egea university project by vasilis peppas

8/14/2019 EGEA University Project by Vasilis Peppas

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July 2009

www.egea.eu | EGEA University

EGEA PLANNING THE EGEATRAINING PLATFORM


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I. IntroductionInclude whatever you deem appropriate to start our meeting

with.

It can include an EGEA mission statement, a description ofEGEA Trainings target population, the coordination of other

EGEA bodies within this project, and references to established

training platforms of other student organizations.

The potential of youth organizations lies in providing

ALTERNATIVE means of education, beyond formal means.

EGEAs mission statement should be extended: mission to

promote non-formal learning of Geography in higher

education students, and enlarged to include non-geographic

mission scope for development of new skills and competencies.

EGEA must deliver added value back to its members.

An extended mission for personal development and

leadership opportunities for its members

The human factor development should become core value.

Making a strategic decision to place members as the

comparative advantage of our organization. We must be

prepared to make a large investment in people, pilot

programs, capacity development and training.

A Human Resources Development (HRD) Committee should

facilitate long-term learning capacity for individual members,

groups within EGEA, and EGEAs organizational levels.Take advantage of synergies between different existing

Committees.

A Training Platform should take in consideration the various

background experiences and different abilities of EGEA

member groups. Training customized on group segmentation.


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TRAINING PLATFORMS in STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

AEGEE Academy: AEGEE has 23.000 members in Europe. The basic

training arm is AEGEE Academy. The Academy is run by a 5-member

committee, elected for 6 months. They offer Local Training Events and

participate with 2day trainings in Regional Meetings. There are also

two European-wide training events: a 7-day European School for young

motivated AEGEE members, and a 10-day more advanced EuropeanSchool, which attracts youth leaders that work on specific assignments.

AEGEE Academy organizes also thematic trainings on Public Relations,

Information Technology, Fundraising, Board candidates training, and

media. There is also a Summer University focused on cultural and

language trainings, a Training for Trainers event.

AIESEC: With 35.000 members in 100 countries worldwide, AIESEC

delivers annually more than 450 training conferences. Most of its

activities rotate around trainings, learning circles and traineeships.

Members are trained for internships and exchanges. There are local

motivational conferences that train new members, leadership

conferences for board candidates, transit conferences for incoming

boards transition, international training programs.

BEST: Collecting 1800 active members, BEST has established 10 years
http://www.best.eu.org/http://www.aiesec.org/http://www.aegee.org/


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ago a Training Group that takes care of internal trainings. Trainings are

delivered locally, and European-wide. The European events, called

TrainShops, last one week, and offer trainings on specific subjects:

leadership, marketing, project management and fundraising. BEST is

open for collaboration on trainings.

EESTEC: EESTEC represents 1.700 members in 40 entities. It established

an EESTEC Training system as early as 2008, after the General Assembly

adopted the Training system strategy. They started with a Training for

TrainersT4T event and already produced the first Official EESTEC

Trainers. They focused on soft skills and presentation skills. The goal is to

have at least one trainer in every local entity.

ESTIEM: The organization of European Students of Industrial Engineering

and Management, represents more than 45,000 students, and through

its Knowledge Management Committee creates trainings and best

practices documents.

ESN:Organizes internal training events (e.g. a one-day national

communication training or 7-day training on non-formal education,

training others, motivating volunteers, project management)
http://www.esn.org/http://www.estiem.org/http://www.eestec.org/


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IFSA: It represents 10.000 Forestry students in 60 entities worldwide.

They do not have a training system yet. Its included in their strategy for

2010.

IFMSA: They have created a Training Support Division within their

structure. Their goal is to prepare medical students for leadership and

management roles. They have established the Training and Resourced

Development Program (TRD) that provides training for: Conflict

Prevention, Communication, Strategic Planning, Project Planning,

Leading and Facilitating Meetings, Financial Management, Fundraising,

Advocacy, Marketing, Writing and Presenting. International Training

Programs are organized twice each year. They also organize initiative-

building and capacity-building workshops on regional and subregionallevel.

IPSF:The International Pharmaceutical Students Federation (IPSF) is the

worlds oldest international student volunteer organization. Establishing

a training culture is a flagship project for IPSF. With the collaborationof the International Federation of Medical StudentsAssociations

(IFMSA), IPSF employs professional trainers to train identified IPSF

leaders on leadership styles, presentation skills, group dynamics, project

development etc in small group workshops.
http://www.ipsf.org/http://www.ifmsa.org/http://www.ifsa.net/


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II. Needs/ProblemsIdentify the needs or problems to be addressed.

