Training And Learning For Community Development

Training and Learning for Community Development

Final Report

Enter the full project number here

Public Part

Training and Learning for Community Development

Project information Project acronym: Project title: Project number:

TLCD Training and Learning for Community Development 135744-NL-KA4MP

Sub-programme or KA: Project website:

2007-2206 KA4 www.cebsd.org

Reporting period:

From To

Report version: Date of preparation:

1/11/2007 31/10/2009 Final 23rd July 2009 first draft prepared in consultation and circulated to partners on 31st July final draft circulated to partners for final comment on 9th September 2009. Final version circulated 16th October 2009.

Beneficiary organisation:

Stichting Combined European Bureau for Social Development

Project coordinator: Project coordinator organisation: Project coordinator telephone number: Project coordinator email address:

Margo Gorman Combined European Bureau for Social Development +353749723129 [email protected]

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This report reflects the views only of the TLCD partnership, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

Enter the full project number here

2 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

Executive Summary The European-funded project on Training and Learning for Community Development is run by Consortium of 16 partners from non-Governmental organisations under the leadership of the Combined European Bureau for Social Development. The Consortium of 16 partners working on Training and Learning for Community Development met as a group in November 2007 in The Hague (NL), in Palermo in November 2008 and at the Sofia Seminar in May 2009. Partners have a strong commitment to working in partnership on Training and Learning for Community Development in order to apply the results and outcomes of past and current Grundtvig Programme actions to the field training and learning. A photo on the boat “Europé” taken at joint event on European dialogue became a symbol of horizontal networking with a view of Europe as the sum of the places where people live their everyday lives. It was then combined with the Catalonian Castellers, which symbolised a human tower of European Citizens reaching vertically towards the structures of European institutions. In the Sofia Seminar on Dissemination, the presentations on Citizens’ Participation Week and the Council of Europe’s European Local Democracy week demonstrated the actions relating to these symbols. The triangle of exchange between citizens, professionals and policymakers at all levels was identified in the project as a key activity to promote participation in Life Long Learning. Learning was shared with other more locally based training projects such as the Project “Curriculum for Adult Education in Rural Areas in Romania CAERA”. 225352-CP-12005-1-RO-GRUNDTVIG-G1. The evaluation was carried out by Guenther Lorenz from Tech-net, Berlin which is lead partner in another project (www.cest-transfer.de), where the objective is to transfer a successfully tested curriculum for the social economy, including its community development component, in a way that multipliers individually can apply, assess and monitor. Synergies were also sought with Eastern Europe through the Central and Eastern Citizens’ Network. Whilst the project itself was limited to the European Union, dissemination had a wider scope through connections with the Council of Europe and NGO networks such as the International Association for Community Development. During this process partners have revisited the application of core principles of Community Development (as described in the Guidelines for Training and Learning for Community Development produced in the Grundtvig 4 project 2006) to training and learning systems. The Consortium seeks means of establishing continuous open networking in a field dominated by short term funding measures. It had its origins in a previous partnership in 2006, which identified the triangle of exchange between citizens, professionals and policymakers as a key activity to promote participation in Life Long Learning. The work programme started in November 2007 with a planning meeting of the Consortium in the Netherlands. This led to a series of experimental relay visits where partners carried analysis of Training and Learning in Community Development from Belgium to Hungary; from Hungary to the United Kingdom; from the United Kingdom to Slovakia; and from Slovakia to Germany. The relay visits included field visits and were backed up by electronic networking. The involvement of local professionals from Local Authorities, nongovernmental organisations, and educational organisations enriched the level of exchange and learning from practice. At the Laboratory in Sweden in October 2008, partners distilled lessons from relay visits to make the process of networking At the Seminar in Sofia, the CEGA Foundation, assisted by a Seminar team, created a working context where peer learning was set in the context of the principles of equality and intercultural exchange. 51 participants from 24 countries and 39 organisations explored methods of interactive dissemination where methods and techniques for training are adjusted to the context and to the participants, whilst maintaining adherence to the highest standards of practice in training and learning. Using the OPERA method, participants set priorities for dissemination and sustainable exchange based around identifying 150 active multipliers.

