Saregune“visual reflexion”

Saregune “Community Technologies”

Saregune

What are we?

Association Sartu Álava

Saregune is placed in the Old Part of Vitoria-Gasteiz and is one of the projects of the Association Sartu Alava.

The association SARTU-ÁLAVA is a private association without profit purpose, non-denominational and non-polytical, who works in the sector of social service and whose objective is to fight against marginalisation and social exclusion.

We try to do it by::- Paying special attention to the people in situation of the greatest social disadvantage.- Making available to them some resources of motivation, guidance, personal and technical qualification and qualification to have access to the labour market in a continuous process of individual accompaniment.- Actively intervening in the social situations to build new, more integrating possibilities. Although our field of performance is the Province of Alava, we work homogeneously in the entire Autonomous Community of the Basque Country through our participation in SARTU Federation. We share methodology, objectives, strategy and working bargaining with them. For all purposes, we act as one only body with joint management.

Meeting point

Saregune is a space, open to everyone in which we use IT as an excuse to break different barriers; digital, neighbourhood, cultural...

We offer training, blogs, technological support or any question regarding new technologies, both to individuals and to associations and groups.

Social movers of the neighbourhoodWe work in the neighbourhood and with the neighbourhood. We expect that Saregune becomes a reference point in the neighbourhood, where anyone can go, without any architectural barrier, without language barriers, without cultural barriers...We want to be a part of the neighbourhood and we are working for it to stop being regarded as a ghetto neighbourhood and become considered as a rich and diverse neighbourhood, a neighbourhood that moves.

What do we do?

Inclusive digital literacyWe are for everybody’s access to New Technologies as a source of training and information and therefore, we offer open and free training, offering different courses and workshops, always paying attention to diversity.We offer courses that go from Digital literacy to Blogs or photo treatment. They are courses of 1h.30 min. sessions every day for 2, 3 or 4 weeks.We think that access to training and, consequently, to information are a key for the personal development of people.

Neighbourhood initiativesWe try to collaborate with the different activities and movements that occur in the neighbourhood. We take part in different Platforms, we coordinate with other associations and groups... In short, we are for the collaborative and participative work as a working tool in our daily work

How do we do it?Employment and Training Plans (PEFs)A key part of all this is the 2 Employment and Training Plans, 24 people every year, distributed in 2PEFs, who are trained (650 hours) and then part time employed for a whole year.The dynamizing people, teaching the training and assisting the user people. These people have the space open from 9 in the morning until 20.30 h, teaching 6 courses throughout the day.The multimedia environment technicians, who manage, create and maintain different Web services, edit videos, elaborate posters or anything the different associations and groups ask for.

Free Software and Web 2.0

To be able to achieve our objectives we only use Free Software, open and cost free software, accessible for everybody. At present, our machines work with Ubuntu, we use the office-computing suite Open Office.org, we treat photographs with Gimp, we make design with Inkscape, browse with Firefox...

And we commit 100% for the philosophy of Web 2.0, which has as key elements the participation, accessibility and collaborative work. We coordinate with Google Calendar, we have materials in Slidehsare, our photos are in Flickr and Picasa,...

For whom?

Saregune is a space open to the citizens, whose only requirement is motivation and to be willing to get trained.

The people who come to register in the courses only need a user name and a keyword, the other data we ask for are merely for statistics (date of birth, sex, postal code and country of origin).

Where?

We are placed in the Old Part of Vitoria-Gasteiz, one of the parts in the city with the highest risk of degradation, where the highest number of situations of social and economic problems occur: commercial and service decline, the number of people receiving Basic Benefits and supported by social services doubles the rest of the

city, 17 % of the population is immigrant (registered in the census), unemployment, housing problems, lack of public spaces and services, etc. which hade made it become an unattractive place to live or from the commercial point of view.

On the other hand, the institutional proposals of intervention, focused on the business reactivation and the recovery of the rich historical patrimony as a touristic motor, have taken social aspects to the background and are not enough for the necessary social revitalisation.

In this context, Saregune appears as a project that, taking the break of the digital divide as the centre of interest, is aiming at breaking other group of “divides”: intercultural, inter-neighbour, inter-associative, cultural, educational, relational and collaborational; where coming closer to technologies and using them is an instrument to overcome the other “divides”, from the approach of the social change.

With which objectives?

Socio-labour insertionOne of our great objectives is the socio-labour insertion of the people in unfavourable situations, so that they can acquire competences, knowledge and skills for interpersonal relation allowing their access to the standardised labour market.

