“Trabocchi resemble a man-made giant beached prawn sitting on the rocks with giant tendrils casting wide nets out into the deeper reaches of the sea. They are literally fishing machines for the seasick, for those that prefer rocks to waves.” Inspire`s staff had the chance to visit one of these Trabocchi. The one we were at is still fully operable but not used any longer for fishing. For a simple reason: Fish are practically extinct due to overfishing. We enjoyed a good glass of local wine, though. Also the locals nowadays mainly use picturesque Trabocchis to celebrate.
The second meeting of SOMEBA partnership took place in Chieti, Italy on 29th/30th of March this year. We were invited by Ud’Anet. Our Italian partner has specific expertises in designing and implementing web-community networks, job-recruitment and e-learning platforms and innovative projects for vulnerable people.
So, what have we learnt in Italy? Well, mainly, that in former times you did not necessarily need to go out into the sea, to venture out into the unknown and take unnecessary risks to get your fish if you were not up to shaky boats. But how does that translate to the use of social media in general and in basic skills specifically? The comparison may be far-fetched but to me Trabocchis are a symbol for machines/tools that used to be very effective but are basically useless nowadays but for attracting tourists and locals who are in a festive mood. Isn`t that the case with many institutions that engage in (adult) education? Do they still manage to attract and catch learners or do they basically cater for themselves?
Ud’Anet`s project TinCom is a perfect example for attempting to find new ways of attracting people by the use of innovative approaches and tools. TinCom project aims to innovate the approach of the Open Method of Coordination to youth inclusion and employment policies by carrying out the methodology of the Living Laboratory for enabling the participation of a strong Public-Private-People Partnership in creating, sharing and implementing digital services for social inclusion and employment of young people (16–35 years old) with urgent difficulties to access the job market because of objective and subjective barriers, such as economic crisis, low professional and educational skills, vulnerable conditions.
In order to facilitate communication and relationships both among partners and external parties, Ud’Anet decided to use the online tool BigMarker, a web platform to arrange and manage online video-conferences.
With TinCom project our Italian partner managed to provide new means to catch fish, so to say. But will it be successful in terms of people being attracted. We think so. But: An old saying frequently used by our good friend Kennet Lindquist from our Finish HIDD partner is that “you can bring the horse to the water, but you can’t force it to drink’. We do not hope but we constantly see (e.g. survey of demand for and use of tools for virtual communication and exchange among basic skills trainers and advisors done in inspire`s In.Bewegung project; results to be published soon) that something similar also applies to the use of innovative approached and tools. Most people do not easily want to change habits. You can present whatever beautifully prepared, effective, and innovative platforms or online tools but you can not force it to be internalized and used by prospective users.
How come?
 |
 |
Ud`Anet`s Valentina and Christian using Alf, new mobile eqipment designed for In.Bewegung |
