THE EVALUATED IMPACT OF THE TRAINING, 3 MONTHS AFTER ITS IMPLEMENTATION

It is well known that short term memory sustains most of the information for a few days after the learning process and only the essential information is retained on a long term basis. To be able to measure more accurately participant’s increase of knowledge due to the training process we have asked them to assess their knowledge on the training topics before, and 3 months after the training. The measured results include a group of 29 participants for the pre-Q and 15 participants for the post Q.

Graph 1 and 2 show the self assessed level of knowledge about the 10 topics of sustainable development approached in the training. While graph 1 shows the comparison between the average level of knowledge of the group, before and after the training, graph 2 presents the % increase of knowledge for the 10 topics.  The highest increase of declared knowledge was registered for the general topic of “global education”, while “migrants/refugees” was seen as the topic out of which the participants got the least new information.

Further on, the next 4 graphics show the general overview of participant’s knowledge of the topics of sustainable development, before and after the training. While before the training, more then half of participants declared to have an average knowledge of the topic and 11% barely knew anything about it, after the training everyone felt confident enough to declare at least a medium level of knowledge of the topics. Observing graph 3 and 5 we find that 87 % of the people who filled in the follow-up questionnaire feel very confident on the knowledge they hold on sustainable development issues, which shows a 52% increase from the moment before the training took place, even 3 months after its completion.

Graph 1. Level of declared knowledge about the 10 topics of the training, measured before & after the TC

Graph 2. Graph 3   Graph 4  Graph 5  Graph 6

WHAT PARTICIPANTS TOOK WITH THEM AFTER THE COURSE:

Based on the activities and session developed during the project as well on the results from them extracted from the evaluation activities, our participants:

• Acquired new skills and knowledge about sustainable development ;
• Were equipped with the different tools and methods to act as multpliers and make „awarness making“ projects;
• Are able now to implement global perspective in their work and in their everyday reality;
• Improved their communication, leadership and teamwork skills;
• Have now a proactive and assertive attitude to global differenences ;
• Gained a greater understanding of the Youth in Action programme and its benefits for the youth work on the international level;
• Transfered gained knowledge and skills into new initiatives and projects within the Youth in Action programme;
• Developed new international partnerships and cooperation;
• Developed new local projects incorporating sustainable development topics;
• Have now a greater understanding of intercultural learning as a powerful tool to create tolerance.

What are their opinions about the training?

Great group, great people, alot of new things, interesting challenges and future partners.

I still keep in contact with some of the participants. I guess this training was one of the best for me. I’ve been also in other trainings but they weren’t that strong on developing projects and they were more focused on delivering as much information as possible. So I can say that I left the training with the openness to work on other projects also and maybe soon I will do something in that sense.

I created a small little group into my drama group who would be interested in working on street theatre. I also talk to a squat which would be interested to put in order the bread movement from October.

What encouraged me mostly, are the motivated people preparing and organizing future global learning activities: the amount of offers sent, of seminars / trainings / methodological material, some of which my organization can join as well.

In September hopefully we will use some of the games I learned in the training course , during laboratories in schools with primary and secondary schools

The materials especially, I used for the TC I organised 11-17 of June – EuroMed TC “Sustainable tools”.

I got good contacts for future networking and projects.

GLOBAL EDUCATION MULTIPLIERS : 10 out of 15 people said YES, they consider themselves as such. Here are some of their comments:

• I forward the knowledge, experience, motivation, inspiration,… to others – volunteers, youth, children, or also teachers at primary schools. Even if I don´t see direct impact (just to some level) at the seminars, I hope from longer perspective, it has sence, and it will be re-used.
• Romania’s trainig really motivated me to be even louder (;-)  about the different issues we have been working on during the training. I start reading on internet many ideas how to develop drama and global education issues.
• Working on a Development education project, where I provide trainigs to students about lots of the topics of Global education concept.
• Even before the TC I was a Global Education Multiplier at some non-formal level because I was already involved in promoting the MDGs in projects regardingeducation, women rights, children rights or global partnership, but after the TC the fact that I actively participated in this „non-formal intercultural awareness training” I became more responsible towards disseminating the principle of Global Education not only in my projects but also in the day to day life. I always give people one example of awakening that came upon one of the participants that told me at the end of the TC: „From now on I will always close the faucet while I brush my teethes because I never realized how much water is being wasted if I let the water running.”
• I consider myslef as Multiplier duo to the fact im using the experience of the TC at any possible point and because I intend to work with youth leaders and show them that little change from everyone could have a great inpact.
• 5 people from courses I have organised (IRL) have facilitated workshops and gone on to do further training andf work with the Africa Centre
• Although I am fully aware that there is a lot more I need to learn in the field of global education, I believe that I am a global education multiplier, as I try to disseminate all the things I learned in the training to all the people I know. I also incoporate the learned things when I try to design new workshops or prepare new materials for some projects I am doing. I also try to encourage other people to spread their knowledge as often and effectively as possible.
• I learned many new methods and got many useful resources, which I use now in my work.
• I try to make my projects more sustainable.
• I also wish that my organisation will be able to work in collaboration with the organisers so we can do this type of training in Africa where the understanding of global issues is poor though the effects of globalisation are enormous here.
• I feel like half of Global education multiplier because I don’t have strength to work more  on these issues than raising awareness. The other half could be completed by actually changing the numbers: convincing a company to invest in training workforce in a developing country or teaching some children how to read.

