The Musinc partnership brings together a range of organisations from differing adult education settings to develop a pan European understanding of the job role ‘community musician’. The job title does not exist in some partner countries and there are no consistent professional community music practices or quality standards across the partnership, although some of the work undertaken by all of the partners can be described as such.Four key ideas run through Musinc programme:Tacking exclusion through inclusion so that people are not ‘isolated in their need’Developing social/group work skills alongside music skillsUnderstanding of traditional music and its role in community identityThe intellectual outputs of Musinc partnership will ensure a shared understanding of the professional role i.e. description of skills, competencies, knowledge that a "community musician" must possess and an open resource centre that demonstrates and instructs best practice in the field of community music that will be applicable across and beyond the partnership. Through it we will develop a shared meaning of the work role and strengthen training paths for potential community musicians.The ORAL TRADITION of which traditional folk music is an integral part is our inspiration for this project. A non-formal pedagogy and learner centred interactive methodology will be employed in both the piloting and testing of the resource materials contained in the virtual resource centre and the delivery of the case study projects. The resulting resource centre will also reflect this by providing an open framework where experienced and emerging practitioners can contribute through a constructivist learning platform. The outputs will be achieved through management meetings, project work in each partner country, blended teaching and learning activities.The Musinc project will be aimed at improving access to non-formal education by excluded people and promoting social/musical inclusion and so the work practices that are to be shared and examined will concentrate on how to reach and include more of these people.We will work directly with upwards of 700 participants in a variety of excluded settings to provide case study examples. These will include adults with learning disabilities, older people in residential settings, isolated older people, rurally isolated people, mental health service users, and people with different mother tongues.A defining feature of this project is the use of non-formal traditional/national music which strengthens national identity, whilst embedding a pan European musical understanding and cohesion which will assist with working with multi cultural and migrant communities.The project will impact on capacity building within the partnership and individual partners. The working lives of music educators will be changed through additional skills and knowledge gained not least through an international dimension and understanding of their own work practices. There will be outcomes for the end users, individuals in the social contexts and their support organisations both as part of the case study projects, but also in the future through an up skilling of the workforce.Direct delivery of musical activities aimed at alleviating isolation and raising self-esteem as well as providing activities that can contribute to their health and well being.The longer term benefits of such informal music making groups are: SOCIAL NETWORKS: The group allows people who are struggling with their own feelings of self worth to have a level of social interaction which is not dependent on their ability to 'chat'.SOCIAL CAPITAL: People are in the group often because they want to meet other people and have problems doing so, but regardless of cognitive ability, physical ability, nationality, age or any other differences, can interact through music on an equal basis.RESPECT AND POSITIVE ATTITUDES IN OTHERS: There is no stigma in taking part, people will be there to make music and have fun.The dissemination activities will ensure that the benefits and sustainability of the project go beyond and outlive the partnership.
Context: The overall aim of the Musinc project was to develop a shared European understanding and definition of the role community musician, leading to the co-creation of resources and a toolkit to aid professional development and influence best practice. The project invoked a particular lens examining the achievements and potential of traditional music as a means to build individual and community identity, and therefore social inclusion. The Musinc team comprised participating organisations from five European countries (Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Romania, and UK), all of whom hosted an international visit. All the partners had worked with at least one other partner in previous EU funded projects. Objectives: To create resources for developing, improving and extending community musicians’ competencies Through the project activities and on-line resources (Intellectual outputs) to achieve the following outcomes: Develop a shared understanding of 'community musician' Increase employability of community musicians Improve understanding of how traditional music is a social process Increase social inclusion for project participants Improve European cooperation Partners: Wren Music (UK) is a Devon based arts organisation, and it is all about music and people. Wren’s programme holds these ideas in balance from promotions of concerts and events featuring professional artists, an open access non-formal education programme of participatory musical ensembles for all ages, and targeted interventions with excluded groups. Wren Music is MusInc co-ordinator. www.wrenmusic.co.uk Euridea (Italy) is an educational institute with a penchant for music. It provides courses for performers, other professionals in the music sector and adult amateurs. www.euridea.com Asociatia BRAT ONEST (Romania) was constituted in Feb 2010 in Onesti where, by volunteering and donations, using a previous experience in Adult Education we try to help disfavoured +50 and 18-30 years people to overcome the risk of social exclusion. https://bratonest.webs.com/ “Skaņumāja” (Latvia) was established in year 2006, with an aim to promote processes that relate to folk music - supporting folk music groups and individual musicians, as well as organising different events, concerts and festivals; preparing educational events - organising courses and camps; international cooperation. http://muzikanti.lv/lv/ Szubjektív Értékek Alapítvány: (Hungary) Founded in 2002. Our main goal is to provide opportunities for young people to realize their creative ideas, and to implement projects emphasizing cultural diversity with them. http://www.szubjektiv.org/ Main Activities: Transnational meetings blended with staff training event. Each organisation was invited to bring two community musicians and two project managers along to each visit. The host organisation had prepared a local ‘Sample Project’ for the visitors to observe. Each organisation took a different theme: working with older people in residential settings (Italy); community choirs/ensembles (Romania); folklore dance events (Latvia); working with socially excluded groups (Hungary); working with mixed abilities (UK). Musicians and project managers were able to observe the projects in action, which was followed by a structured group reflection based on the session they had observed. This discussion often led participants to reference the theory behind their own practice, and develop their understanding of what is possible in each setting. Through this, the group repeatedly returned to consider three core questions: What is a community musician and what skills do they need? What is social inclusion? What role does ‘traditional folk music’ have to play in this process? Results/impact: From this process, musicians took away repertoire, new practice and project ideas, while the project managers took away extensive notes in order to draft, edit, hone and re-draft the intellectual outputs. This repeated process instilled the routine of reflection in the practice of the project team, and helped them to bond across their country groups. In the final international visit, the community musicians worked in small groups (with each group member being from a different country) to prepare a short music-making session which they delivered using the other project members as the participants. This allowed observation of each other’s project/session planning technique, as well as session delivery. The partnership has shared the ways in which music can be of use when working towards the outcome of social inclusion. There has been movement in understanding of social inclusion, and what conditions are required to maximise the social impact of their community music projects. Longer Term: From the plans that are already being made, it seems relationships and sharing of learning will continue to flourish in the short, medium and long term.