Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Fragile Communities
The impact of the project and its activities

 

Since the INTERFACE project draws to its conclusion, the consortium worked together in order to realize the Policy Impact Assessment Report. The report will include conclusions and recommendations to policy makers, based on the piloting of the community coaches’ training and feedback from their part, as well as from the participants of the community workshops implemented during the project.

 

Each partner experienced different and interesting things highlighting the diversity of the communities involved in the local activities and the many the results obtained. These are the findings of the piloting activities of the INTERFACE project.

The Impact assessment

 

In all countries, the GAP Analysis revealed that the respondents to the surveys and interviews found the INTERFACE skills important, although there was a  variation between countries about which of the skills were thought to be the most important. However, the skills of ‘leadership’, ‘resourcefulness’, ‘resilience’ and ‘creativity’ get the highest scores overall. Also, it is revealed that in all countries, respondents believed that their skills are not considered adequate and there are other issues than the set of skills that influence their abilities to have positive impact in their society. Respondents expressed an interest for participating in a well-defined and planned programme for developing their skills.

Concerning  the question on how people in fragile communities can be approached, the experience in all countries reveals that it is not a straightforward task to get enough interest in fragile communities and as  mentioned in the impact assessment report by Greece , “…can potentially be a high-cost / low return project”. There is consensus that such an effort must be carefully planned, lead and executed by people with strong background and knowledge to the communities, be of interest to the community members and not the least to be very much adapted to the local circumstances and needs.

One of the findings of the project is that there was hardly enough reward for coaches from the communities to participate in the INTERFACE programme.

Factors mentioned amongst others as input for further reward:

• To increase interest include having a thorough feedback process running throughout the programme;
• To have a formal certificate of successful completion and an accreditation system in place;
• To inform the potential participants about the possible positive impact of the course on their own personal CV and future possibilities;
• To encourage businesses to support their staff members in participating, by allowing them to attend in their paid time and/or compensate for costs related to travel to business visits or to group sessions during the course.

Learnings from the pilots in all countries

 

Tailor the course and curriculum to the need of the communities

In Fragile communities, active people tend to be burdened or involved in several roles due to their willingness and skills. These people thus tend to be very busy and value their time greatly. There can also be hurdles like minimum numbers of attendees due to a small population like in Iceland. The potential solutions to this mentioned by the consortium is to tailor the course and curriculum to the need of the communities in question and adapt the delivering of the programme. It is mentioned as well that it might be possible to organise the training content into stand-alone modules, which will allow coaches to undertake those modules they feel most interesting in.

 

Public endorsement and accreditation

 

On the question of how commitment of those participating in education could be increased, a few ways are suggested. A community of participants is suggested. Programme provisions making potential benefits. More certain and shortened time horizon of the programme and/or public endorsement of the programme and accreditation by some reputable independent body. Ensuring Community’s support and support from Local Authorities and other local stakeholders’ cooperation will be instrumental and may well make the difference for the programme’s success or failure. In the INTERFACE curriculum, it works well to have the final assignment of a community meeting well-presented from the beginning. In addition, it is mentioned that using success stories about those that have finished such a program and benefitted from it.

There are different views and solutions mentioned regarding the question of how planning and technical solutions might make it easier and applicable for participants to attend the program. It is obvious from the suggestions from the participants that in the Fragile communities, a thorough planning and execution with regards to the relevant community is a must. In addition, it is mentioned that where applicable, technical solutions like on-line meetings, e-mails, social media and the platform of the project helped in this process. 

Utilise the e-learning platform and resources

 

The INTERFACE e-Learning Platform should be used in order to minimize need for spending time and cost on travel. However, it is also important for the beneficiaries to get the opportunity to meet and share experiences in group sessions when needed. Finally, it is mentioned that keeping notes of presentations and discussions and making those available to participants might be useful point of reference and especially for those who were not able to attend a certain group session on certain occasions.

Valuing non-formal education and the diverse backgrounds of community coaches

Education, age and background may play a significant difference in how participants develop their skills through a programme like INTERFACE and how much impact they will have in their communities. Higher education will be valuable but other forms of education and diverse backgrounds are of great value too and knowledge of the community is a very important factor. In addition, the situation in the communities is a major factor in how a programme can be implemented  for example in economically disadvantaged,  low education level and/or low populated communities it might be difficult to achieve the needed understanding and understanding of the need for to develop ones skills. It is worth noting that in at least some of the communities in Iceland, coaches and people with further education in general, might experience a culture of distrust and negative attitude towards people with university education

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