Enter the full project number here

3 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

Table of Contents 1. PROJECT APPROACH............................................................................................6 2. PROJECT OUTCOMES AND RESULTS.................................................................7 Suggested Action.................................................................................................................12 3. PARTNERSHIPS....................................................................................................14 4. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE....................................................................................16 5. CONTRIBUTION TO EU POLICIES.......................................................................17 6. EXTRA HEADING/SECTION.................................................................................20 Fragile...............................................................................................................................20

Enter the full project number here

4 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

Project Objectives Main aim: To set up a consortium which will take the lead in networking to apply the results and outcomes of past and current Grundtvig Programme actions to the field of community-based training and learning in order to draw maximum benefit from the exchange of good practice and implications for European policy. a) To develop the European dimension of the consortium, providing feedback on the application of the core principles of Community Development to training and learning systems at a national level within the context of the Lifelong Learning Programme and making connections with other member states. b) To set up an interactive network, combining Relay visits, electronic networking and increased mobility for exchange of learning and good practice; and linking the national and European level with a focus on links with Grundtvig actions. c) To animate the interactive network by establishing multipliers who are in touch with local level trainers engaged in training and learning for Community Development and identify 150 named multipliers in national and/or European networking by mid 2009. d) To increase networking from practice to policy specifically in relationship to the draft European guidelines for training and learning for community development developed in Budapest in 2006. e) To extrapolate shared lessons on data collection and analysis for core indicators: Civic skills and Professional Development from exchanges in line with the Open Method of Co-ordination In the implementation phase in 2008 these objectives were given specific focus in the aims of the Relay visits and the aims of the Laboratory (see reports).

Enter the full project number here

5 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

1.

Project Approach

The project is based on incorporating diversity into shared Purpose, Process and Principles that underpin the design and delivery of Training and Learning for Community Development. The core principles were developed in a European project on Social Inclusion where CEBSD was also the lead partner and they are described in the publication Including the Excluded, Paul Henderson, published by Policy Press www.policypress.org. ISBN 1-86134-745-6. They incorporate discussion of what is meant by community, which in the words of CEBSD “embraces locality, common interests and shared identity.” (Page 14, Including the Excluded), (see also Appendix A for more information on background material to the Training and Learning for Community Development project.) The CEBSD definition recognises the distinctiveness of diverse communities, while recognising common patterns across Europe and potential connection and individual links to a number of ‘communities’ of place, interest or identity (e.g. shared ethnic or cultural or age-related identity). In training and learning a sense of ‘community’ implies engagement with the development of civil society. Members of CEBSD give priority to different areas within community development for example participative democracy; intercultural mediation; sustainable development; anti-poverty and social exclusion. All partners in the Consortium for Training and Learning for Community Development have the role of assessing and sharing the relevance of the outcomes and outputs to their practice and the responsibility to act as multipliers of lessons from good practice. This includes responsibility for sharing the results of their exchanges with other non-governmental organisations and to network with similar bodies at a local, regional and national level. CEBSD as lead partner has responsibility for ensuring the progress of the project and overall management. Partners are also involved in management of the work packages and at the management meeting in Palermo, the Consortium members will nominate participants for the Seminar in Sofia, BG and will incorporate these organisations into networking at a national and European level. The task of dissemination of lessons from the project is based on the concept identified in the guidelines and reiterated in the relay visits and laboratory that training and learning is an interactive process. The demands on adherence to the highest standards of training and learning becomes both more real and more demanding as it demands a high level of commitment to engagement with lifelong learning. In the dissemination process, partners seek to integrate common purpose, process and values into the practice of TLCD in Europe. This interactive process is rooted in the core principles:  Equality, Diversity, Tolerance  Partnership,  Solidarity and Co-operation  Participation  Creative and Innovative Organisation ‘Community’ includes a vision of Europe as the sum of communities not as a superimposed power structure. Multipliers are committed to further exchange on what ‘community’ and ‘participation’ means in the diverse cultures of Europe. Development is achieved through valuing the multi-facetted, diverse contribution to achieving common purpose. Training and learning is tailor-made and interactive.

Enter the full project number here

6 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

2.

