IDEA 2010 Annual Report

IDEA 2010 ANNUAL REPORT

IDEA ANNUAL REPORT 2009/2010 JUNE 2010


CONTENTS

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 3

2. Report on Activities and Impact ...................................................................................................................................... 4

A: Strategic Objective 1: To support und strengthen the capacity and professional development in the sector ......... 4

B: Strategic Objective 2: To advance good practice ..................................................................................................... 8

C: Strategic Objective 3: To build and strengthen IDEA as an organisation ................................................................. 9

D: Strategic Objective 4: To advance public understanding of the role development education plays in creating a more just world............................................................................................................................................................ 12

3. Outlook .......................................................................................................................................................................... 14

4. APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................................................. 15

APPENDIX A: Contribution in kind – Members .......................................................................................................... 15

APPENDIX b: Website ................................................................................................................................................. 15

APPENDIX C: E-CIRCULAR ........................................................................................................................................... 18

APPENDIX D: IDEAS’S WEB PRESENCE........................................................................................................................ 19

APPENDIX E: PHOTOS AND FEEDBACK FROM IDEA EVENTS ..................................................................................... 21

APPENDIX F: LIST of IDEA Members ........................................................................................................................... 23


1. INTRODUCTION

Since the last annual report to the IDEA AGM in June 2009 the contexts and environment in which IDEA and its

members are operating have changed dramatically. The worldwide economic recession has put our work in development education in Ireland under enormous pressure from different perspectives. First and foremost the crises of the past years have had devastating effects on people worldwide. According to last year’s UN report on the Millennium Development Goals progress towards achieving the 2015 targets has been severely affected by the economic downturn. This too means that the global inequalities and injustices worldwide targeted by development educators have increased since the beginning of the various global crises in 2008. This poses serious challenges for the future of our work in development education (DE).

The economic downturn in Ireland has also put pressure on development educators in relation to funding. As IDEA has highlighted in its position paper “The effects of the cuts in Irish ODA 2008/2009 on Development Education in Ireland” (IDEA, October 2009) the cuts in ODA have affected the provision of DE in Ireland profoundly. Not just do we have to make a renewed pledge for global solidarity and justice, we also have to make sure that the government and development NGOs continue to see DE as a core area of a concerted and sustained effort in our common goal to work for a more just and sustainable future. Our position paper sets out this context in more detail and offers recommendations to all stakeholders in this process (see http://www.ideaonline.ie/content/idea-publications for more detail).

Despite increased pressure on the DE sector and the challenges posed by the economic downturn IDEA came out of this year a stronger organisation and this is in large parts due to the fact that IDEA established itself as a credible voice in the development sector in Ireland. As an organisation IDEA has built up the trust of its members in its ability to respond to the challenges posed by newly evolving contexts. This is mainly due to the hard work of the IDEA team and all the supporters of IDEA’s work, be it at board level, through working groups or as members.

Since the last AGM IDEA has been focusing on building up its engagement with members; through our training and capacity building programme as well as through improved communications we have made good progress in this area. Furthermore, through increased visibility and networking, IDEA has established itself has as a voice and platform in the development education sector in Ireland and across Europe.

It is hoped that with the support of our members we will be able to continue this work in what will be a challenging year ahead.

Matthias Fiedler, Director IDEA, May 2010

Not just do we have to make a renewed pledge for global solidarity and justice, we

also have to make sure that the government and development NGOs continue to see DE as a core area of a concerted and sustained effort in our

common goal to work for a more just and sustainable future

http://www.ideaonline.ie/content/idea-publications


2. REPORT ON ACTIVITIES AND IMPACT

Since the last AGM in June 2009 IDEA has taken some major steps forward to develop as an organisation. A workplan for the year (September 2009 – August 2010) was developed over the summer according to the four strategic aims of the current strategic plan. The four strategic priorities were: capacity building of the DE sector, advancing good practice, building and strengthening IDEA as an organisation and advancing the public understanding of the role DE plays in creating a more just world.

A: STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1: TO SUPPORT AND STRENGTHEN THE CAPACITY AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE SECTOR

This objective was identified as a priority area this year. The approach IDEA took to deliver results in this area highlights how planning of activities in IDEA is based on a thorough consultation process with its membership. Based on a needs analysis of the current training and professional development needs of members (The report is available on the IDEA website: http://www.ideaonline.ie/sites/default/files/IDEA2009NeedsAnalysisReport.pdf ) the IDEA team in conjunction with the National Council decided to focus on four areas of training this year: evaluation and impact of DE, social media and online tools, funding and application writing, and the intersection between DE and campaigning. Apart from the provision of training IDEA focused in this priority area on communications, networking at national and European network, as well as increasing its impact by developing a strategic partnership with other NGO support organisations (CIDD). Other major capacity building measures were the annual conference and the Global Educator in Residence Programme.