DiversityWe are for diversity, offering any person who comes to Saregune the possibility to train or become a part of any of the employment and training plans. We are working more specifically with the groups or with people who ask us from their association, as new technologies offer us the possibility to meet perfectly each person’s needs.

Breaking the digital divideWe think that these days, it is essential to get into the train of new technologies, thus favouring access to any kind of information, services, resources...In Saregune, we work with people, without making distinctions, fitting their situation and trying to meet their needs.

Employment and Training PlansEvery year, we start 2 training and employment plans: one on “Specialists in social dynamism of the new technologies”; and the other on “Multimedia environment technicians”.The first group is mainly in charge of preparing and teaching the

training to the people that come to Saregune and the second of creating blogs and poster works for the associations.

Both plans are 650 hours training and offer a part-time employment for one year, so at present, there are 24 people being formed and 20 employed.

In the configuration of the groups, we make a special effort in making the group of young people participating represent the present population range in the neighbourhood: languages, cultural habitudes, gender, socio-culture-economic level, training level, etc. We aim at their acting as bridges with their different gropus of reference to favour the attraction to the Centre and the technologies for as many people as possible, respecting their idiosincrasy and culture, giving example of respect to diversity and intercultural approach.

Their passage by Saregune is aimed at qualifying them technically and offering them a working experience boosting their personal insertion itineraries and favouring working possibilities in a sector with prospects. In this regard, there is an important internal educational work, aimed at encouraging the necessary personal changes to ensure the efficacy of each individual process.

This educational work starts in the recruitment, where, coordinating with the Social and Community services in the area, we give priority to people whose participation might mean a turning point in their process.

They start playing new roles that help them break the labels and stereotypes with which they are often classed in their environment, starting playing roles of support to community, they become multiplyer of contents: After receiving the training, they become trainers for the citicens, changing their role as trainees to that of trainers.In both training-working processes we work on aspects aimed at improving a group of competences and attitudes that might be generalised to any kind of job. Besides, they are experienced and used in the stage of employment, where they have the opportunity to fit them and/or to strengthen them depending on their experience and behaviour.

They are the following:

1. Ability and attitude to have a positive and realistic self-image, based on the knowledge, analysis and willingness to improve continuously their own abilities and limits (Self-esteem)

2. Ability and attitude to identify solutions to different problems autonomously, making the necessary decisions, suggesting ideas and carrying them out, with permanent willingness to find new alternatives in a quick, practical and efficacious manner (Autonomy and Initiative).

3. Ability and attitude to work with other people in order to achieve a joint objective, establishing an efficacious relation and being able to solve jointly the problems that might appear, assuming the limits and functions of each one. (Team Work).

4. Ability and attitude of active listening, assimilating and transmitting verbal and non-verbal messages, in order to establish the suitable and efficient personal relations to meet certain social and working objectives (Communication ability and Social abilities).

5. Ability and attitude to valorise, assume and execute actions actively, according to the established standards and constantly in time and coherently with the consequences of the decision making, until they reach the objectives set. (Responsibility, Commitment, Constancy).

Training-Employment Plan as: “Specialists in social dynamism of new

technologies”

1. Ability to assist, with the suitable cultural skills and specificities, a diverse and intercultural public.

2. Ability to work in Unix-based environments (Unbutu and Debian).

3. Ability to know internet and the different possibilities of its technologies and services 2.0, both for people and for groups.

4. Ability to work with audio and video edition and treatment software and digital image.

5. Ability to support, work and train on new technologies with social and methodological skills favouring an easy approach to new technologies for people and groups from different social, cultural, ethnic and language origin.

6. Ability to forecast and minimise the possible environmental impact that might be generated by the job or similar jobs such as

that of trainer on computing applications and related aspects.

7. Ability to work on the job in a responsible manner regarding working safety and health, adopting the necessary measures to minimise the working risks inherent to the job.

8. Ability to carry out a business plan and its feasibility, justifying and learning the system to start a business.

Training-Employment Plan as:“Multimedia environment technicians”

1. Ability to work on UNIX-based operative systems: GNU/linux (Unbutu.

2. Ability for the advanced use of computing tools

3. Ability for the video and audio edition with free software tools.

4. Ability to use advanced browse and search tools

5. Ability for the advanced use of protocols from nets and internet (POP/SMTP/IMAP, HTTP, FTP, Telnet, SSH, TCP/IP).

6. Ability to create web sites and vertical portals, dynamised through emerging technologies, based on free and social software (CMS, BLOGS, WIKI).