Project Outcomes and Results

Objective (a) To develop the European dimension of the consortium, providing feedback on the application of the core principles of Community Development to training and learning systems at a national level within the context of the Lifelong Learning Programme and making connections with other member states The Consortium Meetings which took place in The Hague, Palermo and Sofia worked on achieving objective a through partnership methods which developed the European dimension of the consortium, providing feedback on the application of the core principles of Community Development to training and learning systems at a national level. Through these non-governmental organisations, some of which had no previous experience of the Lifelong Learning Programme made connections with other member states and other programmes. The first Consortium meeting of the 16 partners from 14 countries engaged all partners in action planning and implementation and focussed on objectives (a) and (b). They set up the interactive network combining Relay visits, electronic networking and increased mobility for exchange of learning and good practice linking the national and European level, and set up a relay of Exchanges in Brussels (BE), Budapest (HU), London/Cardiff(UK), Banska Bystrica (SK) and Berlin (DE). In the process they made links with LLP actions such as People in Politics project, led by Sagene (NO); the European Dialogue project led by HACD (HU) and training projects such as the Project “Curriculum for Adult Education in Rural Areas in Romania and Tech-net, Berlin which is lead partner in another project (www.cesttransfer.de), where the objective is to transfer a successfully tested curriculum for the social economy, including its community development component, in a way that multipliers individually can apply, assess and monitor it. An additional final Consortium meeting was organised in Oreboro in Sweden in October2009. Objective (b) To set up an interactive network combining Relay visits, electronic networking and increased mobility for exchange of learning and good practice linking the national and European level, with a focus on links with Grundtvig actions. The following partners acted as hosts for relay visits and participated in the process: Host of Relay Visit Participants in Relay visit and No of No laboratory Mobil of ities parti cipa nts Samenlevingsopbouw Fundacaió Desenvolupament 2 4 Vlaanderen (BE) Comunitari (ES) IRDSU Inter-reseaux des NFP Professionels de Développement Social Urbain (FR) The Hungarian MOVISIE Kennis an advies voor 3 8 Association for maatschappelijke ontwikkeling (NL) Community Community Workers Co-operative Development (IE) Közösségfejlesztők NFP Egyesülete: (HU) Samenlevingsopbouw Vlaanderen (BE) Enter the full project number here

7 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

Community Development Foundation (U.K)

Фондация С.Е.Г.А. – Старт за 3 8 ефективни граждански алтернативи Creating Effective inc Grassroots Alternatives, (BG) 2 The Hungarian Association for PUB Community Development Közösségfejlesztők Egyesülete (HU) LOC Fundatia PACT – Parteneriat pentru actiune comunitara si transformare (RO) Center for Community CE.S.I.E –Centro Studi ed Initiative 3 8 Organising: Centrum Europeo NFP Komunitného Centre of Studies and European Organizovania CKO Initiatives (SK), Community Development Foundation (UK) Kommunales Forum e.V. (DE) Kommunales Forum Center for Community Organising: 2 8 e.V. Centrum Komunitného inc1 Organizovania CKO (SK), PUB Stiftelsen Idébanken, The Ideas -loc Bank Foundation The relay host partner also involved other participants a local, regional or national level from universities, adult education and non-governmental organisations and included field visits. Partners explored the history of Community Development and how it is understood in the national context. They looked at professional standards and citizen involvement. Full reports on the exchange of experience during each relay, including references to field visits, are available on the website of the Combined European Bureau for Social Development (www.cebsd.org). Objective (d) To increase networking from practice to policy specifically in relationship to the draft European guidelines for training and learning for community development developed in Budapest in 2006. The Centrum för Samhällsarbete och Mobilisering /Centre for Community Development and Local Mobilization CESAM, Sweden in partnership with the City of Malmo hosted 16 partners from 15 different countries from 15th-18th October 2008 at the ‘Laboratory’ where the cumulative lessons from the transfer of experience were shared. Host Participants in Laboratory Partner: Stichting Combined European Bureau for Social Centrum för Development (NL) and Samhällsarbete och Inter-reseaux des Professionels de Développement Mobilisering /Centre for Social Urbain CommuniMobilization (SE) 1) MOVISIE Kennis an advies voor maatschappelijke + ontwikkeling (NL) Malmö District Council 2). Samenlevingsopbouw Vlaanderen (BE) with 8 participants in 3) Фондация С.Е.Г.А. – Старт за ефективни Laboratory граждански алтернативи Creating Effective Grassroots Alternatives, (BG) 4) Community Development Foundation (UK) 5) KSS (Kristeligt Studenter-Settlement)