Training:

Since the last AGM IDEA has organised and/or delivered a total of 11 workshops for its members. Over 160 people have attended those training events. Considering that the majority of participants in IDEA training are educators working with schools, colleges and in the non-formal sector the multiplier effect of such interventions shows that IDEAS is having an impact:

• 1 consultation workshop in conjunction with RCE-Ireland on a evaluation tool for DE

• 2 workshops (Dublin/Belfast) on evaluation and impact of DE

• 3 workshops on web 2.0 and social media (Dublin, Galway, Belfast)

• 1 workshop on EU policy and EU funding

• 1 workshop on application writing in conjunction with Dtalk

• 1 workshop on EU funding in conjunction with Dóchas on EU funding

• 1 Pre-visit workshop as part of the Global Educator in Residence Programme

• 1 Post-visit workshop as part of the Global Educator in Residence Programme

Workshops on Evaluation/Impact: This was identified by members as one of the main areas in which members wanted IDEA to provide inputs. Based on the feedback from a first consultation workshop on an evaluation tool for DE developed by RCE-Ireland, IDEA decided to organise two independent workshops for participants to develop their expertise around impact measurement in DE. The training was facilitated by Louise Robinson of Reading International Solidarity Centre (RISC) and Susan Gallwey of the Waterford One World Centre, one was held in Dublin, the other one in Belfast. The two workshops were seen as initiating a capacity building process around the question of evaluation. Following the report of the two events on the website (http://www.ideaonline.ie/content/report-evaluation-practice-theory ) and based on the feedback IDEA will plan follow-up events and progress the discussion that was initiated on those two day. It is planned to make a policy

http://www.ideaonline.ie/sites/default/files/IDEA2009NeedsAnalysisReport.pdf

http://www.ideaonline.ie/content/report-evaluation-practice-theory

http://www.ideaonline.ie/content/report-evaluation-practice-theory


submission on evaluation in DE to Irish Aid as well as follow-up events to deepen the engagement of the sector with this important area of DE. Workshops on social media: As part of IDEA’s communication strategy these workshops have proven to be a successful on-going capacity building measure to enhance members’ ability to communicate with IDEA, the wider development sector and other players in the sector. The importance of social media in communicating messages to a wider public has been highlighted by many commentators. IDEA members are also increasingly engaged in such activities. The first workshop in Dublin was led by an external facilitator which was followed by two regional workshops facilitated by the IDEA communications officer. This model of building up in-house capacity to deliver workshops on relevant topics for our members has proven to be successful and will be replicated in other areas where appropriate. The fact that IDEA is getting requests from members for doing follow-ups can be seen as a major success as it shows that IDEA is creating demand for its interventions. Workshops on EU policy and EU funding: An enhanced understanding of EU policies and funding mechanism was identified by IDEA as one possible response to the national funding situation. Furthermore, our consultation with the sector showed that there was a lack of understanding and knowledge when it came to European activities on DE. Addressing this gap and at the same time offering the Irish DE sector the opportunity to compete for EU funding were the key objectives for our interventions in this area this year. By inviting Tobias Troll, advocacy officer with DEEEP, the first workshop was designed to familiarise Irish DE practitioners with EU policies and provide information on DE in Europe in order to allow Irish DE sector to engage meaningfully with Europe. (See report here http://www.ideaonline.ie/content/eu-and-development-education-report )This was followed by a workshop on how to write a successful funding application (in collaboration with Dtalk) which was then followed by a workshop that concentrated on EU funding and the specifics of EU funding application processes (in collaboration with Dóchas). This has been designed as a series of workshops in order to increase members’ capacity to compete for European funding. Anecdotal evidence shows that many of the participants of this years’ workshops have subsequently applied for European funding in 2010. IDEA aims to continue to work on increasing DE practitioners capacity to engage with European De activities. Internally the increased focus on Europe meant that IDEA is involved in three European funding applications at present.

Database of DE Providers: A core project in IDEA’s training programme is the development of a database of DE providers. This was a recommendation of the 2009 needs analysis and acknowledges the capacity within IDEA membership to meet training needs. In order to raise awareness of what trainings are being offered (by members) the database will allow anyone to search for providers according to their needs (e.g. topic, theme, location, duration). It will be available online. Initially the database will be open to members only with a view to allowing non-members moderated access to contribute after a trial period. The database of providers will enhance connectivity within IDEA membership and raise awareness of the skills and experience that already exist there.

Outlook on training: Before the summer IDEA expects to provide one more training opportunity on the intersection between campaigning and DE. Plans for a summer school for members (2-day residential training event) on MDG 8 (Global Partnership) are also well advanced.

Communications

With the appointment of a Training and Communications Officer IDEA has developed its communications and visibility in relation to its website and its regular communication systems. In conjunction with the communication working group IDEA has also developed a communication strategy which is monitored regularly to ensure a sustained impact.

http://www.ideaonline.ie/content/eu-and-development-education-report


Website: A major re-design of the IDEA website with the view to increase IDEA’s visibility as well as communications with and amongst members was completed in December 2009. The website now offers increased interactivity for users (blogs, members creating their own content, discussion forum, etc.), a networking section for members, a “Members Events” section where members can upload their own content and a reservoir for IDEA publications and thinkpieces. It is updated regularly about on-going events and workshops offered by IDEA and its members. Monitoring of the site (using Google Analytics) shows that the average numbers of visitors has increased over time, spiking around the release of sectoral newsletters (in particular the Wednesday News from Dochas). Monitoring shows that IDEA’s site is attracting many new visitors but needs to build on the length and depth of each visit in the future. Statistics show that greater interaction with the site correlates with events such as the Global Educator in Residence programme. See Appendix B for graphs of site usage. IDEA also has a facebook page, twitter account and a flickr account (which feeds photos into the website.). Feedback on the website from members is very positive. IDEA strives to improve as an organisation and as part of this our communication with our members will be part of the mid-term review that has started in April 2010.

E-circular: This circular is sent out every second Friday to members to inform them about what is going on in IDEA and the DE sector. The E-Circular was developed specifically NOT to overlap with existing e-bulletins. Therefore, it focuses on IDEA news and upcoming events rather than listing sectoral events. It also includes weblinks to interesting sites and resources. Nonetheless, IDEA receives many requests to circulate information to members. The development of a “Members Events” forum on the website now allows members to post their own notices on our website. The E-Circular lists links to these new postings on this forum as an incentive for members to do this. Informal feedback from staff and a review of the E-Circular in January indicates that members appreciate the e-circular, citing its brevity, links and “best of the web” functions as favourable features. Analysis of links to the IDEA website shows that the E-Circular functions very well in linking members back to our website (See AppendixC) with visits to specific pages peaking at the times the E-Circular is sent out.

