across all activities. They then recruited & cascaded the training – thereby it becomes embedded in the community l Strong focus on supporting the CLAs with not just training but mentoring. It is no easy job! l Flexibility and focus on the learners are absolute requirements, so make sure they are there in the: n Learning arrangements. n Syllabus. n Adaptable and customisable learning materials. n Learning processes. n Timing of activities. n Organisation of the groups.
l The learning, materials and processes need to be rooted in real life contexts and needs. The stories are the community’s stories told by members of that community. l The learning process and the use of media are mutual activities undertaken in partnership with trainers/CLAs and learners/ reporters AND the audience/readership.
Some challenges and solutions
l Hard to reach learners are hard to reach because they are hard to reach. Working with migrant groups, people with learning and physical disabilities and mental health issues takes time. The learning needs to be carefully explained and paced. They need motivation and encouragement on a regular basis. l Provide effective feedback and support to learners. Reporting and the media are useful tools providing tangible results and contexts to feedback and develop. Use them! l Community reporting and ‘learning-to-learn’ often goes “hand in hand”: community reporting acted as a ‘bridge’ to more and deeper learning activities. l “Life gets in the way”. Expect and try to integrate ‘external’ aspects (e.g. problems in daily life) into the learning process. Most of the community are acting as volunteers and have lots to contend with in their everyday life. l It’s new: the concepts of local media and sustainable community activity are new and innovative to many communities. Take time and patience to explain and take cognisance of the local culture and experience and do not be too ambitious.
Page 13
See more about the LOCATE project
www.locateproject.eu/ home/ www.facebook.com/ locateproject.eu
Have a look at other exciting projects taking place across Europe www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/