BEST PRACTICES COLLECTION

Contents

The first step was the definition of the contents of our research. According to the E-LARA projects aims, we decided to concentrate our efforts on:

- e-learning in rural areas.

For “e-learning” we intended “the use of new multimedia technologies and the Internet to improve the quality of learning by facilitating access to resources and services as well as remote exchanges and collaboration”, as well indicated in the e-learning website glossary (www.e-learningeuropa.info).

For “rural areas” we focused our attention on the 3 countries touched by the project, i.e. France, Italy and Portugal. This is due to the fact that these are the geographic regions were the project partners operate and which they better know and understand.

Furthermore, at partnership level we agreed on the definition of best practice. We considered “best practice” an already concluded project/action that should respect the criteria of efficacy, sustainability, reproducibility, transferability, mainstreaming effect and that presents innovative aspects.

Following the determination of these elements, we proceed in our work.

Approach

E-LARA best practices collection was lead in order to understand the current situation of e-learning experiences in rural areas of France, Italy and Portugal. The aim was to collect useful suggestions and proposals for realising analogous initiatives in territories presenting similar characteristics.

Planning

We established a reference timetable:

• from April to September 2006, in parallel with the start up of the project, we have collected the best practices;

• from October to December 2006 we have evaluated the best practices collected analysing the strong and weak points (all collected best practices circulated among partners and were discussed at the pilot committee in Porto in October 2006);

• from January to March 2007 we have established the final list of the best practices and we agreed in the pilot committee of Le Puy-en-Velay in February 2007 the draft index of the best practices collection manual;

• from April to June 2007 we have written down the best practices manual;

• in July 2007 we have originally foreseen the publication of the manual, but eventually it will be postponed in case of amendment of the deadline of the project.

Methodology

For the realisation of the best practices collection, the main tool was the creation of a form approved by all partners and divided into four sections:

- information about promoter(s), management and territory;

- organizational structure of the practice, networks, financing;

- description of the practice itself;

- key elements giving value to the model/innovation.

In particular, as elements qualifying the practice as a best practice, for each experience the following points have been considered:

• sustainability: the capacity of the practice to be based on existing resources or be able to generate new resources and to live after the original financing project/action;

• innovative aspects: the capacity of the practice to produce new solutions in terms of processes, products in order to improve the initial conditions and to satisfy the original necessity;

• reproducibility: the suitability of the practice to be reproduced in the presence of analogous problems which originate it;

• transferability: the suitability of the practice to be used as model in different context from the original;

• mainstreaming: capacity of the model/innovation to influence at vertical and horizontal level subjects working in the same sphere. There is vertical mainstreaming when the practice is adopted at other intervention levels (by the referent institutions) and transferred into ordinary policies. In this way the model/innovation primes a change and development process which could have relapses on the reference system. There is horizontal mainstreaming when the model is adopted from subjects working on the territory (inside or outside the practice).

All the best practices collected were analysed according to above mentioned criteria.

Tools

The tool produced was a form which was agreed by all partners and disseminated to the selected contacts trough e-mail, telephone and fax.

Each country prepared a complete list of regional and national bodies to contact and ask for the existence of best practices. For example, in Italy were contacted 383 bodies among mountainous communities, all the regional departments dedicated to agriculture and mountains and local communities.

Selection

Once each partner has collected a sufficient number of possible best practices (about 10 for each country, in order to select 5, plus a superior number of what we have called “experiences of interest”, which are not best practices, but anyway are related to e-learning and ICT in rural areas and could provide interesting suggestions for future actions) we proceeded to the selection. We verified each practice according to the previously mentioned criteria and then, of the practices that passed the selection, we chosen those presenting innovative aspects, especially considering the areas were they were produced.

Results

The selected best practices were the following:

- best practices in Italy:

- @lf@-bet@

- E-learning for e-business & territorial marketing on-line (for integrated rural development) - eRural

- The General Registry of the agricultural and agro-alimentary enterprises

- Sisifo

- Breeding ground for talents

- best practices in France:

- Tutor women initiatives in Bugey thanks to TIC

- Insernet

- Les enfants du net

- Insertion.net

- Corem

- best practice in Portugal:

- Ogreasa

In Portugal was selected only one best practice due to the lack of e-learning experiences in rural areas. This is an important indication that comes out from the research we have carried out. In general, the best practices collection was really useful in order to understand that there are still few experiences of e-learning in rural areas, especially in Italy and Portugal. Digital divide and gender digital divide are still present and this underlines the importance of the role of local, national and European institution in fostering a larger diffusion of e-learning practices in rural areas, so to promote the socio-economic growth of there regions.

Product

The foreseen output of the best practices collection will be a manual of 200 pages in 4 languages (i.e. about 50 pages for each language: English, French, Italian and Portuguese). Format should be 16m5x24 and the quantity 3.000 copies to distribute mainly in France, Italy an Portugal, plus contacts at international level.

Dissemination

One of the aim is to disseminate the manual among all the bodies previously contacted during our research. Many of them were very interested in knowing the results, as they agreed there was a lack of e-learning experiences in rural areas. Manual will be sent also to local and national Governments and associations dealing with similar topics.

Furthermore, the publication will be promoted and distributed during the final conference of the project.

A PDF version of the manual in the 4 languages will be available on the E-LARA Learning Center.