Enter the full project number here

8 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

Christian Student Settlement (DK) 6)Paritaetisches Bildungswerk Bundesverband (DE) 7)Fundació Desenvolupament Comunitari 8)CESAM (host) 9)Community Workers Co-operative (IE) 10)CE.S.I.E –Centro Studi ed Initiative Europeo Centre of Studies and European Initiatives (IT) 11) Kommunales Forum e.V. (DE) 13)The Hungarian Association for Community 14)Development Közösségfejlesztők Egyesülete (HU) Fundatia PACT – Parteneriat pentru actiune comunitara si transformare (RO 15)Center for Community Organising: Centrum Komunitného Organizovania CKO (SK), 16) Stiftelsen Idébanken, The Ideas Bank Foundation The Laboratory had two main aims:  

To distil main lessons and results from all relay visits To identify creative methods for networking and dissemination of results

Partners analysed the most significant elements from the exchanges so far. They experimented with methods of passing on information and knowledge in the search for priorities for action and policy in the field of training and learning from Community Development. They worked on the most important points for further dissemination. (See report of Laboratory for more details.) The process of exchange in the Laboratory clarified the common agenda amongst partners. Partners agreed to carry forward the findings from the Relay visits into the process of dissemination. The laboratory used working methodologies based on utilising linguistic and cultural diversity as an asset. They worked on how to engage with the development of civic competences within a European dynamic. Objective (c To animate the interactive network by establishing multipliers who are in touch with local level trainers engaged in training and learning for Community Development and identify 150 named multipliers in national and/or European networking by mid 2009 The material from the actions was fed into the planning and follow up to the Consortium meeting in Palermo where CESIE took a lead. There was a steady process of mutual learning during the project and in year 2, the main focus was on animating interaction between partners and multipliers at a local level. This was translated to the European level through the planning of the Seminar and Sofia and its follow-up. Each partner had experience in the field of community based training and learning and was therefore able to bring their knowledge and skills to exchanges and dissemination. In addition the representation of many diverse EU realities has permitted the TLCD Consortium to identify a clear path in European policy linking lifelong learning to democratic participation. The diversity of EU countries and the diverse realities of experience that each partner brought meant that the multiplication and dissemination process was so strong that the number of organisations and countries involved in the project expanded during the project lifetime. The project attracted interest from Member States of the Council of Europe and the seminar in

Enter the full project number here

9 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

Sofia was open to their participation where participants could secure their own visas and funding for travel and subsistence. N 1.

Name Lies Beunens

Organization Samenlevingsopbouw Vlaanderen

Country Belgium

2.

Nancy Van Landegem

Samenlevingsopbouw WestVlaanderen

Belgium

3.

Mate Varga

HACD

Hungary

4.

Peter Petak

Association for the Community of Istenkút

Hungary

5.

Ferenc Péterfi

HACD

Hungary

6.

Oonagh Mc Ardle

NUI, Maynooth

Ireland

7.

Ann Irwin

CWC

Ireland

8.

Aiden Lloyd

Pobal

Ireland

9.

Xavier Pérez Sánchez

Artibarri , Comunitats Creatives per al Canvi Social

Spain

10.

Gianni Orsini

Fundació Desenvolupament Comunitari

Spain

11.

Helen Animashaun

CDF

UK

12.

Teodora Borghoff

Europe Regional Director for IACD

Romania

13.

Rose-Marie Mazzoni

Stadsdelsförvaltning södra Innerstaden Processledare

Sweden

14.

Emelie Wieslander

Projektledare för Dialoglabbet, Garaget

Sweden

15.

Hans-Georg Rennert

Kommmunales Forum Wedding e.V.

Germany

16.

Margo Gorman

CEBSD

Ireland

17.

Günther Lorenz

Technologie-Netzwerk Berlin e.V.

Germany

Enter the full project number here

10 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

18.

Benjamin Williams IACD

Scotland

19.

Magnus Nilsson

Norway

20.

Kristine Ford

Unit for Sustainability, Department of Culture and Community Affairs, Municipal district of Sagene in Oslo Batteriet/The Battery

21.

