The value of Small Co-operation projects

My current involvement in Grundtvig Senior Volunteering Projects,  got me thinking about the serious value of Small Co-operation funding, not just from the viewpoint of benefitting learners but also as an additional mechanism for enhancing the skills of staff.

Challenges facing organisations

Recent reports have highlighted that organisations face difficult challenges when it comes to staff training. But as Joanne Van Der Meer, Family Learning Coordinator/Film Tutor from the British Film Institute said:

‘Grundtvig Small Co-operation projects are fantastic for increasing skills and knowledge’.

Joanne is currently finishing a 2 year Grundtvig Partnership Project ‘New Educational Journeys for Adults: Enhancing Family and Intergenerational Learning Through Photography, Film and Animation’.

As an Assistant Project Manager within the Grundtvig Partnerships team, I am very lucky to oversee some 200 plus Grundtvig projects, which cover all sorts of topics, involve all sorts of people and take place in all sorts of locations. On any given day, I can be supporting Project Managers with providing guidance on a range of topics including: language and communication, funding queries and mobility difficulties, to help ensure a successful project.

Grundtvig Small Co-operation projects, Partnerships and Senior Volunteering, provide a plethora of opportunities for organisations to gain valuable first hand European project management skills. It also offers the chance to develop a range of networks to share knowledge and best practice for the benefit of all involved from learners to staff to the organisation as a whole.

Developing skills

The Manchester Museum, quite recently, finished a two year Senior Volunteering project ‘Involving Extreme Age Groups in Volunteering’ in conjunction with The Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. Project Manager Kate Glynn describes the value of undertaking the project to staff and the benefits to all those who were involved.

‘This project has provided great opportunities for volunteers, staff and the two host institutions involved. It has created a platform to share best practice between organisations in different European countries and generated strong links with fellow colleagues aboard.’

Looking for ways to improve and develop staff skills in a cash strapped economic climate is ‘vital’ for building personal success as the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Future Forecast 2012 report shows.

A Grundtvig Small Co-operation Project will not solve all the economic challenges impacting upon staff training. But as a tool for acquiring skills which will enhance personal and professional development, they are a very worthwhile source. They also just as importantly, do an awful lot of good!

Tracey Guiller