Support for European Trade Union Projects. Training in project work and project management

Transcription

1 setup news training Support for European Trade Union Projects Nr 3 October 2012 Training in project work and project management Setup News - Training is designed to keep trade union trainers and educators informed about ETUI Education s new courses that will enable unions to maximise opportunities for using project management methods as part of their day-to- day working. Training Trainers in Project Work From Bologna to Sofia After the pilot course which took place in Bologna last April, the second of ETUI s Training Trainers in Project Work courses was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, in partnership with CITUB, on September This European capital, with its rich history and diverse cultural heritage, provided a stimulating and inviting setting in which to develop further this new ETUI initiative. The TTUPO team, composed of Silvana Pennella from ETUI, Harry Cunningham from TUC, Nikos Nikolaou from SEK, Colin Arthur from Stevenson College, Ilaria Costantini from Filcams CGIL and Derek Stubbs as a free-lance consultant, has been working for two years to develop the ETUI s larger strategy to equip trade union officers and representatives with skills in project work and project management. For four very intensive days, 14 enthusiastic and committed trainers and project experts coming from 7 different countries and from 9 trade union organisations - UGTP, CGTP, CC.OO, ELA, Filcams-CGIL, GWU, TUC, CITUB and CGT worked hard together and provided very constructive and useful feedback on the final version of ETUI s new materials on project work. The tutor team will be further

2 revising the course materials, to take advantage of the suggestions from the first two courses. Each of the national organisations will be delivering versions of ETUI s Introductory level course Project Work for Trade Union Representatives. The Sofia course enabled the participants to become familiar with this course and its supporting resources, and to become familiar with the learning methodology and course accreditation used by ETUI. An active learning approach involved the participants in a combination of transnational working groups and plenary sessions, as well as working together in groups to deliver micro-teaching sessions, using the course materials. The final day of the course was devoted to elaborating national work plans for the roll-out of the Introductory courses and to introducing an online platform ETUInet - that will enable participants and tutors to continue the work begun in Bologna. What participants said - My organisation will support the delivery of the national level courses.' - Stronger project work skills are necessary to win EU-financed projects.' - The course materials give trainers a lot of confidence in delivering the course.' - Project work will help trade unions increase their effectiveness.' Accreditation As part of the development of this innovative suite of training opportunities to support trade union project activities, ETUI Education has piloted a model of accrediting the courses, using assessment techniques that are supportive of existing trade union training methods. It has already enabled 35 ETUI course participants to achieve qualifications that are recognised by the European Qualifications Framework. In particular, participants in the Training Trainers course of Bologna and Sofia had the possibility of gaining an officially recognised qualification, accredited by the UK National Open College Network through a partnership with the TUC and Stevenson College, Edinburgh. During the week in Sofia, some participants of the Bologna course received their official award certificate of 6 credits (photo). More details on accreditation can be obtained from Silvana Pennella. 2

3 TTUPO Sponsors Already supporting this new initiative in training for project work are the following ETUI affiliates: Why not join us? TUC SEK ÖGB ICTU LO-S CITUB CGIL-FILCAMS ELA CGT UGT-P GWU CCOO CGT- P What s new? Training Trainers for Project Work Slovenia, May 2013 A third Training Trainers in Project Work course will be held on May 2013 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with the working languages being English and French. We expect each organisation participating to send one - or preferably two - experienced trade union trainers, able to cascade national courses and activities on project work. The Introductory level course Project Work for Trade Union Representatives, to be delivered by national organisations, forms an important cornerstone of ETUI s strategy. Normally, only participants who have successfully completed the Introductory course will be eligible to take the ETUI Intermediate level course Project Management for Trade Union Representatives that we expect to deliver in the first months of National courses Ireland The Education Department of ICTU will deliver in November 2012 a four module Introductory level course targeted to full time officials, national and branch organisers, administrative & support staff, and workplace activists. The modules are related to project work, project work and trade unions, skills for effective project work, and the development and preparation of a project plan. The modules will be lead by the trainers who participated at the first Training trainers for project work course in Bologna, Sean Heading and Sylvester Cronin. Cyprus In Cyprus the Introductory level course Project Work for Trade Union Representatives is planned to be delivered at SEK s training centre in Protaras from 2-24 April The programme foresees 4 seminars, each with 25 participants, including organising officers and Secretary Generals of SEK Federations and Secretaries of Labour Districts. The 3-day intensive seminars will be led by trainers who were participants at the Bologna Trainers Course, Nikos Nikolaou, Evangelos Evangelou, and Nikos Satsias Austria ÖGB is currently preparing the first of its Introductory courses. The course has been included in ÖGB s Education Programme and will be led by Pia Lichtblau, another participant from the first Trainers Course 3

4 in Bologna. It will be delivered on 4-7 June 2013 to a group of participants working as members of Works Councils. France The French confederation CGT has been working since July to prepare in detail its first Introductory level course which is planned to take place from 28 January to 1 February 2013 at the CGT Trade Union Centre in Courcelle sur Yvette. The tutors responsible for organising and delivering the training are Samantha Dumousseau and Frédérique Bartlette, who have both just attended the course in Sofia, and Aurélie Lesage. Other national developments LO-S, TUC and CITUB are all at an advanced stage of planning for their national training activities, while CGIL-FILCAMS, CC.OO, ELA, UGT, CGT and GWU are discussing the possibilities of support with their national trade union organisations. Updated information on other national training activities will be provided in the next newsletter. Materials for training The first elements of ETUI s new toolkit Trade Union Training for Project Work are about to be finalised by the tutor team. The first four publications form the supporting publications for the Trainers Course and the Introductory course Project Work for Trade Union Representatives. The four publications will be presented officially at the annual ETUI Education Conference in Zagreb, on the 7-9 November The toolkit will be available in English and French. ETUI Education can offer affiliated organisations financial support of up to 50% of the overall costs of translating the whole of the materials into other national languages. This will help implement the cascading of the Introductory Level Course in as many EU countries as possible during the coming months. ETUInet a platform for work and discussions about project work and project management ETUI now has a new web-based communications platform ETUInet developed using the Moodle online learning environment. This will be used, amongst other things, for the TTUPO courses on project work and project management. As well as housing course materials, it also provides forums on different aspects of project work. It will be a core resource for the new courses and for building and reinforcing the network of trainers involved with project work courses. You can find ETUInet at Access to many of the forums and other pages is restricted to course participants. Project work: the video The short video produced by TTUPO team explaining the importance of project work for trade unions has already been seen by more than 100 web-users. The TTUPO team is very pleased with this positive result and invites the Newsletter readers to see the video and to share it with colleagues and trainees. To view the video, just click here: SETUP/Training. 4

5 For more information To send us your suggestions or to request more detailed information on any point, please contact Silvana Pennella at ETUI ( or go to the dedicated ETUI web page. We welcome any suggestions you may have to help us improve this newsletter. You can subscribe to SETUP News via the SETUP News web page. We will provide subscribers with regular feedback on progress with ETUI training for project activity. We also look forward to hearing any suggestions that our affiliates may have on this theme European Trade Union Institute Education Department Bd du Roi Albert II, Brussels spennell@etui.org ETUI aisbl, Brussels All rights reserved. The ETUI is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. The ETUI is financially supported by the European Union. The European Union is not responsible for any use made of the information contained in this publication. 5