The SEEN (Skills Exchange Educators Network) Project aims at providing and evaluating internship work sharing as a means of empowerment and capacity building for educators, social and health professionals and peers involved in outreach projects, who work in low- threshold centres dealing with harm and risk-reduction for drug users or supporting sex workers, migrants, youth and marginalized people.Context/backgroundPublic and private social and health services across Europe run outreach programmes that complement traditional services. These programmes reverse the traditional relationship where it is the client that formally requests assistance, and try instead to reach the target people where they can be met.Outreach social workers can read the phenomena and needs concerning the target users almost in real-time and can provide policy makers and the entire social services system with relevant and objective information as well as guidance about possible solutions The high degree of variability in the contexts involved requires versatility from outreach workers and continuous professional training that cannot be limited to traditional approaches. Experience-based learning carried out through exchanges among similar organizations proves necessary and cannot be limited to short visits, seminars, conferences or project literature (documents, manuals, final reports, articles etc.)of the most significant actors. The SEEN project therefore proposes one-month exchanges of outreach workers in NGOs having similar profiles and expertise in different European countries Objectives- Empowerment and capacity building for: outreach workers (both professional and peers) directly involved and social and health workers (both professional and peers) indirectly involved and their organisations. - Mutual learning and sharing of best practices- Monitoring and evaluation of teaching methods and informal/experience-based training transferabiltyNumber and profile of participantsParties involved:- Six outreach workers (both professional and peers) per country , with at least three years of experience in local outreach services, who will spend internship periods in the other host countries.- Groups (maximum 30 people per country) involved in local outreach services that will participate in training initiatives within each country.Description of activities- Kick-off meeting with the project partners (identification of host organizations and local tutors)- Identification of a group of about 30 trainees from which the 6 people taking part in the exchanges will be selected.- Workshop providing training to all trainees and leading to the choice of the 6 people that will actually carry out the exchanges.- Exchange phase in which the people involved will spend a month working with the identified services in the host countries.- Creation of a website- Workshop to bring back the experience gathered in each country- Drawing up of an operational manual based on the experience - Dissemination:- One open seminar in each countr- A periodical newsletter updating on the experience- Diffusion of the manualMethodology to be used in carrying out the projectMonitored informal and formal learningShort description of the results and impact- More experienced and motivated outreach workers- Improved knowledge and potential of projects and servicesPotential longer term benefits- Consolidation of and more credit to outreach activities among stakeholders and policy makers- Accreditation of informal training methods in the context of outreach activities.
The phenomena involving marginalized people requires creative and flexible skills to constantly develop innovative intervention modalities. It emerges as a wave-like pattern so that what you meet in a country will probably be exported to another country in a short time. The outreach projects dealing with marginalized people are capable of reading these developments and offering the opportunity for a “just in time" exchange of different expertise, providing the institutions involved with the data and advice needed to formulate effective responses. Such activities need constant updating and training. Only a wider, structured range of opportunities for mutual learning involving the people working in similar services in areas with similar needs, can best respond to their needs. Workers, educators, professionals and peers with experience in outreach, low –threshold, harm/risk reduction services, they are the dynamic element of such services and a human resource we must invest in. Objectives: Empowerment and capacity building for: outreach workers directly involved in the project’s activities,social and health workers indirectly involved in the project’s activities, the organizations involved. Development and implementation of teaching methods and informal/experience-based training. + Partners: Associazione Gruppo Abele onlus is a major organization in Italy, it has worked for 50 years in the social field helping marginalized people with outreach approach, low threshold services and harm/risk reduction initiatives such as: drop-in centres; sex workers mobile units; outreach work targeting minor migrants, homeless people, partygoers; "Università della strada" (Street University), which is Gruppo Abele's training agency, provids training courses, seminars, technical and psychological support to social and health professionals and organizations all over Italy since 1978. Foundation The Rainbow Group (RG) in an Amsterdam-based NGO committed to people with social problems: homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorders. RG provides day centres and night shelters, psychosocial support, drug consumption rooms and needle exchange programmes. RG has been involved in European and international projects and is the main coordinator of Correlation network (http://correlation-net.org). The aim of the international involvement is to exchange experience and knowledge, to improve the accessibility and quality of services for vulnerable and marginalised people and to influence policies. Agência Piaget para o Desenvolvimento (APDES) is a Portuguese NGO, it works with people in vulnerable situations (prisoners, elderly people, foster children, drug users, sex workers, ...) aiming to improve the access to health, and enhancing social integration and cohesion. APDES is member of international networks: Correlation Network I, II and III, European Network of Harm Reduction (EuroHRN), Access to Treatment and Harm Reduction for Drug Users in Custody (Access) and InDoors – Support and Empowerment of Female Sex Workers and Trafficked Women working in Hidden Places, IDPC - International Drug Policy Consortium; European Civil Society Forum on Drugs, hosted by the European Commission - DG Justice. Villa Maraini Foundation (VM) is one of the leading organization in Italy in the field of drug abuse prevention and treatment. During 30 years of activity, VM has increased its activities and services, becoming a reference centre on all drug abuse related issues at international level. VM offers a wide range of services and programmes: outreach street units, emergency unit, drop-in centre and night shelter, helpline service, support activities in prison for drug offenders, training courses for specialists and volunteers. VM is member of the Red Cross Movement and it organizes training courses on drug issues for Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies from all over the world. + Main activities: international meetings, local training workshop (one workshops/each partner to present the project and to select the trainees, one workshops/each partner to report and share experience and best practices), internships: one month working with another team in another country to learn different modalities, techniques, ways of implementing activities but also to share experiences and provide an external competent point of view to the host organization.). The whole process is be shown during different training phases and through dissemination seminars involving different stakeholders (e.g social workers, public officials, social and health professionals, policy makers etc.),operating manual, process and impact evaluation. + Results and impact: For many of trainees their work experience has paved the way for improve motivation and to became more proactive in their activities. It was be done a good log term exchange of knowledge in between partners not only at pratical level but also in terms of different style of working and cultural differences.