Include the EGEA target population and any statistical

information that you may have.Ideas for information to include here are:

Reference to EGEAs SWOT analysis Whether need/problem has ever been addressed before in EGEAs

past, and what the outcome was

Impact of problem to EGEAs target population Impact of problem to EGEAs internal and external relations

NEEDS

Youth Leaders for EGEA, Leadership Opportunities Strategic Planning Training Communication Facilitation Public Relations, Promotion, Marketing Training Project Management Training Human Resources Development (New skills, competencies) Qualified EGEA staff: Trainers for Trainers (T4T), Facilitators, Peer

Educators, Committee staff, Accredited EGEA trainers for external

representation

Need for initiative-building, motivation-building Career Support for Geographers Significance in activities, Sophisticated activities Intercultural Learning Training Conflict Management Training IT skills Fundraising Head-hunting Training/Recruitment practices Creation of Learning Environment within EGEA Organizational Knowledge Management


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PROBLEMS

Insuffiecient Organizational leadership/Organizationalmanagement (poor work ethics, goal-setting, prioritizing)

Lack of motivation, self-knowledge, discipline, decisiveness Lack of Capacity-Building Opportunities Lack of experience in organizational finances management

(entities, EGEA Europe)

Lack of incentive-based organizational development Lack of Talent Management within EGEA Lack of Activities Quality Management Lack of variety in methods and working tools, Lack ofmethodological debate Low innovation and creativity in favorable fields

(GIS/geoinformatics, geographic education)

Lack of Interdisciplinary dimension, Monographic input (too localor European-focused, not too theoretical)

Low Visibility of scientific outcomes Assessment practices, Feedback, Participant evaluation Time management Non-effective Group Dynamics, Cross-team capabilities Low External Impact in Geography-related fields Low collaboration with other stakeholders in Geography higher

education (universities, institutes, journals)

Increased competition from rival student organizations, alreadyhaving training platforms

Insufficient Networking processes internally and externally Lack of branding, EGEA identity, unique EGEA experience Insufficient competition among Geographers Poor relations with the Media (traditional, social media, new

media), Poor use of EGEA publications

Poor public perception about Geography


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III. Goals/ObjectivesState the desired goals and objectives to address the

needs/problems stated above. Also include key benefits of

reaching goals/objectives through the Training Platform.Introduction

The Training Platform we intend to establish acquires the

following characteristics: participant-centered, team-based and

within the scope of non-formal learning.

However, training is not solely an educational process; it is

neither neutral nor generic. It is also utilitarian: EGEA as

student association is served through it.

Training skills are not inborn; they have to be learned.

Goals

We acknowledge as our goals that:

EGEA can have a great potential in establishing aTraining Platform and providing alternative means of

education, mostly through non-formal learning;

EGEA can create and manage a human talent portfolioto serve the organizational management needs (develop

leaders, develop capacity within its members);

EGEA can enrich the personal developmentopportunities through its Training platform, creating

added value for its members, fostering a positive-sum

game learning strategy and create a learning culture;


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EGEA can stimulate Knowledge Production through aTraining Platform: Organizational Intuition, Best

Practices, Tacit Knowledge, Geographic Research,

Indicators;

EGEA can -through the Training Platform - enhanceNetwork Management performance, promote

volunteerism further, promote associative life to non-

member Geographers.

Training Objectives

a) Translate individual learning outcomes into trainingobjectives:

Enable participants to prepare, run and evaluate aproject

Develop skills in Geography education, programdevelopment, management, leadership, project

management, intercultural learning

Increase knowledge and awareness of non-formallearning

Use of innovative methods and tools Increase competence and motivation for youth

activities

Provide an overview of different concepts of training Support participants assessing their own training

needs

Re-valorization of volunteering (important asset forCV)


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b) Create objectives that address the organizationalimprovements expected in EGEA

Improve Leadership Opportunities Enlarge existing group of organizationally

experienced members

Facilitate intercultural/international group processes Improve usage of existing resources of various EGEA

stakeholders and create synergies among

Extend training capabilities horizontally (betweenEGEA groups) and vertically (on

local/national/regional level)

Deal with realities in own local communities(versatility)

Improve communication within EGEA Create a learning environment Financial commitment through effective budgeting to

support the learning process Each training session is related to future action Contribute to the quality and sustainability of EGEA

youth activities

Training should not only benefit the person takingpart in

Innovative activities Broaden EGEAs institutional framework with external

collaborations in the European youth field


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IV.Planning StageDevise a workable scheme to accomplish the projects goals.