7. Advanced ability to use tools of design, programming and layout of web contents, paying attention to the possibility of access and use of the designed web sites.

8. Ability of advanced use of internet security tools and the protocols for data protection in the net.

9. Ability and knowledge to work in conditions of responsibility and minimising the risks in the job.

10. Ability to carry out a business plan and its feasibility, justifying and learning the system to start a business.

User peopleIn 2010 (January-July), 57 courses have been taught with different subjects; using Free Software and Web 2.0 applications as a tool and offering a total of 1,122 training hours. The most frequently demanded course has been Introduction to computing.

I

t is worth underlining that the ages of the people coming to Saregune are very diverse, thus favouring inter-generational relations. Ages from 31 to 50 are the most common.

Regarding their residence, we can see it clearly that more than 63% (383 people) of the people coming live in the Old part or close neighbourhoods, thus complying with our objective of promoting inter-neighbour relations.

Other of the data to underline are inter-cultural relations generated in the center, as shown in the following grid, the people who have come to Saregune come from 41 different countries.

This generates standardised crossed interrelations taking as a base the inter-culture.

Hezigune :Work with associations and groupsFrom Hezigune, we have consolidated a not-formal lifelong learning space. With it, we will try to strengthen a continuous and sustained process to implement the use of technologies in the community dynamism and participation. It is an activity aimed at encouraging the interest in taking active part in the construction of a more comfortable social environment, without exclusions and to generate a rich and active network for the solution of the different problems existing at local level in the Old Part of Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The role of technologies in the social dynamism is becoming very important. It plays an important role in the people training and organisation and social initiative movements, allowing a responsible use of the new technologies as another tool to create and have access to information and culture, a communication, exchange and participation tool. Technology is not a target, but a mean, contributing positively to get other objectives.Hezigune is open from Monday to Friday, from 16.00h to 20.30 h. As all our services, it is also free.

TrainingWe can design courses “à la carte” depending on the needs and features of the people integrating the group. In this case, the trainer will be the one coordinating this space.

In 2010, 310 hours of training have been taught to almost 400 people, of which, 59% are men and 41% women.

The group of introduction to computing and blog creation are the most demanded courses

Web projectsAs we can see, there are blogs or tools of any kind, some Webs are spaces created starting from scratch, such as blogune; and some others are spaces developed on Wordpress.org In the following map, we can see the blogs and Webs carried out since 2006, some in external domains and some others in our own domains, such as elkarteak.net, tieneblog.net or badubloga.net, which we offer to the associations to create their own sub-domains.

The process usually has several stages: First meetings to know each other and to work on what they want to create, which kind of tool they want or need. Basing on these first meetings, we elaborate several drafts to work on until we get the “ideal” tool.After the tool creation process, we offer the suitable training for their needs, so that they learn to use it and be autonomous. Some of the important projects we have elaborated are:

Associative portal : elkarteak.infoThis portal is one of Saregune’s “jewels”. It is aimed at being a useful tool for the associative movement in Vitoria-Gasteiz. We want it to become a reflection of diversity, richness, dynamism and diversity of our local associative movement.The objectives it pursues are:Create a communication channel between society and the associative movement.Make the associative activity existing in our city become visible.Energise the associative movement, encouraging collaboration, coordination and shared information, in the development of initiatives and projects.

Neighbourhood television : auzo.tvWe have created auzo.tv taking profit of the easy and free availability of the necessary technical means to make it visible and extensible in the internet. With it, we want to contribute to the citizens’ empowerment and increase their possibilities to take part in the (re)construction of cohabitation spaces, offering tools of active, direct participation and always from an educational approach to the community in general (through individuals and through collective initiatives).The three great objectives we aim at reaching in the long term by starting it are: 1. Create a joint neighbourhood identity, of cohabitation space, mainly to fight against the perceived social injustice situations. 2. Break the general belief that things are like this and cannot be changed.3. Generate a collective consciousness of the fact that there are some possibilities, resources, creativity and people willing enough to change them.

BloguneThis blog is the main tool in the following campaign of: I want a blog!It is a blog collecting all the information for the associations interested in creating a blog: for example, the steps to follow...With this resource, we want to transmit to the associations the possibility of creating a Web space in a simple and free manner, with the continuous support and surveillance of a group of people trained for this purpose.

