Social Innovation Camp Medenine Day One

Workspaces OpenVillage Workspace
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Friends,

The groups that we formed on societal problems you all want to address are:

Youth
Communication
Employment and entrepreneurship
Mentality

As discussed at the end of the communication workshop just now:

  1. One person from each group please share here documentation of the work you did on the following processes in the communication workshop

  2. Please each individually do the exercise below to reflect on as you move forward

DOCUMENTATION OF PROCESSES (each group):
Note these in a comment below with your group name.

  • What needs to be expressed?

  • How does that need to be received?

  • Who are your stakeholders (keeping in mind who for/ who to/ who in-between)?

  • What are your mediums (keeping in mind levels)?

  • What is/are your key message/s (max 3)?

EXERCISE TO CONTINUE (each person):
Please share a one sentence response to the following three guiding questions. These are to support clarifying your projects and their communications. We will collectively reflect on them and discuss tomorrow. Do not worry if it’s not clear - this is simply a reflection process to start moving towards your projects taking shape!

  1. What is your project’s vision?
    This is the biggest, longest-ranging look at how the project positively affects the world

  2. What is your project’s mission?
    This is fundamentally, at the most basic level, what the project seeks to do

  3. What are your project’s values?
    These support how you make decisions

Any questions feel free to post here and we can collectively respond as per today’s workshop.

An absolute joy to share in this with you. À demain!

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Group “Youth”

Here goes from my group, if someone else sees this please fill in - edit this wiki comment or post a comment as a reply to this!

What needs to be expressed?
What are the available tools which young people can use to be entrepreneurs?

How does that need to be received?
Who can help by providing such tool?

Who are your stakeholders (keeping in mind who for/ who to/ who in-between)?

  • Mentors: other entrepreneurs who have experience starting up, can offer support and advice because they are more credible and can help seed the right mindset to begin.
  • Government bodies: Salem mentioned two (Employment Agency and X Space) which have a lot of information and offer support for how to register a company and what resources to access.
  • Funders (financial and other resources)

What are your mediums (keeping in mind levels)?

  • For mentors: social networks (online and offline) would help get the call across and find the right people for the job.
  • For government: information sessions - they would need to be persuaded to start doing them with the community support
  • For funders: probably events and other camps where representatives can be invited to listen to projects and maybe offer them one thing to get started, as seed funding.

What is/are your key message/s (max 3)?

  • didnt get here.
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Group “Employment and entrepreneurship”

1. DOCUMENTATION OF PROCESSES

What needs to be expressed? “As an entrepreneur, what skills are you looking for in employees, and what conditions of work are you providing them with?”

How does that need to be received? As “How can we become entrepreneurs in Medenine?”

Who are your stakeholders (keeping in mind who for/ who to/ who in-between)?

  • Who the communication campaign is for (“made for” / “organized by”): funders, partners, government, for example

    • EFE (Education for Employment, an NGO in Tunis)
    • Edgeryders (as a partner)
    • Ministry of Employment

  • Who the communication campaign speaks to: “people looking for a change in their life conditions”, for example:

    • looking for better income
    • looking to make an impact with their work
    • looking to end stagnation (such as while on unemployment benefits)
    • looking for a challenge

  • in-between stakeholders:

    • employers in Medenine (who might lose employees when these become entrepreneurs …)
    • schools and universities
    • …

What are your mediums (keeping in mind levels)?

  • For communication to the target group (“potential entrepreneurs”): Facebook (pages, Messenger, feed). Because that is what works very well in Tunisia.
  • For communication to the other stakeholders: not decided yet.

What is / are your key message/s (max 3)?

  • “More entrepreneurs are positive for Medenine.”
  • “Entrepreneuring is a serious alternative if you want a change in life.”
  • “Maybe you should be an entrepreneur, too.”

2. EXERCISE TO CONTINUE

(For somebody else to contribute :slight_smile: This is a wiki post, so anyone from our group can just go and edit it.)

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So as for keywords, i think that " entrepreneurship " , " opportunities " and " potentials " should do the job .

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Hello
Very sorry i didnt participate in Day one i was out of mednine for work but tomorrow i will came at 9 and if there any thing i didnt understund you will help me with it hhhhhh

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Group “Mentality”

Wow !! such amazing task that i do appreciate it so much !!
So, i’m in charge of the group dealing with the topic of Mentality issues here in Medenine.

What needs to be expressed?

the needs of divorced woman who suffered a lot from humilation and descrimination in a male community.

We could also talk about the disrespect of working women who have been harassed morally or sexually.

In fact, the main idea is to give chance to women, here in Medenine to express their freedom in the right way and accept the fact that she worths more than we thought.

How does that need to be received?

In fact, divorce at the request of one of the spouses constitutes the largest number of dissolution of marriage in Tunisia with 7256 judgments pronounced. The divorce follows by mutual consent with 6241 judgments against 5793 in 2014. By consent divorce for injury recorded the highest rate with 1485 cases (1350 in 2016) saying 41 cases of divorce daily.

Also we can add violence against women has been increased from 2011 to 2016, statistics shows that 7 out of 10 women have suffered the harassment and violence. it’s shocking and we must take action against these problems.

