Hard Times - Soft Skills

Based on experiences from our previous work, internal discussions in the organisations and feedback we collected from our trainers, activists, community leaders and other participants in the Czech...

Main goal of the project was to support the development of social solidarity economy (SSE) via the development of alternative educational approaches especially in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), by widening and promoting the offer of alternative soft skills educational programmes for adults and strengthening the cooperation and networking of trainers and activists. In order to achieve this main goal we agreed on the following objectives: 1) supporting the development of SSE in CEE by equipping trainers, facilitators, organizers and activists in the SSE field in soft skills. 2) strengthening the cooperation and knowledge about SSE by supporting the networking of trainers, facilitators, organizers and activists in the SSE field. 3) enabling the bottom-up participation of trainers, facilitators, organizers and activists in activities supporting transformation of economy by developing their communication, organizing and campaigning skills. 4) developing innovative and specialized educational tools for the trainers, facilitators, organizers and activists to be utilized in education about SSE in CEE.

Project consortium: 1) organised 4 transnational project meetings; 2) created 4 project results - educational materials complementing each other - in 5 language versions; 3) organised 18 multiplier events including 16 testing events to present and test educational materials, 1 event to test the pilot training for activists organising large scale events and 1 event to promote project results and create a space for experience exchange and networking. 4) organised learning, teaching and training activity for members and employees of the project partners to strengthen their soft skills competences and create space for exchange of experiences and presentation of good practices of using the soft skills in the field of solidarity economy.

Together we have developed 4 project results: 1) Soft Skills Training - 7 training modules that include a variety of methods and exercises. The longest version of these can be put together into a training course that lasts a whole week. 2) Organising Larger Grassroots Events - training material that describes methods and exercises for the organisers of large events. 3) Better Skills for a Better World - our cookbook that builds on Soft Skills Training and places it in the context of the solidarity economy, summarising the experiences of different actors in both piloting soft skills trainings and organising them. 4) Handbook for Organisers - containing a number of guidelines and tips that can make organising of larger events easier. It complements the material Organising Larger Grassroots Events and describes some of the methods and exercises in detail.