Balance

The impact of the socio-economic effects of COVID-19 fall disproportionately on women who are much more likely to work in sectors which have been negatively impacted by Covid, and in addition they are also burdened with pastoral, childcare and domestic labour. Women also experience significantly higher levels of guilt in relation to work and family life balance, compared to their male counterparts. The need for this project emerged through discussions between EUCEN members around challenges relating to the stark increase in academic burnout since the pandemic, surveys highlight the drastic increase in rates of stress and mental health concerns, however there is little practical support available on how to prevent it. Therefore, there was the need to provide focused and high-quality materials which would help upskill adult educators in order to inform a generation of staff cognisant of the nuances of remote working. For managers and workplace leaders who hold a responsibility for the success of a team who they no longer share an office space with on a daily basis, the need is clear: materials, including activities and structures which would aid them in the supporting of progressive and effective working.

The aim was to address the need for support in innovative ways by creating new upskilling pathways what would ensure that women are more prepared to deal with the stresses and requirements within our modern world, to support them in leadership roles, empowering them to create a culture of support. BALANCE aimes to promote a proactive approach, flexible working coupled with dynamic support to ensure the health and mental well-being of staff is not compromised, to affect change at a leadership level to ensure high levels of integration and engagement with the resources as well as maximising the impact for target groups. The results would work in tandem with one another in overcoming the obstacles of pastoral needs for leaders, encouraging a healthy working-life balance for all and preventing digital drain on staff. For partners the project responds to needs which mirror those of the target groups, support, more awareness and tools for managing a healthier work life balance. For adult educators the issue is that they are themselves, slowly transitioning to a more digital working world and many are ill equipped to provide training to adult learners on the challenges of remote or hybrid working.

The project involved 3 key educational resources as results and the horizontal activities as management, impact evaluation, promotion and sustainability. For PR1 Library of Experiences was made and edited 22 videointerviews from Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Estonia and Denmark experiences of women working during pandemic situation. The videointerviews and the guide How to make good videointerviews were embedded to project webpage projectbalance.eu. For PR2 Better BALANCE Guide was developed A Knowledge Base. PR3 Online Course was worked out. The Guide and Online course were translated to Greece, Finnish, Estonian and all the results are uploeaded to project website. Impact Evaluation was a key component to ensure results are translated into impact. In the first partner meeting in Tallinn was carried out an impact workshop and at the end of the project was drawn up Quality and Impact Evaluation Report. The Zoom meetings were held once a month to keep project ongoing smoothly. The hybrid meetings in Athens and Brussels were held also as National and International Multiplier Events. The dissemination activities ran in parallel throughout the project in social media, in list, digital newsletters and the dissemination report is drawn up.

The results were developed sequentially to be used as an independent resource but they also work together. PR1 Library of Experiences as collaborative platform housing authentic insight into the experiences of women working within a global pandemic offering peer to peer interaction; PR2 Better BALANCE Guide to provide practical information on the delivery of the better balance coaching and tools which equip adult educators with the knowledge and understanding in order to upskill their learners, helping them to manage digital drain, prevent burnout and recognise the imbalances in their lives; PR3 Online multilingual, interactive course and user driven platform to enhance the previous learner materials, enabling distance flexible learning for managers and workplaces leaders to further their understanding and applied knowledge. The online course provides a rich platform of learning materials which aids supervisors and workplace leaders with the knowledge and skills to better manage and support their staff, increasing productivity within remote working, staff wellness and satisfaction by reducing digital drain.