‘Break Down, Break Out’ demonstrates and documents how new learning strategies for long-term unemployed adults 40+ in difficult situations, can empower them to take action. These low qualified Europeans are hit the hardest from economic pressures and the process provides simple and practice based guidance. Learning through acting in the community, the adults become subjects of change instead of objects of change The partnership finds new ways to help these adults change mind-sets and engenders much needed innovation in adult learning: unfolding in the community: the community is the classroom, the landscape of mentality change produced through community action. The project is based on a simple methodology cycle: OBAMA • Orientation • Briefing • Ability • Meeting and Action This process is an iterative one, with a variety of themes and initiatives, through which it will create a spiral of increasing capacity to act, including social needs and innovation, local entrepreneurial activity, creating resources and funding, health and environment issues and active citizenship. Initiatives start and end in the community, and the end is always a new beginning. Learning, capacity-building and empowerment takes place through community, not prior to or isolated from it and is always linked to an authentic situation, an emerging need, not to an abstract dictum. In the first year the project will work side-by side with the first group of adults, learning to create and practice step by step the community action mentality. This ‘Breaking Down’ year will take as its starting point the life and work situation of the long-term unemployed adults, and identify opportunities and potential resources. An initial group of 10-20 adults will be established by each local partner, who will be supported to: • slowly increase capacity to address the community • build up small eco-systems of networks as a consequence of their efforts • directly benefit from their entrepreneurial actions or take further action for change • mentor other adults and contribute to the Virtual Guidance services In Year 2, second local groups of 10-20 adults are helped, this time mentored by a team of unemployed adults from the first year. Impact expected is that mentors feel enabled to offer post-project virtual guidance and/or create new life directions for themselves based on their new competences It is anticipated that 75% will follow the full activity and change mentality; 50% benefit from the activities in different ways; 25% benefit directly through leaving difficult situations and/or becoming mentors Secondary target groups include facilitators, forming part of the local project partner team. They will build up important community relations and networks in support of their missions, supervise and support adults and mentors and serve as key players in the virtual guidance services. They will themselves be increasingly empowered along the first project year, learning alongside the unemployed adults, participating in their own local groups but with direct opportunities for meeting and working with local groups transnationally as part of four focussed six day workshops held at the same time as partner meetings in four different partner localities. It is anticipated that all will increase their community action competences and networks and 50% will choose to engage in the virtual guidance services post-project Indirect audiences are Europe wide and include local communities, Adult empowerment provision, Policy-makers and funding programmers, labour market services and outreach initiatives to long-term unemployed adults The following results are expected from the project. 1. Breaking out virtual platform including all guidance and counselling materials 2. OBAMA community action Guide 3. Breaking News - thematic appetizers 4. ‘Breakin’ on’ virtual guidance services 5. Video documentation 6. Policy paper on support measures 7. Local Breaking Out workshops 8. Final celebrations linked to virtual guidance services 9. Validation of mentoring competences 10. EACEA – Empowered Adults Conducting Empowerment of Adults The virtual platform will be maintained for at least 3 years after the project and is the reference point for all dissemination and exploitation activities, through the project and beyond. This will intensify as outputs become available. Dissemination is integrated in the project’s documentation and sharing policy with target groups seen as co-creators, empowered by the use of professional virtual networks, going far beyond the impact of traditional dissemination. Post project, the local eco-systems of collaboration will link the outcomes to new initiatives, the project’s policy papers are expected to be in circulation for several years and increasing interest in 21st century learning across Europe will motivate stakeholders and players to identify and use innovative resources in this field.
The Break Down, Break Out project had objectives in demonstrating and documenting how new learning and action strategies for long-term unemployed adults 40+ in difficult situations, can empower them to make a difference in the quality of their lives and in their communities. The context of the project included the recognition that low-qualified Europeans in this age group are hit the hardest from economic pressures, often compounded by difficulty in relating to their wider community and from benefiting fully from other types of support which are provided as universal services. Currently the success rate of interventions for this age range and in the situations identified are not high, which drove the necessity for the project to look for innovative ways to change this, including processes providing simple and practice-based guidance. There were 8 project partners, sharing a common background of working with long-term unemployed and hard-to-reach adults. P1 University of Chester, UK, - with expertise in adult learning through flexible learning approaches, access to networks and international project experience. P2 ALDA (Association of Local Democracy Associations) France - a membership-based organisation with 170 members in more than 30 different countries. P3 ASSE (Association of Social Economic Study), Craiova, Romania - a non-governmental organization providing and promoting lifelong education P4 Fantom Association, Bistrita, Romania - a non-governmental organisation, promoting international integration and tolerance through educational and artistic activities. P5 Risorsa Fondazione Donna, Rome, Italy - a non-profit organisation, focused on supporting women who are excluded from the labour. P6 European Grants International Academy, Foligno, Italy - a private consulting firm that coordinates multilateral LLP projects and vocational training and non-formal educational activities for adult learners. P7 Palmenia Centre for Adult Education, University of Helsinki, Finland –. the largest university affiliated adult education centre in Europe, with a purpose to develop increased opportunities for lifelong learning for hard-to-reach adults, P8 Chamber of Commerce, Sabadell, Spain - representing the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises, creating local entrepreneurial skills and community action, not traditional adult education. P9 Multi Disciplinary Centre, Modiin, Israel - a centre for Adult Education and citizenship working in cooperation with local business, public institutions, social organizations Each had one or more of the following roles: practice partners, knowledge partners, network partners or special partners (P8) an strong, entrepreneurial and community oriented private sector partner and (P9), with significant experience of non European entrepreneurial mentality and business development, linking eco-systems to the wider creation of learning communities. Break Down, Break out found and experimented with new ways for these adults to break out of difficult situations. Instead of waiting for jobs, adults are supported to create capacity to build their own life and economy, through taking action in their community, turning challenges into opportunities, exploring ways that are new, untraditional and different from what people have been trying out so far. In the project, adults see themselves and act as the subjects of change instead of remaining the objects of change. They learned through taking initiatives, exploring their individual untapped potential and taking action in their community. To do this, the partnership found new ways to help these adults change mind-sets and engendered much needed innovation in adult learning, using the community as the classroom with individual and community action as tools. The project was based on a simple methodology cycle: O.B.A.M.A. Orientation; Briefing; Ability; Meeting and Action This process was an iterative one, using a variety of themes and initiatives building on the ideas of participants increasing capacity to act, responding to social needs and innovation, local entrepreneurial activity, creating resources and funding, health and environment issues and active citizenship. An initial group of 8 to 12 adults was established by each local partner, who gained capacity to: • explore community needs and issues • build up small eco-systems of networks • act as entrepreneurs and create change • mentor other adults and contribute to the Virtual Guidance services • create new life directions for themselves based on their new competences Results and impact have been assessed as • successful innovation in the fields of new ways for long-term unemployed; • good first steps with the new and extremely important European EntreComp agenda; • production of rich material from the second year’s dynamic practice; • resources and guidance platform (www.breakingout.eu) valuable for adult education innovation and entrepreneurial competence.