Provide detailed information about proposed procedures.

Identify the projects milestones, tasks, expected outcomes,and resources required to implement the project.

Include information on recruiting, testing, training the trainers,

fundraising, promotion and division of tasks.

Training Strategy

Things to Consider:

The topics of the Training must clearly denote the reasonwhy everybody is there

Recognize Participants needs and expectations(relevance of the training to their realities)

Training and Learning at different speeds (orientationsessions, advanced sessions)

Recognition of the participants prior knowledge (usingthe knowledge resources of participants, active

involvement, participants with relevant knowledge or

skills can contribute in specific ways in the training)

Responsibility for the learning process (participants takein what they want to learn or what they feel they need

or is there a responsibility to discover needs they are not

aware of?)

Group size Use of local environment, training space, local resources Program Structure or Flexibility? Time planning (free time, social time, working time)


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Sophisticated Promotion and Individual approach Open Recruitment and Open Training (involve non-

participating EGEA members through blogging, socialmedia)

Variety in learning styles (but not showmanship) Competency in English language is crucial?

PHASE INeeds Assessment for EGEA

- Organizational AnalysisMain areas of concentration of EGEAEGEAs StrategyOngoing developments in EGEAMembership profilingEGEA Staff continuityFinances

- Task Analysis Identify specific tasks within EGEA (BoE, Committees,

Publications, Fundraising, Trainers, Facilitators, etc)

Create a pool of EGEA Work profiles & what skills,knowledge and competencies are needed


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- Personnel AnalysisCurrent suitability of EGEA people for leadership,

organizational management and activities

Who needs training then?Readiness and willingness for trainingDynamic changes in youth organizations: a change in

EGEA leadership could result in either a huge

improvement or disaster; Training Platform as safety net

- Environmental ScanDefine Supply for the Training: Input (adequate training

facilities, in-house experienced trainers, previous

experience in organizing such events, etc)

Lack (funds to implement the training, no appropriate

training aids, etc)

Define Demand for the Training: Demand from insideand outside EGEA, volunteering members that have

never received any training, low awareness among EGEA

entities for the need of such training, high interest for

specific training topics)

Possible collaborators in the youth fieldRelevant competition from other student organizationsKey actors in the youth field


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PHASE II

Training Sessions Methodology & Design

A. PLENARIES: Structured Training ProgramOrientation Lectures

Directing Coaching by keynote speakers on issues thatlearners have no or little background experience

Not interactive, but immediate

Interactive Lectures

Facilitating Coaching by keynote speakers with OpenQuestions

Learners identify solutions Learners contribute in effective questioning

Moderated discussions

Panel discussions Training focused on communication skills Enhances performance at EGEAs discussion meetings

(General Assembly, regional meetings, e-meetings)

New discussion techniques

Simulation

Representation of a real-life situation with compressedtime scale

Creation of artificial competition for learning purposes


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Cases studies

Presentations from EGEA experience or externalexamples

B. PLENARIES: Training Program built on Group Experiences& Resources

Group Experiential Learning

Participants decide their individual program from day today, learn at their own speed

Reflection on own experiences is an essential element Training is constantly evolving

Open Space Technology

Creating open units within the program whereparticipants bring resources and interests

A whole day is needed for OST Participants set the subjects of their choice We must define time-slots for each session Responsibility of the sessions on participants

Future Factory

Start with problems on one side, then ideal image on theother side

Try to bridge problems with ideal image throughstrategies, actions, developments

A whole day needed


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C. GROUP DIVISIONSMini-seminars

Deepen specific subject Simultaneous training processes Expertise on the subject needed

Workshops

Smaller hands-on working groups Development of particular skills and competencies Extend in one or maximum two training sessions

(relatively little time)

Flexible Targeted at specific interests Work-intensive (not lectures) and well-coordinated

Task Forces

Simulating the process of creating a project Simulating the process of making a project application

for EU funding

Simulating the preparation of a workshop for others Create an EGEA product and present it to other teams Challenge between groups, creativity and innovation

involved Focus on how a non-formal educational process is

created (e.g. a workshop), how a real project is

developed, how group dynamics are experienced


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PHASE III

Training Funding

Establish various scenarios for funding Applying for European Unions YOUTH Programme

Funding on Action 4.3 Training and Networking

(Varying Deadlines for application submitting)

Council of Europe financing for International Youth NGOsactivities (Deadline October 1

stand April 1

st)

Own resources, plus participant fees Fundraising campaign Cost-saving strategy through collaborations with other

youth organizations

PHASE IV

Trainers Recruitment

International composition of the trainers team Balanced composition with regards to nationality, age and

gender

The composition of trainers team should reflect thecomposition ofthe participants team