INDEX collaboration: In line with the decision not to develop a print-newsletter for the sector but instead to work closely with existing newsletters IDEA has progressed the collaboration with Comhlámh on INDEX in 2009 by introducing an “IDEA corner” as a permanent feature in INDEX to highlight what is going on in IDEA and by becoming a member of the INDEX editorial board. This process was taken a step further by formalising this collaboration through a Memorandum of Understanding that details the nature of this collaboration. It consists of financial as well as staff support from IDEA in the production of INDEX. The rationale of this collaboration is to avoid duplication of work and at the same time to ensure that the DE sector is well informed. Through this collaboration Comhlámh and IDEA hope to strengthen collaboration within the DE sector and to ensure that a wider audience begin the process of engaging in analysis, reflection and action for global citizenship. This collaboration provides Comhlámh and IDEA with an opportunity to meet common objectives of advancing good practice in the DE sector; the collaboration is therefore seen as a joint sectoral capacity building measure.

Input into other circulars: IDEA is working with all other sectoral circulars such as Dóchas Wednesday News, Activelink and the Centre for Global Education bulletin. IDEA also contributes to the EU newsletter from DEEEP.

Networking at national and European level: Since the last AGM IDEA has invested staff time into networking with organisations at national and European level. Networking at national level: Apart from networking with our members one of the priorities was to create a good working relationship with Dóchas. This relationship is now well advanced and regular channels of communications between the two platforms are established. An important new development in this respect is the formation of the CIDD group (Comhlámh, IDEA, Dtalk, Dóchas). During this year IDEA has participated (through bi-lateral and multi-lateral meetings with the organisations involved) in the formation of this group with the view to coming to a joint strategy to support development NGO’s and other IDEA members in capacity building.

IDEA has also been active on the following groups/committees:


• DICE Advisory Group

• Ubuntu Steering group

• RCE advisory group on Evaluation tool

• CGE Belfast conference advisory group

• INDEX editorial board

• Board of Africa Centre

• Advisory Group for Africa Day

• IDEA staff attended/participated in the following events:

• Mayfield Arts Centre Conference – Global Fest (July 2009, chairing of conference by director)

• DERN conference (Oct 2009, keynote address by director)

• CDU event on Politics and Society (Oct 2009, director on panel)

• Africa Centre /Dóchas conference on the code of conduct (Oct 2009, director chaired conference)

• Comhlámh Debate (Oct 2009, participation)

• Irish Aid conference in UL (Oct 2009, participation)

• Consultation day on ESD stakeholder vision strategy (Oct 2009, participation)

• DEAC Forum (Nov 2009, participation)

• Participation at EU partnership fair in Vienna (3 days, Feb 2010)

• Ubuntu Dialogue Day (Feb 2010, chairing of discussion by director)

• CGE conference (Mar 2010, Participation)

• Dóchas Conference (Apr 2010, Participation)

• NYCI Seminar on European Youth Strategy (Apr 2010, project officer delivered workshop, director on panel)

• Cultivate Convergence (May 2010, project officer to co-host cafe discussion) Networking at European level: IDEA has intensified links with European platforms through a joint funding application to influence the post-MDG debate from a DE perspective with 7 other EU platforms. The director participated at the EU partnership fair in Vienna in February 2010. IDEA has also networked extensively with DEEEP on various issues (eg advocacy officer delivered a training workshop in December 2009). IDEA was asked to input into the EU DE-watch report in 2010 and has also liaised with consultants working on the EU multi-stakeholder process in DE. In April 2010 IDEA was accepted to become an observer on the Development Education Platform (DEF) at European level. Discussions with Dóchas in relation to Ireland’s representation on the DEF are on-going. However, for the time being Dóchas has decided to retain EU representation on this forum. Participation on the DEF is seen has an important step to link the Irish DE sector with DE activities at European level and to ensure that what happens at European level is fed back to the sector in Ireland. Although not ideal as an arrangement, IDEA anticipates working closely with the Dóchas EU representative. IDEA has also worked to forge closer links with UK DE networks. The director attended a meeting of the DE group of CADA (Northern Ireland) and is now a member of the newly formed UK/Ireland DE network (formerly UK DE network, at the last meeting it was decided to include Ireland in this network). A joint EU application with the DEA would, if successful, be a further step in this direction.

IDEA Annual Conference:

At the beginning of the year the good practice working group decided to re-focus the annual conference to become more about networking and capacity building than being linked to the good practice objective in the strategic plan. This year’s annual conference will focus more on a critical exploration of the state of DE in Ireland. Rather than having keynote speakers and workshops it was decided to emphasise opportunities for dialogue this year. The conference, entitled “Radical Common Sense: Education for Change”, raises questions about Development Education’s role in effecting change. It poses questions such as: Has development education become mainstream? Has it lost its radical edge? Does it still provide relevant challenges for education and civil society in Ireland? By providing a space for alternative and radical voices from outside the dominant mainstream


IDEA’s annual conference aims to bring some radical common sense into the conversation about what is needed to empower citizens through education to take part in changing society towards fairer, more inclusive and sustainable directions for the future. The day will comprise of a debate where varying perspectives will be shared, contested and connected by selected speakers and a guest chairperson. Attendees will be invited to participate in the debate and also share their experiences and ideas with each other in cafe discussions, leading to the formation of groups for follow-up action.