Kirsten Paaby

The Ideas Bank Foundation

Norway

23.

Tatiana Puscasu

TERRA-1530

Moldova

24.

Petru Botnaru

TERRA-1530

Moldova

25.

Dmytro Koval

Regional Development Agency “Donbass” Ukraine

Ukraine

26.

Gleb Tyurin

Russia

27.

Hans Andersson

Institute for Social and Humanistic Initiatives CESAM

28.

Ivana Bursikova

AGORA

Czech Republic

29.

Krzysztof Leonczuk

OWOP

Poland

30.

Nicu Cuta

CRONO

Romania

31.

Igor Stojanovic

CCI

Bosnia and Herzegov ina

32.

Mirela Despotovic

CCI

Croatia

33.

Helmut Hallemaa

Estonian NGO Round Table

Estonia

34.

Giorgi Meskhidze

CIVITAS

Georgia

35.

Chuck Hirt

CCO

Slovakia

36.

Anna Karailieva

CCE CN

Slovakia

37.

Petra Claudius

PBW

Germany

Enter the full project number here

Norway

Sweden

11 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

38.

Romania

40.

Ruxandra PACT Sasu Mariana ARDC Gheorghiu Georgiana Gavrila PACT

41.

Anca Gaidos

PACT

Romania

42.

Rozalia Csaki

PACT

Romania

43.

Sarah Beale

CESIE

Italy

44.

Fenny Gerrits

MOVISIE

45.

John Grayson

AdEd Knowledge Company

Netherlan ds UK

46.

Marion Horton

AdEd Knowledge Company

UK

47.

Ilona Vercseg

HACD

Hungary

48.

Carole Dane

IRDSU

France

49.

Marta Dozy

Police Academie

50.

Jos Lemmers

Head of the Department for Democratic Participation Council of Europe

Netherlan ds Strasbour g

51.

Emil Metodiev

CEGA

Bulgaria

52.

Boriana Krasteva

CEGA

Bulgaria

53.

CEGA

Bulgaria

54.

Liuba Batembergska Vladislav Petkov

CEGA

Bulgaria

55.

Rumyan Sechkov

CEGA

Bulgaria

39.

Romania Romania

Participants worked together to identify priorities and link them to plans for joint action see report of Sofia Seminar for more details. Priority Themes Suggested Action Develop shared tools

Enter the full project number here

Exchange and use existing tools through

12 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

for learning

the network of multipliers and their websites as presented in the marketplace. For example GRUNDTVIG-G1 Project “Curriculum for Adult Education in Rural Areas – CAERA in Romania. Develop connections between centers of learning e.g. Garaget in Malmo,Sweden, Sprengelhaus in Berlin, Germany, Civil College in Kunbabony, Hungary Maintain Use the blog and other interactive, Communication electronic means. Use e-mail groups actively. Tell other multipliers what I am doing locally or nationally. Values, principles, Do a local or national workshop on the standards values, principles and standards shared by participants in the project on Training and Learning for Community Development (See Sofia booklet and notes below.) Develop peer exchanges and share the results. Keep up peer pressure! Work towards adaptable European standards but avoid standardisation! Fund-raising, Work with existing networks under the structure and leadership of partner organizations, organisation CEBSD and CEECN to identify potential funds and set up structures to support networking. Get funds for an event in 2010 The most challenging objective has been to extrapolate shared lessons on data collection and analysis for core indicators for Civic skills and Professional Development from exchanges in line with the Open Method of Co-ordination. Whilst partners have a high commitment to concepts such as best practice, peer learning and peer pressure as a means to exchange, modify and implement national policies– they struggle with how to make these a reality at a European level and are not linked directly to National actions using the OMC for Lifelong learning. (See Section 6 on Contribution to EU policies) Finding 150 potential multipliers has not been difficult as the project has generated widespread interest but collecting data on them is a major challenge. To sustain the level of networking and interest, future administrative back-up and creative organisation is needed. This is a major challenge for the future.

Enter the full project number here

13 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

3.