The knowledge and competencies portfolio of trainersshould reflect the variety and knowledge needed to

implement the training project Prospective trainers should be willing to meet in a

preparatory meeting

Ethical and financial incentives and rewards Clear agreements between the training organizers, team of

trainers and participants


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Description of Work Deadlines

Phase One

NEEDS ASSESSMENT conducted

at the Live Meeting in Poland

Proposals on the Training

TOPICS and Training SESSIONS

DESIGN

FINAL REPORT for the Training

Platform Submitted for Public

Consultation

NEEDS ASSESSMENT conducted

at the Open Space in AC09

Late August 2009

Mid-September 2009

October 2009

Phase Two

DECISIONS on Training Program

Structure, DATES, HOSTING

ORGANIZATION request,

DEADLINESLate November 2009

Phase Two A

OPEN CALL placed for Hosting

Organization

DESIGNATION of Hosting

Organization and Expected

Support requests submitted December 2009

Phase

Three

Research for available

FUNDING, according to

Scenario for External Funding

Writing the grant application Till February 2010 max.

PhaseThree A

Selection of Training

PREPARATORY TEAM

Preparatory team MEETING at

the Training Venue with the

Hosting Organization

December 2009

Spring 2010


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Description of Work Deadlines

Phase Four

Following External Funding

Results, INVITATIONS to EGEA

experts and external trainersstart Spring 2010

Phase Four A

INVITATIONS to EGEA bodies,

EGEA entities and other youth

organizations, universities and

sponsors are sentSpring 2010

Phase Five Applications are SHORTLISTEDACCEPTANCE LETTERS are sent Late Spring 2010

Phase Five A

VISA requirements are resolved Early Summer 2010

Phase Six Payment of participation fee Early Summer 2010

Phase

Seven

Preparation of TrainingLOGISTICS (Training material,

Documents, T-shirts, Certificates

of Attendance) Early Summer 2010


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V. Implementation StageDescribe which resources will be assigned to each specific

task, namely: work resources (people), material resources

(training materials, organization materials) and cost resources(organization costs, travel costs).

Training Program Flow

1. Welcome, Introduction, Getting to know each other2. Group-building phase3. Sharing experiences from EGEA activities and other projects4. Main training: New Knowledge, New Skills, New Experiences5. Analysis and reflection, and Transfer (how to apply training

knowledge to EGEA context, how to fit training experiences to

participants realities)

6. Action Planning/Follow-up (Are they expected to implementactual projects? How do they incorporate what they have

learned in EGEA or local entity projects?

7. Conclusions & closure (conclusions for the final report)8. Evaluation (impact of the training course, where participants

should focus)

Group sizes

3-6 people for Task Forces

7-10 people for Small Thematic Workshops

11-18 people for Workshops

19-30+ people for Plenary sessions


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V. Implementation Stage(continued)A. Timetable

Provide detailed information on the expected

timetable for the project. Break the project into

phases, and provide a schedule for each phase.

Description of Work Start and End Dates

Phase

One

PREPARATORY TEAM

meeting at the Venue

Two days before

Training starts

Phase

Two

ADMINISTRATIVE and

LOGISTICAL tasksDuring the Training

Phase

Three

Daily REPORT and BLOG

POSTING During the Training

Phase

Four

In case of EU/CoE funding:

signing the PARTICIPANTS

LIST, Travel Costs

REIMBURSEMENT CLAIM

formsEnd of the Training

B. Key PersonnelList the key personnel (by name or position) who will

be responsible for the completion of this EGEA

project, along with other personnel indirectly

involved in this project.


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VI.Evaluation StageDiscuss how the progress of this EGEA project will be

monitored throughout and at the end of it, how changes will

be managed, and how the project information will becommunicated and recorded at the end.

Evaluation

1. An ex-ante evaluation, when participants are firstly defined, tosee if their expectations match the intended training program

and make adjustments

2. Ongoing evaluation dailythematic evaluation (oral/visualand written feedback)

3. Final evaluation on the last day (where methods appraised?Goals and objectives were attained?

4. Ex-post evaluation, at least 6 months after the training (impacton personal development of the participants, assessment of

entire organization and new activities)

VII.Next StepsWe should specify to readers of this document the immediateactions required, after our meeting is concluded.

Final Report following the Live Meeting in Poland Public Consultation at the EGEA Forum Presentation and Evaluation at the Annual Congress Funding Research Research for Collaborations with other Youth Organizations