Global Educator in Residence Programme

Integrating a Southern perspective in DE has become a common ambition of many projects, programmes and activities that are created and organised in the DE sector in Ireland. There is, however, still a lot of uncertainty how best this integration and engagement should be realised. In its effort to strengthen the professional development of the sector, IDEA, with funding from Irish Aid and Trócaire’s Mobilising for Justice grant scheme, has developed the Global Educator in Residence programme. The overall aim of the programme is to contribute towards creating a fair and equal dialogue between the Global North and Global South and to challenge the assumptions and preconceptions of educators working in Ireland from a Southern Perspective. Considering the historical baggage as well as the geo-political and economic imbalance of this relationship this is not an easy task as it has to take cognisance of the fact that such a dialogue is still dominated by issues of power. As part of the programme IDEA has invited educators from the Global South to stay in Ireland for a week and visit participating organisations in their place of work. Based on the discussions and observations during the stay the educators will draw up a set of recommendations specifically for each organisation. This programme is still on-going with the final report due at the end of June. Apart from planning the full programme IDEA staff have undertaken the following work as part of this programme:

• Planned, organised and delivered a pre-visit workshop

• Planned and produced a Learning Journal for participants

• Liaised with the 12 participating organisations and the two educators on an on-going basis

• Planned, organised and accompanied the global educators visits at 12 participating organisations

• Planned, organised and delivered a post-visit workshop

B: STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2: TO ADVANCE GOOD PRACTICE

This strategic aim is a cross-cutting issue for IDEA and the work that has been undertaken often falls under more than one objective. IDEA’s work on evaluation and impact (reported on under A) is seen as a major contribution to advancing good practice in the Irish DE sector. The annual IDEA conference is also part of this work. As stated in the last report IDEA has prioritised strategic aim 1, 3 and 4 in the last year. However, work has been undertaken in two specific areas under objective 2: the continuation of the collaboration with the Worldwise linking scheme and the advancement of an IDEA research platform/community.

Worldwise Linking scheme:

In collaboration with Worldwise an IDEA working group was formed to develop a suite of workshops to be delivered in schools that participate in the Worldwise linking scheme. The rationale of this was to ensure that the workshops delivered in schools are of high quality, that all facilitator delivered a similar workshop, and that participating schools will have some exposure to development education while developing their link. IDEA in conjunction with Worldwise organised a workshop for interested facilitators and DE practitioners to ensure that all participants in this programme are part of the development of these workshops. Subsequently, a suite of three workshops was developed by this group and a list of facilitators who agreed to deliver these workshops in schools was drawn up. The final evaluation of this intervention is pending but from the review meeting held in April 2010 it


is clear that the programme has worked well for those who have decided to take part in it. It is also evidence of IDEA having an impact on good practice in the DE sector in Ireland by providing a template for a suite of workshops on DE for schools involved in linking.

Research: In December 2009 the IDEA National Council decided to form a new working group for research in order to advance the research dimension within the organisation. The research group was very active in an advisory capacity to the director. A mini-survey was carried out to assess the interest of IDEA members in DE research. A major finding of this survey was that IDEA members felt that what was needed in the sector was an intervention to built capacity for research in DE in Ireland. The research group, therefore, decided to recruit a researcher charged with building up an IDEA research platform or community with the aim of advancing members capacity to engage with a research agenda and/or to develop their own research. A tender for this work was drawn up and the contract was awarded to Mags Liddy. Through this intervention it is planned to increase the capacity of IDEA members to engage in research. The project will start by assessing IDEA members’ understanding of research, experience, and areas of interest in capacity building and development education research. It is anticipated that this project will establish a sustainable structure for IDEA members to engage in and with research. In terms of process this project is an example of how IDEA is trying to engage with its members on a participatory and interactive basis. From an initial mini-survey to test the waters to taking up the recommendations made during this process, to drawing up a plan of how to realise this project the working group has consulted with its main target group at every stage of the development of the project. This process was lead by the IDEA team in close collaboration with the research working group. IDEA has also been approached by DCU with the request to deliver two modules in development education as an elective course in their MA in Development from July 2010 onwards. After negotiations with Comhlámh (who will be on an advisory group for the development of the modules). A MoU has been drawn up between DCU and IDEA in which IDEA commits to plan and deliver the modules and DCU will pay IDEA a fee of € 3800 for the two modules. In preparation for the funding applications to the EU on the MDG debate IDEA has also been engaged in research on the MDG to a limited extent. If successful in the application this research dimension of IDEA will be extended. Finally, the director has also acted as a peer reviewer for the DE journal Policy&Practice. Volunteering and Development Education: IDEA, in collaboration with Comhlámh, has started to work on engaging volunteering organizations in a discussion around the intersection of Volunteering and DE with the view to advance the development of good practice in this area. The IDEA director has given a workshop on this subject (22 participants) at the Comhlámh peer support network meeting and is in negotiation with main players in this field how to bring this debate further,

C: STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3: TO BUILD AND STRENGTHEN IDEA AS AN ORGANISATION

Over the last year IDEA has made this third objective a priority area. Main areas of work included a renewed emphasis on working with the IDEA membership, further developing the internal structures of IDEA as an organisation and diversifying the funding base of the whole organisation.