Partnerships

Shared responsibility for Management Under the leadership of the Executive Committee of the Combined European Bureau for Social Development – partners have played an active role as hosts of exchanges and acted as a link to local, regional and national practice in Training and Learning for Community Development. Partners have used their work and negotiation of Partner Agreements as a means of reviewing the commitments that they made in the design of the project. Some have made changes. Creating Effective Grassroots Alternatives, BG, suffered a sad and sudden loss of the key contact as she was preparing to attend the first meeting of the Consortium but in spite of this have maintained their commitment and involvement as full partners. Kristeligt Studenter Settlementet, DK, found that they have less time to devote to the project than anticipated but wish to stay involved. Asociata Romană Dezvoltatre, RO, had some difficulties sustaining their full involvement in direct exchanges but have kept up consistent electronic and phone contact and made contributions to the development of theory. All other partners have fulfilled the commitments made at the design stages. Shared contribution to the success of the project During the implementation of the project each partner from the consortium has contributed to the project by the role they had at the designing of the project. Each host has taken responsibility for organizing and elaborating the Relay visits. They have managed relevant agendas and local representation. They managed events and took full commitment for elaborating and disseminating the results of the visits. Each member of the consortium has been contacted and received reports from events. The shared contribution had most effect in the preparation of common reports after each Relay visit. Every partner participated at a Relay visit had responsibility and commitment to respond and common reports have been developed. The partners were active in the First Consortium meeting in The Haag, the Relay Visits and the Laboratory in Malmo. They had full commitment to the needs of the Training and Learning for Community Development context as well as for each single participant. The Consortium members met again in Palermo, Italy in November 2008 where they planned sustainable dissemination of results with a focus on the Sofia Seminar. Planning and participation in this event and follow up put the emphasis on maximum participation and teamwork. Please contact any of the partners or the consortium for more information. Details of each partner on the blog www.tl4cd.wordpress.com New Partnerships Relations New networks have evolved in the course of the TLCD project. It has developed links with the Grundtvig project People and Politics. A special relationship between citizen participation in Life Long Learning emerged in the contact between the foundation Combined European Bureau for Social Development and the Central and Eastern European Citizens Network. The project has also led to the development of some bilateral relationships. This has provided opportunity to apply the results of past and current actions in Life Long Learning programmes to the field of training and learning in Community Development in specific local contexts. Partners take

Enter the full project number here

14 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

responsibility for drawing the maximum benefit from the exchange of good practice and identifying the implications for European policy. The Consortium stimulates exchanges at local, regional, national and European level and disseminates guidelines and methodologies developed locally on the following topics:   

Shared definitions of core concepts of Training and learning for Community Development Training and learning related to the development of civic skills Training and learning related to professional development and policy development

Enter the full project number here

15 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

4.

Plans for the Future

The project Training and Learning for Community Development sought to establish methods of sustained exchange, networking and dissemination. At Consortium meetings in The Hague and Palermo, partners reviewed arrangements for Management and Administration of Consortium and worked together on a vision and plan for sustainable dissemination. The main focus of this work in 2007-2008 was the Relay Visits and Laboratory and in 2008-2009 the main focus was collaboration on the Sofia Seminar and identifying 150 multipliers. In addition, PACT, Romania, reworked the Dissemination Plan. One of the possible future methods of sustainable exchange is to work through Centres of Excellence which engage local participation whilst maintaining a vision of Europe such as the Garaget in Malmo (SE) CESIE Centre in Palermo (IT), Sprengelhaus in Berlin (DE) and Sagene Community Centre in Oslo (NO) are all willing to be centres for further exchange on lifelong learning. The Laboratory was held in the Garaget in Malmo, Sweden. This is a local authority project – a resource centre and library designed by local people in co-operation with the local authority. They offered to collate resources and materials relevant to Training and learning for Community Development from across Europe. Another important development has been closer collaboration between the Central and Eastern Citizens’ Network, CEBSD and the Consortium. Additional Skills in networking and in gathering material and resources have extended the scope of the Consortium for Training and Learning and this will form a core around which multipliers can maintain contact and continue to integrate the dissemination of lessons from the project into the work practices. The third element which is essential to sustained progress is the creation of a website and Blog. www.tl4cd.org, which is dedicated to dissemination of results of the project. Steps have been taken to clarify the role of multipliers in increasing awareness of Life Long Learning in community settings and their role in dissemination. Multipliers will make a commitment to integrate the plans for dissemination into their work practices into their networks. They have been asked to make a profile available on the TLCD blog. The Combined European Bureau for Social Development and the Central and Eastern Citizens’ Network will act as contact points for multipliers. The Consortium has its origins historically in the Budapest Declaration in March 2004 on ‘Building European Civil Society through Community Development’, which contained Articles 4,5,6 and 21,22,23 relevant to Training and Learning for Community Development. At the Laboratory in Malmo, it was proposed that the actions taken in the Grundtvig 4 project 225315-1-2005-1-NL and the current actions could contribute to a major review of the Budapest Declaration in the context of the Lisbon Process. The new networks developed in the course of the project will be a resource for collaboration on future exchanges. Opportunities for cross-fertilization of networks have been identified as the main product from the TLCD project. One of the greatest challenges as identified by the evaluation is to keep the focus and ensure it is not lost or overwhelmed in the incorporation into everyday work. The other challenge is the direct involvement of citizens in planning opportunities for non-formal education.

