Training and Learning for Community

Development

Final Report Public Part

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Training and Learning for Community Development

Project information
Project acronym: TLCD
Project title: Training and Learning for Community Development
Project number: 135744-NL-KA4MP
2007-2206
Sub-programme or KA: KA4
Project website: www.cebsd.org

Reporting period: From 1/11/2007

To 31/10/2009
Report version: Final
Date of preparation: 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: Margo Gorman

Project coordinator organisation: Combined European Bureau for Social Development
Project coordinator telephone number: +353749723129
Project coordinator email address: Co-ordinator@cebsd.org

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.

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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 policy-
makers 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-1-
2005-1-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 policy-
makers 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, non-
governmental 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.

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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

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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).

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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.

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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.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 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)

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Training and Learning for Community Development

Community Фондация С.Е.Г.А. – Старт за 3 8

Development ефективни граждански
Foundation (U.K) 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)

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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

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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 Name Organization Country

1. Lies Beunens Samenlevingsopbouw Belgium
Vlaanderen

2. Nancy Van Samenlevingsopbouw West- Belgium

Landegem Vlaanderen

3. Mate Varga HACD Hungary

4. Peter Petak Association for the Community Hungary

of Istenkút

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 Artibarri , Comunitats Creatives Spain

Sánchez per al Canvi Social

10. Gianni Orsini Fundació Desenvolupament Spain

Comunitari

11. Helen CDF UK

Animashaun

12. Teodora Borghoff Europe Regional Director for Romania

IACD

13. Rose-Marie Stadsdelsförvaltning södra Sweden

Mazzoni Innerstaden Processledare

14. Emelie Projektledare för Dialoglabbet, Sweden

Wieslander Garaget

15. Hans-Georg Kommmunales Forum Germany

Rennert Wedding e.V.

16. Margo Gorman CEBSD Ireland

17. Günther Lorenz Technologie-Netzwerk Berlin Germany

e.V.

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Training and Learning for Community Development

18. Benjamin Williams IACD Scotland

19. Magnus Nilsson Unit for Sustainability, Norway

Department of Culture and
Community Affairs, Municipal
district of Sagene in Oslo
20. Kristine Ford Batteriet/The Battery Norway

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 Ukraine

“Donbass” Ukraine

26. Gleb Tyurin Institute for Social and Russia

Humanistic Initiatives
27. Hans Andersson CESAM Sweden

28. Ivana Bursikova AGORA Czech

Republic

29. Krzysztof OWOP Poland

Leonczuk

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

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Training and Learning for Community Development

38. Ruxandra PACT Romania

Sasu
39. Mariana ARDC Romania
Gheorghiu
40. Georgiana Gavrila PACT Romania

41. Anca Gaidos PACT Romania

42. Rozalia Csaki PACT Romania

43. Sarah Beale CESIE Italy

44. Fenny Gerrits MOVISIE Netherlan

ds
45. John Grayson AdEd Knowledge Company UK

46. Marion Horton AdEd Knowledge Company UK

47. Ilona Vercseg HACD Hungary

48. Carole Dane IRDSU France

49. Marta Dozy Police Academie Netherlan

ds
50. Jos Lemmers Head of the Department for Strasbour
Democratic Participation - g
Council of Europe

51. Emil Metodiev CEGA Bulgaria

52. Boriana Krasteva CEGA Bulgaria

53. Liuba CEGA Bulgaria

Batembergska
54. Vladislav Petkov CEGA Bulgaria

55. Rumyan Sechkov CEGA Bulgaria

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 Exchange and use existing tools through

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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 Co-
ordination. 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

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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.”

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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 non-
governmental or governmental organisations.

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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 non-
governmental 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.

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