Membership:

IDEA membership has grown extensively over the last year. With now over 70 members IDEA represents a broad spectrum of people working in DE in Ireland covering all sectors of formal and non-formal education. More importantly, however, is the fact that the engagement between IDEA and its members has intensified. Since the last AGM and in light of the difficult funding situation the vast majority of IDEA members have shown a high level of trust in IDEA as an umbrella organisation by giving IDEA the mandate to speak and act on behalf of its members in relation to the cutbacks by Irish Aid. The submissions made to Irish Aid in relation to the cut-backs this year and the political campaigning in which IDEA was involved (eg as part of the WE DO CARE campaign to lobby the


government to keep to their promises and avoid further cuts in ODA) is evidence of IDEA reacting swiftly and strongly to such challenges. On the other hand, building up a good working relationship with Irish Aid is key for IDEA in its efforts to communicate the sector’s needs to Irish Aid. A major disappointment was the cancellation of the June funding round last year and IDEA has submitted a strong submission criticising this move. Liaising with Irish Aid to ensure that the voice of the DE sector is adequately heard will continue to be a key priority for IDEA. Working to support IDEA’s membership has been another cross-cutting priority for IDEA since the AGM. As reported on in the sections above this has been mainly in relation to capacity building, communication and networking. The needs analysis IDEA conducted in 2009 formed the basis of many of these interventions and in its work with its members IDEA is striving to be as consultative and participatory as possible. At times, however, this also means to take a lead on interventions. Over the past two months IDEA staff have started to analyse its membership in order to be more targeted in its approach to membership support. This clustering of members will feed into our planning for the next year. In terms of membership support an emphasis on regional representation was always a key element of IDEA’s ethos as an all Ireland organisation and this has been continued this year. IDEA has a strong and proactive regional working group that has assisted the IDEA team in strategising and planning regional events. IDEA has delivered 4 of its 11 workshops in regions outside Dublin and held two regional networking meeting, one in Cork and one in Derry. As a result, a member from Derry has joined the RWG. The IDEA team has also travelled to the regions to meet regional members in their locations. Additionally, the Global Educator in Residence programme involved site visits of 6 organisations in the regions. The involvement of members is a major success factor for IDEA’s work. For the first time IDEA has monitored the involvement of members in various meetings held by IDEA (for this year only AGM, National Council, meetings of working groups were counted). Since the last AGM a total of 30 meetings were held which amounted to more than 280 hours of staff time that members have contributed in kind to IDEA (Based on an hourly rate of € 30 this amounts to about € 8467 as contribution in kind to IDEA). Very encouraging is that at these meetings 34 people from over 23 different organisations took place in the meetings, which shows that many members are actively engaged in core IDEA business through their engagement with the National Council or in working groups (which are open to all members). It also points to the fact that IDEA has – with its National Council – a core group of very committed members. (See appendix A for a graph on contribution in kind) The working groups are a vital part of IDEA’s core work and have been very active in the past. Throughout the report their contribution to IDEA’s work has been reported on. At the moment IDEA has the following working groups:

Management Group : This group is elected at the first National Council meeting after an AGM and is charged with : • Managing and supporting the staff of the organisation • Managing the finances of the organisation within the agreed organisational plans • Implementing decisions taken by the National Council • Bringing proposals to the National Council The work of this group has been instrumental for the success of IDEA in part. It allows the IDEA team to react swiftly on some decisions, offers useful advice, and adds a good mechanism to monitor on-going work

Good Practice: This group has been set up to promote good practice amongst IDEA members and the wider development education community. The good practice working group has worked in an advisory capacity to prepare the annual conference.

Regional Working Group: This group has been set up to strengthen the capacity of DECs and other regionally-focused development education organisations. As reported above this group has been extremely proactive in advising and organising training and networking opportunities in the regions since the last year.

Organisational Development Group This group has been set up to address the organisational development issues arising for IDEA in the context adapting the organisation to meet the needs of a changing environment. The OD group has worked in an advisory capacity and support structure for the director in developing and producing the HR handbook. It is also actively advising the National Council on issues of organisational development.


Research Group: This group has been set up to advance and support the research dimension in the development education sector in Ireland. As an advisory body the research group has supported the director in planning the research project (see research section for further detail)

Communications Working Group: The group supported the project officer in developing IDEA’s communication strategy and is now charged with support in monitoring progress in this area.

As part of the mid-term review all working groups will undergo a review process. With the exception of the management group all working groups are open to all members of IDEA.

IDEA Internal Management of the organisation and HR: As an association and membership-based organisation IDEA strives to be a model of good practice when it comes to organisational and managerial structure. A major undertaking in this regard was the production of the IDEA HR handbook which puts IDEA’s internal structures and procedures on a firm footing. The handbook details IDEA’s governance structure and its employment policy. It also includes chapters on Performance Management and Grievance and Disciplinary procedures. Finally, the document details IDEA’s policies on Harassment, Health and Safety, Communications and Volunteers. The handbook was produced by the director of IDEA with support from the organisational development group. During the production process the director consulted with IDEA members on their policies and internal procedures and invited members to contribute to this process. The HR handbook is accessible to all members through our website (See http://www.ideaonline.ie/content/idea-publications ) In terms of monitoring what the IDEA team is doing there are now clear systems and procedures in place. A financial report is produced every month and the director reports to the management group and the National Council on a bi-monthly basis. These systems allow IDEA to remain a flexible, adaptable and learning organisation. IDEA is a learning organisation which is evidenced by the IDEA team attending CPD training regularly. In the past year IDEA staff has attended the following trainings:

• Application Writing (director)

• EU funding (director)

• Financial Management (director)

• Social Media and Web 2.0 (Training and Communication Officer)

• Working with the media (Training and Communication Officer)

• Graphic Recording (Training and Communication Officer)

• Website Training ((Training and Communication Officer and Administrator)

• Accounting Software (Sage) (Administrator) Since the last AGM IDEA has employed/contracted the following consultants/contractors:

• Ms Karen O’Shea (Needs analysis)

• Ms Olivia Klevan (Evaluation, Mid-term Review)

• Ms Mags Liddy (Research)