Enter the full project number here

16 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

5.

Contribution to EU policies

In the Laboratory in Malmo, Partners identified the low level and patchy awareness of the Lisbon Process among training providers of Community Development as problematic and struggled to engage with the Open Method of Coordination. Partners also lack engagement with tools for policy development on lifelong learning at a national or European level. On the positive side, methods identified by partners in Training and Learning for Community Development could make a contribution to the involvement of local communities and interest-based or identity based communities with democratic processes in the Lisbon Agenda. This is most apparent in the openings provided by the Central and Eastern Citizens’ Network, which holds annual Citizen Participation Weeks. The K4 project on Training and Learning for Community Development has demonstrated that there are opportunities through peer review and peer learning processes to increase awareness of European policy on lifelong learning from the “bottom-up”. In the Laboratory, links were made between Citizenship education and Training and Learning for Community Development. Partners were inspired by Gianni Orsini of Fundació Desenvolupament Comunitari who brought home to partners the importance of European links in bridging local and global in the Laboratory in Malmo, ‘A European framework can ensure that on-going education in citizenship really happens, through resources, delivery and through the facilitation of a structural framework which ensure that a proper mechanism exist to make a bottom up process sustainable. When we think of Community Development, we think very often locally (the French definition of Community Development says, for example, “developpement social local”). On the other hand, globalisation doesn’t concern only the global level any longer. Globalisation concerns the local level as well. We cannot consider ‘local” without associating “global” to it and vice-versa. This is the new paradigm for transformation action! We should be pro-active on policy instead of getting their money and subscribe our action in their framework. Lobby work at the European level could help each national organisation to ally with others and be in position have more impact at the national level. Thus, the European framework gives the impetus and the strength to be pro-active. We should struggle against the construction of a closed and “secure” or “Fortress” Europe. Immigration shouldn’t be presented as a problem, but as a challenge. We must be able to open borders to a good practices exchange, between South and North, and East and West. The Consortium translated part of this vision into action in the Seminar in Sofia in Bulgaria where there was a dynamic exchange between Community Developers from Eastern and Western Europe. The Second year of the project also added action to the image conjured by Kirsten Paaby, Ideas Bank, Norway at the Laboratory in Malmo, Sweden, She envisaged a vision of Europe closer to citizens with a combination of a horizontal and vertical perspective. The horizontal level based on people to people exchange and linked to other networks such as the Central and Eastern European Citizens’ Network and especially the Citizen Participation Week which they organise at national level. The vertical level from practice to policy – from bottom up to the top is symbolised by the Catalonian Castellers, reaching the European Stars where European Citizens/human towers reach Europe vertically. How can our practice influence the policy structured to support inclusion of each individual? Important steps have been taken to weave the horizontal citizen-to-citizen approach and the vertical impact from

