LOCATE aims at building platforms of local community learning, media and participation to help develop community capacity and stimulate innovation, entrepreneurship and capacity for change by encouraging the discovery and use of untapped potential from within communities and territories.
Four core components of support are common to communities across Europe:
- Promoting and sustaining community activity –the project is developing locally driven long term planning and implementation of media and learning.
- Empowering adults – so even those in vulnerable social groups and from different cultures can develop skills and share expertise.
- Sustaining quality learning – in times of increased pressure on budgets and support Lifelong Learning in many countries in Europe has either declined or remained static. Local learning and support needs to become embedded in everyday community life.
- Increasing participation in the community – by using every available element of today’s knowledge and techno-savvy society to generate interest, disseminate good news and promote activity in even socially disadvantaged communities
LOCATE customised proven models to its specific target groups and significantly introduced new practices to ensure sustainability through:
- Continuity of learning derived from the community’s and its individuals’ needs;
- Ongoing media activity and development of reporters and communication channels;
- Development of community learning and media hubs and channels;
- Involvement of the range of sub-groups and individuals in active community roles and issues;
- Resource and business planning.
In a nutshell LOCATE is primarily giving people at risk of social exclusion an opportunity to make their voice heard by using all kinds of media.
But, what normal people have to say?
Do we know about the everyday problems or successes of people around us?
Do we know what “forgotten” people live in their daily lifes (their hopes, fears, problems, challenges)?
We know that unemployed people, people with mental issues, people living in rural areas, migrants, people with low incomes, people with any disability … all of them have important things to say, but it seems like the world doesn’t want to give them an opportunity to express themselves. LOCATE wants to give them tools to be an active and sustainable part of the society as a community.
The Transferability Toolkit was not identified initially as a result of LOCATE but it has become a very important tool to promote sustainability for communities across Europe. It is designed to commit participants to activities and to identify other potential users of project outcomes. The Transferability Toolkit explains what prompted the project, how LOCATE identified and approached those issues and, of course what the project did on the ground with the different communities. It also indicates how the various communities are planning to continue their work and what lessons have been learnt.
The Transferability Toolkit of LOCATE is accompanied by various other resources such as the Showcase of the involved piloting regions and the Glossary presenting Case Studies and listing important contacts. Within the Toolkit there are frequent links to the web site of LOCATE, the sites of the involved communities, the (social) media employed and the results they have been producing. This is where the reader can enjoy the richness of what the LOCATE learners have been doing. LOCATE hopes that these experiences will provide other actors with the incentive and some of the tools to make it happen for communities with whom they are involved.
Get the Transferability Toolkit.