• Ms Joyce Matemba (Conference Secretary)

• 54 Degrees (Web-Design)

• Oldtown Design (Design of promotional material) Mid-term review: IDEA is half-way through its current strategic plan and has gone through some significant changes over the last year in terms of programme and personnel. The organization was founded in 2004 and was able to attract funding from Irish Aid in 2005 for the first time. This allowed the recruitment of an interim director who was charged with developing the organisation. IDEA entered into a multi-annual funding arrangement at the end of 2008 which allowed for the development of a strategic plan until 2011 and the recruitment of permanent staff. In 2009, in addition to a part-time administrator, a full-time director and a part-time trainings and communications officer were recruited. Further to those internal changes IDEA is now working in a very different

http://www.ideaonline.ie/content/idea-publications


context – compared to when it was founded in 2004 - in terms of political frameworks, funding realties, etc. both nationally and internationally. IDEA has therefore embarked on a review to evaluate the progress so far (in relation to the strategic aims set out in the strategic plan 2008-2011, available on IDEA website/publications). Part of this evaluation process will also be a review and possible correction of current strategic directions (or the identifications of new ones due to the changing environment) as well as a critical review of our current vision and mission statement. Finally, it should also address the question how to evaluate the organisation effectively on an on-going basis. This evaluation and review process will then feed into strategic planning for the future with the view to develop a new vision and mission statement for the organisation and to lay the foundation for a new strategic plan. It is expected that the new strategic plan should be ready for the beginning of 2011.

Funding Base: IDEA has secured multi-annual funding from Irish Aid until August 2011. Last year IDEA was also successful with a funding application to Trócaire for the Global Educator in Residence Programme. Unfortunately, both funding applications to the EU in 2009 were unsuccessful (one concept note was accepted but the subsequent full-application was rejected, the other concept was rejected). Apart from some income through membership fees, fees from events, and the Trócaire grant this means that IDEA’s main source of funding still comes from Irish Aid. In an effort to diversify its funding base IDEA has submitted five funding applications in the last two months which are listed below:

• Engaging Citizens: Shaping the post-MDG debate from a development education and public awareness raising perspective (EU application: IDEA is co-lead agency with Slovenian platform SLOGA)

• Consistency for development: innovations in global learning in the formal sector (EU application, IDEA as a partner)

• Building Capacity in Development Education in the Minority Ethnic (BME) Sector in Europe (EU application, IDEA as a partner)

• Beyond 2015 - Learning for Global Partnership (Trócaire Mobilisation for Justice grant)

• Community of Educators: Empowering Educators from Ethnic Minorities for combating Racism and other Forms of Social Inequalities (Application to The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust)

The deadline for all application was in April 2010, decisions are anticipated from July 2010 onwards.

D: STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 4: TO ADVANCE PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION PLAYS IN CREATING A MORE JUST WORLD

2009 proved to be a difficult year for advancing public understanding of development education for a number of reasons. With people becoming more inward looking during the economic downturn it was challenging to communicate a global justice agenda to the wider public. In the light of the pressures on public finances engaging with government departments too became more difficult. Internally, many organizations in the development sector focused on core business and on securing funding to be able to carry on their work which did not create an environment open to change. Despite these challenges IDEA has pursued this fourth objective through developing some policy positions, engagement with government departments and producing some material to advance advocacy from a development education perspective.

Policy Submissions: IDEA has produced two policy submissions since the last year. The first one to the NCCA as part of their consultation process on the planned senior cycle subject “Politics and Society”. The director of IDEA took part as a panelist in a consultation meeting on this process prior to the IDEA submission. The process of producing the submissions once again highlights the way in which IDEA involves its membership in such issues. Besides advice to members who decided to do their own submissions, a draft of IDEA’s submission was first circulated to all members for comments. The comments were then incorporated where possible in the final text of the submission.


Feedback from the NCCA states that the IDEA submission was regarded as a very valuable contribution to the consultation process. The importance of this new subject and the opportunities it provides for development educators to get an inroad into senior cycle cannot be overstated. This is why IDEA invested quite some time in this submission (See http:// www.ideaonline.ie/sites/default/files/IDEA_Submission_to_NCCA_final_version_IDEA_2009.pdf )

The other submission was a position paper to Irish Aid and NGOs funded through MAPS that focused on the effects of the ODA cuts on development education. Again, IDEA consulted extensively with its members and did a mini-survey on how the cuts have affected the DE sector in general. As it is often hard to isolate DE funding from other funding that goes into development cooperation this submission was extremely important for the sector. Besides making the case for development education, especially in such testing times, the position paper focused on the effects that cuts to MAPS funded NGOs had in terms of their engagement in development education as well as on the consequences of the decision by Irish Aid to abolish the June funding round. Responses from the minister of state for overseas development, Peter Power, and from CEO’s of the NGO’s in receipt of MAPS funding show that the position paper succeeded in highlighting the funding situation in development education in the development sector. The position paper concludes with clear recommendations for Irish Aid, NGOs and the DE sector in general. IDEA is committed to continue to link with all stakeholders on the issues raised in the position papers. (See http://www.ideaonline.ie/sites/default/files/The_effects_of_the_ODA_cuts_08-09.pdf ) Engagement with Government Departments: Despite the difficult situation in 2009 IDEA has retained its good contacts with the Development Education unit in Irish Aid and has participated in a number of meetings with government officials on various issues over the year. In particular, IDEA has met with Irish Aid to discuss the funding situation in the DE sector, the importance of a renewed focus on evaluation and impact, planning meetings for Africa day, etc. IDEA also took part in the DEAC forum in Limerick in 2009 and chaired one of the consultation sessions. Contacts with the Department of Education and Skills remain challenging. Efforts to facilitate contacts and inroads into the DES have proven to be very difficult. There seems to be a reluctance on the department’s side to engage in meaningful dialogue with development educators despite the fact that many IDEA members are working in the formal education sector. This has been identified as a priority area for next year and IDEA has applied for EU funding (in collaboration with the DEA in England) to facilitate this lobbying work. For development education the DES is a key stakeholder in efforts to put DE firmly on the landscape of education in Ireland.