Enter the full project number here

17 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

bottom-up practice to European policy into the training and learning practices of the partners. The Seminar in Sofia developed a plan for networking among 150 committed multipliers. This could be related through education and training to the proposed new legal basis for relations between EU and civil society under Article 8: ‘Every citizen will have the right to participate in the democratic life of the Union. Decisions shall be taken as openly and as closely as possible to the citizen.’ On the negative side, the low level of awareness and engagement with the Lisbon Process and the Lisbon Agenda among partner organisations is a major obstacle to further progress in involving lower-skilled and marginalized populations. There is insufficient use of peer learning and peer review to make the connections needed at every level to reach Lisbon Targets. A Community Development approach offers the opportunity to help identify tools and methods more appropriate to training and learning for groups at a local level, regional level, national level and European level. The big question of how to have an impact on European policy is one the Consortium has struggled with in the second year of the project. Two strands have emerged – one is achieving collaboration on European Standards for Community Work and the other is increased collaboration with the Council of Europe and the European Commission on Citizen Participation. The panel session in the Sofia Seminar gave a context to this collaboration. Ilona Vercseg of the Hungarian Association for Community Development spoke about the continued relevance of the Budapest Declaration which inspired the original TLCD project. Chuck Hirt, Centre for Community Organising, Slovkia described the realities of Citizen Participation Week and Jos Lemmers gave it a European dimension in his presentation of European Local Democracy Week. Ilona Vercseg accepted the commitment to empowerment in Community Development training but suggested the addition of “special emphasis to 3 fields: the socialisation process of young people; community and democratic socialisation in the CEE regions; and non-formal education for adults. “ She also emphasised that “Europe and its member states must provide more community-based training and learning opportunities in order to strengthen civil society, by developing awareness on community and democracy, and perspectives on social, economic and environmental policy.” In his presentation on Citizen Participation Weeks, Chuck Hirt described how “It seemed to the Central and Eastern Citizens’ Network that it was appropriate to Eastern countries and now we are a bit surprised that Western countries are saying we need this too. CEECN is now faced with the challenge of broadening it to include more countries and more organisations. We want to keep this event separate from the Council of Europe led democracy week because it is bottom up.” Jos Lemmers of the Council of Europe expressed the potential for making the two ends meet, “European Local Democracy Week is the occasion for raising local councillors’ and local civil servants’ awareness of democratic participation and enables them to meet their fellow citizens in an informal, entertaining and sometimes festive setting. It is an opportunity to debate on issues of local interest, to assess citizens’ needs more accurately, to establish a relationship of confidence and to pass on a message of mutual responsibility. And all this to also remind citizens and local civil servants of the European context in which towns and cities operate and of the common values in respect of human rights, democracy and social cohesion. It goes without saying that an initiative, which enjoys the dual support of the NGO community active on local democracy issues – and of the elected leadership at municipal level, could go a long way to make two ends meet.”

Enter the full project number here

18 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

Links between the participation of citizens, awareness raising and the uptake of opportunities for Life Long Learning urgently need to be explored further with more active involvement directly from citizen groups supported directly by nongovernmental or governmental organisations.

Enter the full project number here

19 / 20

Training and Learning for Community Development

6.

Extra Heading/Section

Fragile The second year of the project has reinforced the fragility of Community Development work on Training and Learning. Many non-governmental organisations, large and small, struggle to survive in the current economic climate. Local and national government agencies are also less able to mainstream innovative Community Development initiatives. The fragility of the connections through nongovernmental organisations to the most precarious peoples of Europe is reflected in the low levels of resources and input into supporting Training and Learning for Community Development at a national level. Any substantial improvement in uptake in non-formal adult education demands a change in funding practices at a national level. Cross-cutting One of the strengths of Training and Learning for Community Development is through an approach to social inclusion which is multi-dimensional and runs through policies for urban and rural development, Local Agenda 21, health, sustainable development, citizenship, civil society and the social economy. Community development has a history of involvement in these areas and using participative methods in training and learning designed to improve the overall quality of community life. In a crisis situation this strength can become a weakness as there is a lack of recognisable focus. Community Development and Community Organising One of the issues that emerged during the relay visits was the distinction between Community Development and Community Organising. The discussions on this were presented in the Laboratory in Malmo, Sweden. Partners agreed that it is important to continue networking together and to see these approaches as complementary (See Paul Cromwell and Randy Stoecker’s papers to give background to the distinctions between the two approaches as they are defined in the US and how they can be complementary.) Note: This report reflects the views only of the TLCD Consortium and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use, which may be made of the information contained therein.

Enter the full project number here

20 / 20