Educated Trainers, Stronger Cooperatives Strategic Partnerships
Location:
Ankara, Turkey
Period of implementation:
2016-2018
Field of activity – formal/informal/non-formal:
- Labour market issues incl. Career guidance / youth unemployment
- Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education
- New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses (Informal and nonformal)
Funding sources:
EU grant
Overall cost/budget:
€194.656
Target group:
Members of Cooperatives and New Cooperative Entrepreneurs (Adults)
Implementing organization/lead organization:
- Coordinator: Ankara Development Agency, Turkey
- Partners:
- Ankara Il Gida, Tarim ve Hayvancilik Mudurlugu Turkey
- Co-operative College Trust, United Kingdom
- DGRV – Deutscher Genossenschafts- und Raiffeisenverband e.V., Germany
- Lega Regıonale Delle Cooperatıve E Mutue, Italy
- Directorate of Trade Ankara, Turkey
- Governorships of Nallıhan and Beypazarı, Turkey
Contact info:
Resources:
- A website that brings together all stakeholders and disseminate knowledge
- Training needs analysis report of cooperatives
- New education plan and curricula which is tailor-made to meet the needs of the disadvantageous groups
- An education toolkit and manual to guide the trainers
- A best practice book and good practices video to disseminate the successful cases
Challenge or social need:
Today, there are many social and economic problems in many parts of the world. Unless interventions are done, the economic and social problems will be escalated like unemployment, income inequality, poverty, social exclusion. In this respect, to create a sustainable development policy, promotion and strengthening of cooperatives has been seen as a viable and productive tool.
Besides, most of the cooperatives cannot be successful in the market because of shortcomings of entrepreneurship, marketing, branding, brand promotion and lack of effective governance structures. And there is a need for developing the capacities of cooperatives. To do this, the most important means is education and training.
Description:
The project is a good example of adult education with all its scope. First of all public and many associations are included. Secondly, the main purpose of the project is connected to adult education. Besides, the outputs of the project are also about adult education.
Benefits/success factors/ measurement of success:
The innovative tools produced and all the other activities contributed to the increase of institutional capacity of cooperatives, improved knowledge and increased awareness about the importance of the cooperatives in the public, increased capacity of cooperative trainers as well as initiation of new local development programmes in collaboration with cooperatives.
Critical points/weaknesses:
It can be said that the most important and perhaps the only weak point of the project is that digital outputs are usually limited to written materials and non-interactive videos. However, at the time of the project -before the Covid pandemic – this was not a big problem. Therefore, the critical aspect of the project is limited to this.
Sustainability characteristics:
The outputs of the projects such as education plans, best practice books or the other manuals are displayed at the website of the projects. Their education plan and manuals describe how to imply it very well. So any time that other cooperatives or governences would like to use those guidelines they are available. Besides, the outputs are confirmed that they are working.
Transferability characteristics:
The intellectual outputs are easily transferable to other countries in the related area. It’s already been adopted for different countries like: DE, IT, TR with the multiplier events.
Inclusive characteristics/Innovative elements:
The scope of the project proofs the innovative and inclusive approach of the project:
- With the toolkit which provides information and training exercises for adult learners on the topics of basic of a cooperative, starting a cooperative, business plan, strategic planning and financial management, monitoring performance and business audits, skills for success and marketing and communication.
- With the book successfully presents innovative tools of cooperative training and makes it easier for trainers to carry out tailor made programmes selecting appropriate topics and methods from the toolkit for their target audience. In parallel to these, partners worked on developing the best practice book and good practices videos. – – With the interviews general information about selected cooperatives, their main activities, information on how they have succeeded, which methods they use and how they maintained sustainability in their work and their expectations from future have been explored.
- With the book contains 18 successful cases of cooperatives which are presented to cooperatives to inspire them in their journey.
- With 11 videos that had been shot to disseminate the exciting stories of cooperatives and to be used as visual materials in delivering training for cooperatives.