Advocacy/Public engagement with DE: IDEA has produced a total of 3 articles and 2 thinkpieces on development education since the last year. The director was invited as a guest editor of issue 9 – Development Education in Action – of Policy and Practice by the Centre for Global Education in Belfast and wrote the editorial for that issue. As a follow-up to last year’s conference 2 more articles on issues relating to development education and the need to focus on a global justice agenda in times of crises were produced and made available on the website (together with a podcast of Kumi Naidoo’s keynote speech at the last annual conference). Two thinkpieces on development education were produced by IDEA, one of which (Making the Case for Development Education) has been since widely used in the sector as well at European level in workshops and circulars. ( See http://www.ideaonline.ie/sites/default/files/IDEAThinkpiece2009MakingTheCase.pdf )

IDEA has also been actively engaged with the We Do Care campaign which was a sector-wide campaign to protect the ODA budget in 2009. IDEA involvement and support of this campaign was based on the rationale that a campaign around issues such as aid, development cooperation and ODA needs to have a development education perspective. One of the many successes of the campaign was to bring the issue of aid back on the agenda. Internally, it has helped to link the DE sector closer to people working in development cooperation in Ireland. IDEA also collaborated with 80:20 in the production of their advocacy paper on aid and teaching resource “Debating Aid”. This was seen has a good opportunity to engage with the debate around ODA from a DE perspective. It is planned to continue this advocacy work in collaboration with 80:20 and Concern.

http://www.ideaonline.ie/sites/default/files/The_effects_of_the_ODA_cuts_08-09.pdf

http://www.ideaonline.ie/sites/default/files/IDEAThinkpiece2009MakingTheCase.pdf


3. OUTLOOK

Even though there are signs of a worldwide economic recovery the year(s) ahead remain extremely challenging for people working for social and global justice. The UN review summit on the MDG’s in September 2010 will be another landmark in this process and IDEA is committed to keeping in close touch with developments in this area. Engaging in the debate around the MDG’s and the future frameworks of development cooperation will be a priority for IDEA. Two of the funding applications that IDEA has put forward this year will – if successful – allow the organisation to further build the capacity of the DE sector to engage in this crucial policy debate. Apart from a renewed effort to influence policy nationally and at European level IDEA will continue to work towards building up the capacity of the sector and the quality of our work. Many of the activities and interventions in the last year have put IDEA in a good position to fulfil this role. In terms of development education IDEA is committed to intensify the discussion on future directions of the work in the DE sector with an increased emphasis on impact of our work. Increasing public understanding of global and social justice issues will be at the heart of our efforts in what will continue to be a very challenging environment. This requires interventions that keep development educators in a critical and multi-perspective dialogue about the quality and conceptual underpinnings of our work. IDEA will also renew its efforts to lobby the Department of Education and Skills to realize that development education is a vital part of a good education system that stays relevant to the challenges that young people – as global citizens – are facing in today’s world. IDEA will also continue to work closely with Irish Aid, especially in their up-coming mid-term review, to ensure that the DE sector is adequately consulted in this process. The up-coming mid-term review of IDEA’s own strategic direction will be a key moment in the development of the organisation. It will allow IDEA to reflect on what has been achieved in the past and what needs to happen to be ready for and adaptable to the required changes ahead. As a learning organisation IDEA is well positioned to retain the flexibility that is necessary to work in a context that has changed profoundly since the foundation of the association in 2004. Apart from the mid-term review the outcome of the five pending funding application will have a huge influence on future directions of the organisation. Even though all applications are designed as extensions of the existing core programme, success would mean that IDEA’s core business could increase by up to 50%. In that case, managing this change will pose a major, yet very exciting challenge to all people involved in IDEA. IDEA would not be where it is as an organisation without the support of our members. Nurturing and developing this engagement with members will be, once again, a key priority of our work in the coming year.


4. APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: CONTRIBUTION IN KIND – MEMBERS

Members Participation in IDEA Meetings June 09 - April 10

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Africa Centre

CGE

Children in Crossfire

Comhlamh

Concern

Connect W

orld

DERN

/NUIG

Development Perspectives

DICE EI

L

GOWC

KADE

LYCS

NYCI

Schools Across B

orders

Self H

elp Africa

Skillshare

Trocaire

Ubuntu

UCD School of Ed

Worldw

ise

WOW

C

Individuals

Members

Time in hours

Series1

Since the last AGM a total of 30 meetings (AGM, National Council, meetings of working groups) were held which amounted to more than 280 hours of staff time that members have contributed in kind to IDEA. Based on an hourly rate of € 30 the estimated value of staff time in meeting amounts to about € 8467

APPENDIX B: WEBSITE

AMOUNT OF PEOPLE VISITING OUR SITE

This has increased in general since Jan 2010 (when monitoring began) but has begun to decline in the last month. General visits peak in correlation with e-circulars, the Wednesday news and particular events, see Fig.

.

Fig. 1. Visitors to the IDEA website (monthly averages) between Jan 15th and May 6th 2010.


Fig. 2. Visitors to the IDEA website (daily averages) Jan 15th and May 6th 2010.