NeighbourhoodSaregune represents an activity different to the present trend of “ghettisation” of activities and problem situation in the area, regenerating it with new and leading activities, so it contributes directly to:- Change the perception in the neighbourhood of the trend to degradation. They feel something is starting to change and they might recover their illusion and dynamism. - Favour other kind of business and activity “in positive”, made real in a different and new project like this one. (Not all the activities should be commercial or touristic).

It is placed in a busy place, very visible for the people coming to the Old part through one of its natural ways of entrance. This boosts its dissemination among people living in other neighbourhoods and areas of the city and contributes changing, positively, the perception of this area.

Saregune is thought to contribute, as another resource, to trigger the work developed by other agents intervening in the place:- Supporting the associative movement, to offer our space as a reference place to benefit, encourage and offer the availability of the technologies in the daily work: internal management (office computing, technical knowledge of the computers...), communications (electronic mail, web page, management programs of shared work...), generation of virtual and real debate and reflection spaces on shared matters and problems, fitting their particular matters. - Collaborating transversely with existing institutional initiatives or future ones, strengthening and benefiting from the efforts for the improvement of the particular social situations in the neighbourhood.

It tries to encourage a presence in the virtual world of the business activity in the area, contributing to improve and enhance a new and different image, linking the social aspects with the cultural, touristic... ones, finding spaces of shared interest contributing to the improvement of the general situation of the neighbourhood.

Some of the collaborations are:

1. Amanda PlatformAmanda Platform was created in 2003 as a meeting of ideas, approaches and experiences about the cohabitation of cultures in Vitoria-Gasteiz. In it people with different working projects in different fields in the Old Part come together. All are linked to formal and not-formal education and related with the wellcome and integration of people that have come to this area in conditions of disprotection and unequality.

At present, the groups participating are Gasteiz Herri Ikastetxea school, the Parents Association in this school, Social Services from Campillo, through the street education program, Saregune, Hegoa and the department of Didactics of the Teachers Training School.

We find it necessary to create a joint space to integrate and articulate the different perspectives and the different lines of performance and make them become a global project to reinforce and consolidate the family and the school educational effort (community educational plan).

2. Plataforma de Mayores (Platform for the Elder)From the Platform of bodies and services moving the resources allocated to the elder people in the Centre Area (Medieval part, Urban Expansion Area and Coronación) we have been working for some time in the creation of proposals and activities to promote a model of active, participative ageing, committed with the community they belong to.

Our main objective is to configurate a network of social agents who are in social, cultural, ludic, community and/or spiritual resources for the elder in order to work coordinately and search for active ageing, understood as a process to optimise the opportunities of participation, health, welfare and safety as the cycle of life goes on (WHO), taking into account that we are in a particular physical, community and social environment as the Centre Area in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Impacts at community levelApart from contributing to the improvement of the personal and working situation of those taking direct part in the Employment-Training Plans, at community level, it offers very significant elements:

1. It allows the existence and work of a positive and friendly activity with direct and positive influence on the social dynamism of the neighbourhood: encouraging personal interactions that create new links of inter-neighbour relation and prevent situations of social conflict, making information and knowledge come closer to those who need them, attracting new transits of people with different and new interests, compared with the previously existing ones (much more negative)...

2. It generates new working expectancies in the young people in the neighbourhood, who feel they can have some working possibilities in the short-medium term in a sector with prospects. In the case of Saregune, this has meant that, from the first year of work, we have had an average of 60 candidatures for each Employment plan, with possibilities for 10 people.

3. In many cases, this has involved a return to standardised learning of people who, after school failure, had lost all hope and confidence in the educational system, by generating new training possibilities through the supported self-learning, continuous training and lifelong learning linked to technologies.

4. It contributes to offer new insertion alternatives as a resource for the Base Social Services in the area in their social and community work, providing feasible alternatives to progress and improve the conditions of some of the people they assist, who might be proposed as candidates to participate in some of the processes.

5. It boosts the creation and consolidation of a rich and interconnected social capital. Basing on the technology needs, synergies and groups of common interest are generated, favouring the approach and the shared work of the social initiative.

6. It helps changing negative stereotypes of the neighbourhood, both towards the people from the neighbourhood employed, whose role becomes one of community service and for the user people, who, in this environment, can show their knowledge (of other languages, use of technologies...) and break many prejudices regarding the foreigners and people from other ethnic groups and their respective cultural habitudes.

7. It socialises, demystifies and makes horizontal the role of technology helping regarding its social role and use, not only commercial. The use of the free software in the process helps deepening into the value of collaboration, the shared creation of knowledge and its contribution to the free cultural creation.