DEVELOPING PROJECTS :

-          Blue Link Organization (BG): On the topic of youth from immigrant communities, reflecting on the communities’ problems via creative expression. It will be submitted on 1 September.

-          SP, BG: This is the transformation of the east west exchange. We will apply to make two drama groups one from Spain and one from Bulgaria meet and work on a non verbal seminar on perceptions. After the seminar the idea is to create a play and to gather both groups on a tour.

-          SP, BG, IT: We also want to apply (the NGO I should be working for would be interested to work on this project) to train some young people with fewer opportunities to shoot a documentary about their lives.  We would like to present the results on cinema festival…maybe terra di tutti!

-          RO, CZ, PL, LT: Pro WOMEN Foundation that I also am involved in, submitted a project called “Reach for Success!” for the Youth in Action Programme, Action 3.4 on June 1st 2010. The partners are from different EU countries and 3 of them are from organizations that sent participants to this TC (ADRA from Czech Republic, Angelus Silesius House from Poland and Culture center „In Actio” from Lithuania). We hope the project will be approved and if yes it will consist in a 8 days training course in Romania. The main purpose of this training course is to equip youth workers (youth leaders, project managers, trainers, volunteers) with the skills, knowledge and specific tools in order to support young unemployed people in planning their professional careers and in maximizing their employment opportunities.

-          BG, IRL: Trans-national Youth Initiative, Youth in action programme – Eco angels – rising ecological appreciation amongst children trough facilitatin by youngsters; the project was submitted at the 1st of June in BG.

-          SL : on the topic of MDG2 – Education for all : We are partners with some organisations, however it is not yet known whether the project will be funded or no, as we haven’t received yet responses from the institutions. Some projects are also in the process of discussion and preparation, so we will see where it goes in the end.

-          UK: I applied with YIA 3.2, a project with European and African partners. I just hope it gets approved!

We got pictures! See the action!

So there was the training and now we have something for you and that is pictures.

And the end of the story you can witness here.

Ave Terra, morituri te salutant !

Have we advanced at all?
What is progress?
Are we better than we were 1000 years ago?

International training course on Global Education

ArtFusion proudly announces the international training course “You are part of this world, be part of it’s future” that is going to take place in “Cheile Gradistei”,  30 km from Brasov, between 19^th – 26^th of February.

Background

At the summit of the United Nations in 2000, leaders of 189 countries adopted the 8 MDGs (Millenium Development Goals) as a global agenda for improving the situation of the poorest people in the world. The 8 goals are ambitiously set to be met by 2015.

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger ; Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education ; Goal 3: Promote gender equality & empower women ; Goal 4: Reduce child mortality; Goal 5: Improve maternal health; Goal 6: Combat HIV/Aids, malaria & other diseases Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability; Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

Our motivation to implement this project is based on the experience we accumulated in the last 3 years in sustainable development area and in global education. Being members of FOND (The Romanian National Platform of Development Organizations) and part of Development Education working group enabled us to see that the number of global educators around Europe are still at a inefficient numbers and the need for a training of multipliers in global education arise. Taking in consideration the experience of our trainers and support of the platforms we are part of it and considering the potential long term effects of a training for multipliers we decided to take initiative and make a global chance for the civil society of Europe. 

The main theme of the project is sustainable development and global education as one of the dimensions of it

Global Education incorporates issues of:  education, women rights, poverty, health, environment, children rights, global partnership and reflect strongly the global interdependencies that are in the world and how the globalization process lead to social injustice towards actions are required.

The main goal of the project is to increase the level of awareness in the area of sustainable development and global education among young Europeans.

There are  29 partcipants  from all over Europe (Italy, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Ireland, Romania, Greece, Spain and UK )that will go through this training course and  will become a global education multiplier in their organization and country!!!

The Objectives of this training course are:

• To increase the knowledge level of young people in topics like: global interdependencies (from cultural, economical and political approach), MDG-s, social and global justice, climate change, consumerism and sustainable lifestyle,
• To create pro-active attitudes towards global issues;
• To encourage participation and involvement of young people in social processes;
• To develop sense of common responsibility for the future of their local communities from a global perspective;
• To develop practical skills in “awareness making” in their own communities;
• To stimulate the participants to act as global education multipliers in their own organization and regions;
• To introduce Youth in Action programme, as a great provider of educational opportunities.

Themes of the project

1. Sustainable development (and all concepts related)
2. Global Education
3. Awareness making process
4. Tools/methods in development education
5. Active Participation of young people.

This project was made possible by A.R.T. Fusion Association, with the support of the European Commission through the Youth in Action Programme.