VISITOR LOYALTY

Loyal visitors are those that are engaged with IDEA and a high number of multiple visits indicates good visitor retention. A high number of new visitors (i.e. those at the top of the table below) indicates strong visitor recruitment. IDEA is currently attracting many new visitors and now needs to ensure return visits and greater length of time spent on visits (indicating greater engagement).

Fig. 3. Average Time spent on the site (weekly averages shown here) has been generally increasing, but has declined in April.


Fig. 4. Visitor Loyalty- how often visitors are returning to the website. Our aim is to increase the blue bars at the bottom of this table.

Fig. 5. Visits to the Members’ Forum. This graph shows that visits peak around certain dates. E.g. March 2nd was the first Global Educator in Residence Programme online discussion, the second was the 1st April.


APPENDIX C: E-CIRCULAR

In general, the E-Circular is well-received, with members feeding back to IDEA staff that they use the links and appreciate the ease and relevance of it.

One aim of the E-circular is to direct members to the IDEA website. We can use Google Analytics to see where people are coming to the IDEA site from. Fig 1 below indicates that the majority of people visit the IDEA site by typing the address into their browser, clicking a bookmark or typing words into a google search. In the future an increase in referring sites as sources of traffic would be a positive indicator of other communications (such as the e-circular) successfully bringing visitors to the site.

Fig 1. Sources of traffic to the IDEA website.

As mentioned in the report the E-Circular links to new posts (by members themselves) in the Members Events forum, as an incentive for members to post their own content. 30 posts have been made since the forum was started on 1st Feb. To see if readers of the E-Circular click through to the Members Events we can see if visitors to the Forum correlate with the dates that the E-Circular goes out. The figure below shows that interest in the Members Events forum was strong initially but has tailed off, increasing briefly every two weeks with the release of the e-circular. In the future we should aim to see a general increase with spikes of traffic coinciding with the e-circular.

Fig. 2. Visits to the Members’ Events Forum


APPENDIX D: IDEAS’S WEB PRESENCE

1. www.ideaonline.ie

2. onlineidea.ning.com

http://www.ideaonline.ie/


3. facebook

4. twitter

5. Flickr


APPENDIX E: PHOTOS AND FEEDBACK FROM IDEA EVENTS

TRAINING EVENT ON EU FUNDING WITH TOBIAS TROLL, DEEEP ADVOCACY OFFICER.

15th Dec 2009

“Many thanks for the report – it’s very comprehensive. It was a very useful event”

NETWORKING EVENT, CORK

30th Nov 2009

SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING WITH ON ROAD MEDIA.

DUBLIN

15th Nov 2009

“Since the Web 2.0 day I reactivated my interest in tweeting. Thanks for starting the ball rolling!”


EVALUATION: PRACTICE TO THEORY TRAINING EVENT

BELFAST

5th Dec 2010

"Great participatory format, talking to the views of a wide range of practitioners, exploring the challenges of evaluation and some of the assumptions we make"

DR. VANESSA ANDREOTTI MEETING WITH HELEN MAHONY AND DIARMUID O’BRIEN OF BALLYFERMOT COLLEGE OF FURTHER EDUCATION AS PART OF THE GLOBAL EDUCATOR INR ESIDENCE PROGRAMME.

24TH Mar 2010

AFRICA CENTRE MINI WORLD CUP TOURNAMENT

IDEA TEAM= MBEMBA JABBI, MATTHIAS FIEDLER, JOHNNY SHEEHAN, HEIDI HOLDEN, ALWYN HOLDEN (SUB) AND EIMEAR MCNALLY.

1st May 2010


APPENDIX F: LIST OF IDEA MEMBERS

ORGANISATIONAL MEMBERS: INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS:

80:20 Educating & Acting for a Better World Adrienne Boyle

AFRI (Action From Ireland) Carlos Bruen

Africa Centre Audrey Bryan

The African Voice Newspaper Lizzie Downes

Age Action Ireland Rosalind Duke

Alâ Community Theatre Maura Gallagher

Amawele Son Gyoh

Amnesty International Annette Honan

Ballyfermot College of Further Education Su-Ming Khoo

Ballyfermot Travellers Action Project Caroline Maxwell

Banúlacht Pete Mullineaux

British Red Cross Hazel Murphy

CDVEC Curriculum Development Unit Astrid Perez Pinan

Centre for Global Education Ipalibo Roseabella Don-Pedro

Children In Crossfire Tom Ryder

Combat Diseases of Poverty Consortium Gilbert Storrs

Comhlámh Sahr Yambasu

Concern

Cultivate Living & Learning Centre

DERN Network, NUIG ASSOCIATE MEMBERS:

Development Perspectives DEA, UK


DICE: Development & Intercultural Education

ECO UNESCO

EIL Intercultural Learning

Ethical Development Action

Galway One World Centre

Habitat for Humanity

Inishowen Development Partnership

International Service Ireland

Just Forests

KADE (Kerry Action for Development)

Kimmage Development Studies Centre

LASC (Latin American Solidarity Centre)

Link Community Development

Loreto Education Centre

Lourdes Youth & Community Services (LYCS)

Mayfield Community Arts Centre

Misean Cara

Nasc, Irish Immigrant Support Centre

NYCI (National Youth Council of Ireland)

Plan Ireland

Schools Across Borders

Self Help Africa

Skillshare Ireland

SUAS Educational Development


Traidlinks

Trócaire

Trinity College Dublin, School of Education

Ubuntu Network

UCD Development Studies Library

UCD Equality Studies and School of Social Justice

UCD School of Education

Ulster Peoples College

Waterford One World Centre

WorldWise (Leargas)

YMCA

IDEA 2010 Annual Report

Documents

Transcript of IDEA 2010 Annual Report