Ariadne Cultural Foundation- Ariadne Kulturális Alapítvány 

Introduction

The CHIMES  project targeted disadvantaged young people who feel isolated or excluded from mainstream society, those who are socially and economically excluded for cultural, educational, health & mental well-being reasons.

Altogether over 100 young people took part in the CHIMES project, over a period of 24 months, taking part in various activities including creative arts workshops, local creative arts festivals, community exhibitions and an international training event. During participation in the activities, the young people recorded their experiences in a video journal.

By evaluating and providing feedback on their experiences the target group of disadvantaged young people have contributed to the Impact Analysis Report.

Qualitative indicators  were identified at the beginning of the project to facilitate the evaluation of the impact of CHIMES activities on the disadvantaged  young beneficiaries. These indicators focused on:

* the extent to which informal learning meets the needs and interests of disadvantaged young people

*The extent to which creative arts activities have contributed to engagement of beneficiaries in learning

* The extent to which the beneficiaries have acquired competences (e.g. Emotional Management, Communications, Autonomy)

* The extent to which the beneficiaries have acquired "soft" skills ( e.g. self-confidence)

* The extent to which activities have contributed to social inclusion of beneficiaries

* The extent to which collaboration has benefited second chance teacher/trainers and second chance education providers

PURPOSE

 The Impact Analysis Report has a number of purposes:

* To measure the impact on the young beneficiaries

* To measure the success of the project

* To act as an evaluation tool

* To contribute to the promotion and the dissemination of the CHIMES project.

It is expected that the Impact Analysis Report will be of interest to policy makers responsible for social policy, to decision makers responsible for implementing strategies to support the integration of disadvantaged groups, ( especially migrants, immigrants and those with ethnic minority background) to practitioners responsible for implementing measures to support integration and social cohesion, to creative arts professionals who want to extend appreciation of creative arts and participation in the industry.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the Chimes project were to:

* Enhance the learning experience and promote citizenship through community -based activities

* Support the integration and social/ economic inclusion of disadvantaged young people into mainstream society

* Develop wider key skills and competences in disadvantaged young people through creative arts

* Provide high quality learning experiences.

 Carrying out the project activities at transnational level, enabled the  CHIMES partners to share the rich culture of music, dance and performing arts that exists across Europe. By sharing their experiences and achievements across Europe, the aim was to enable young adults to broaden their horizons and build a sense of European community.

EXPECTED IMPACT

The CHIMES project aimed to support the participants to develop skills and competences that are relevant  the job market. The definition of competences in the context of CHIMES includes key competences that make the target group more employable, therefore meaning the acquirement of good communication skills, the ability to work in teams, to problem solve. CHIMES also aimed to develop the skills known as "soft" skills such as self-confidence, self- esteem.

The main impact that was expected on the target group was in terms of their personal development:

* improved  "soft skills" such as improved self -confidence and raised self -esteem

* acquisition of key competences that improve employability

* reduction in feelings of isolation and exclusion

* building a sense of belonging and self -worth

* engaging or re-engaging in education, training and employment

The collaboration between second chance education providers and the creative arts sector was an important result in terms of the effect on the young beneficiaries and the impact on teaching and learning methods. The qualitative result for education organisations and education practitioners was the cross fertilisation of creative ideas with professionals from another industry, the opening of new pathways in informal learning and the expanded offer of high-quality learning opportunities.

The CHIMES project expected to provide alternative tactics and strategies in the toolbox of educators who were working in second chance education. These practitioners are constantly looking for new ways to re-engage a difficult target group who have had poor experiences in education and training and for some poor life experiences. CHIMES aimed provide these practitioners with alternative methods of informal learning, using creative arts as a means to engage, aid personal development, support progression to social inclusion and subsequently employment in mainstream society. The main impact on second chance educators and practitioners would be in their continuous professional development (CPD). 

For the partner organisations the impact of CHIMES would be added value to their curriculum offer, increasing the quality of their education and training provision and improving the quality of teaching and learning through increased collaboration with other sectors.

THE TARGET GROUP

The target group of disadvantaged young people had many common features in terms of being socially and economically excluded from mainstream society. Each partner recruited young people who fitted into this category but with other distinctive differences. These young people are usually driven by some kind of inarticulate drive,  which the traditional school system typically cannot cope with. Thus, they suffer from learning, behavioural and mental health problems, but also from extremely strong emotions, often due to their unrecognised but irresistible desire for autonomy. Because of their unclear self-image and confused values, often with an unsupportive social background, they are pushed into narrow subcultures and are often marginalised

The target group involved by CESIE  varied according to the different activities offered. Their ages ranged from 16 to 28 years old and the vast majority of them were youth with a migrant background. Male and female young people were equally involved and most had a profound need to recover from years of social isolation due to Covid-19.

From Ariadne Foundation the young people were aged between 14 and 20. In particular, they were second-chance learners who have been removed by the system or who have left education and had re-entered an institution of their own choice where non-formal education took place.

At Kleinon the target group were young people aged 15- 18 years, some still in mainstream education, but in a system that provides curative education, that tries to re-integrate the young people in education through innovative methods.

The target group  at AE20 were the youngsters aged between 15 and 25 years old, attending  the Second Chance School of Matosinhos, of all genders, and who have dropped out of school and for whom an adequate education/ training answer has not yet been found.

The target group from Gentis Foundation were young people aged 16 to 24 years old  both male and female. They are students from the adult school taking different professional trainings. The adult school “ Nove s Oportunitats center” of  Fundació Gentis  provides services to people at risk of social exclusion or who have been expelled from the regular educational system.

The target group at PSE are young people mainly between the ages of 12 to 24 years, who face two or more barriers to achieving good grades in school and accessing employment, including: being out of work or learning; being in care; economically disadvantaged; having care responsibilities; being from an ethnic minority that experience multiple disparities in the labour market.

WHAT TO MEASURE?

Creative Arts and skills development

Each project activity promoted the use of informal learning and the creative arts as a vehicle to engage/re-engage disadvantage young people in education, training and employment. All activities were aimed at developing the very same skills needed to promote social and economic inclusion among young participants: self-awareness, initiative/autonomy, adaptability, disposition to learning, organisation, emotional management and communication. The theme around which all the activities are focused is “inclusion”: social inclusion, inclusion after Covid-19 isolation, re-engagement in society, etc.

Competences

The  CHIMES project used a learner-centred approach and so the partners agreed to consult with the young participants, to ask them which skills and competences they wanted to develop. Gentis Foundation, the coordinating partner identified a set of competences from the “Dictionary of Key Transversal Competences for the Employability of Youth”.

Between 2021-2023, Ariadne was part of another partnership. The KA2 project is called Chimes.

The partners of the Ariadne Cultural Foundation were the Spanish Gentis, the Portuguese Matosinhos Second Chance School, the Italian CESIE, the English Főnix and the Romanian Klerion.