Who are your stakeholders (keeping in mind who for/ who to/ who in-between)?

We’re talking especially for the femal gender and how to establish a new vision about her in our community and the future of the children in-between, boys or girls are equal ant to all the citizens here in Medenine.

What are your mediums (keeping in mind levels)?

A huge effort is awaiting us to change this mentality, here in Medenine.
we could develop a whole programme to teach the children at school, how to avoid violence and harassment against women.

We’d like also to work with the present associations to sensiblize people about this big problem.
And finally, making some projects for women who suffred from descrimination and try to help them psychologically and financially.

What is / are your key message(s)?

Our key message is about accepting all kind of difference and to live peacefully with each other.

THANK YOU @anique.yael

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@Elyes Pas de soucis! Feel free to ask someone to fill you in and/or let’s take a moment tomorrow morning and I can share the steps we went through today, including the morning workshop by @noemi and @matthias on Edgeryders. Looking forward to having you with us :blush:

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Wonderful!! Shukran @Nejib_Ammar_5 Looking forward to continuing together tomorrow :sunny:

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Group “Communication”

What needs to be expressed?

We thought as a group that it is better to ask the question why concerning the topic of communication because “why” would tackle directly a particular personal perception or position in front of that problematic so the question is the following: “Why do you think that communication is not functional?”

How does that need to be received?

The question in here can be the following: “How would you benefit from improving communication?”

Who are your stakeholders (keeping in mind who for/ who to/ who in-between)?

As communication problematic is a quite popular one the very first stakeholders would be the normal citizens in general, then we can make things more practical, so to mention:

  • pitchman
  • entrepreneur
  • marketeer / marketman
  • employers / employees
  • funders
  • citizens / governmental representatives
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My question for you my friend @Nidhal is How to convince the other partner of communication ? which tools and skills we need to succeed this task ???

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Good work everyone! Reading you from Stockholm.

Question for @Nidhal. I do not quite understand what it is you are trying to communicate. Can you explain? Use French or Arabic if that is easier: the most important readers of this documentation post are the people who were at the SIC Medenine, and I guess English is a third language for most of you.

Question pour @Nidhal. Je n’arrive pas à comprendre bien qu’est-ce que c’est le message que vous voulez communiquer. Écrivez en français ou en arabe si cela est plus facile. Les lectrices et lecteurs le plus importantes sont celles/ceux qui ont pris partie au SIC Medenine, dont la plupart sont arabophones ou francophones.

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It’s quite okay with english @alberto…
Communication is a radical problematic in here in Medenine, and as I told @anique.yael in the workshop with here that we have ideas, thoughts, creativity and most of all potential, but we don’t share them together in order to convert them into initiatives and actions. So, as a first step, I have meant, by communication, sharing and connecting ideas together rather then communication or conveying a particular message. That’s how, I think, we can learn and use the basics of communication so that we can, in a second step, get used to convey what we want to communicate and handle the initiative whenever we are ready to…

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So with you @Nidhal! This is exactly why we decided to focus the second art of communication session on tools that can turn ideas into action.

Speaking of, you all asked me to follow up the workshop with the tools we covered and an outline for a communications plan. So here you are with :love_letter:

Tools covered in second “art of communication” session:

“CHECK-IN”

  • There are many types of check-ins.

  • For example, you can invite people to respond to a specific question relevant to what you will be exploring - this is what we used on Day 1 when I asked everyone to share what communication was to them.

  • Another type is where you simply invite everyone in a session to go around and share where they are at in one word as a means to come together.

  • Some people also use visual check-ins where people draw an experience or how they are - for example: how did you all arrive to the session that day.

“CONCEPTUAL SPEED DATING” (also known as other names)

  • This is where the group is divided into “posts” (people who stay where they are) and “flows” (people who move).

  • A question is posed, a theme/ concept selected or a text can be used as a discussion item. In our case it was how do you normally address a problem? Other examples I have used are the concept of understanding or a text from a book.

  • A time period is chosen - usually this is around 2 - 5mins.

  • Posts and flows join into pairs and share their perspectives on the question/ concept/ text. After the time period finishes they move onto another.

  • I’ve been involved in sessions where this continued for an hour but that would be the limit I think. Normally there it goes well if there is a collective discussion afterwards.

“ORIENTATION CIRCLE” (made-up name)

  • This is the tool I spontaneously incorporated because of how people were bringing up orientation around how they face problems.

  • It is the one I learned from the Design Studio for Social Intervention (the agency I spoke of who were incubated in MIT’s urban engagement department).

  • One person stands in the middle of a circle and says one word that is relevant to what is being explored. The group then moves closer to the person or further away depending on how they relate and orientate to this word.

  • For example in our session I chose words like Medenine, an Arab woman, empowerment, innovation.

“CHARETTE”

  • This is a tool that emerged from architecture and was one of the earlier participatory techniques used with communities to get their input and ideas on development projects.

  • There are many different types and forms - I encourage you to research it and find them.

  • The form I’ve been involved in is as follows. There are groups of four people each who are considering a particular issue. The exercise example I offered involves four rounds of approximately 5-10minutes each round.

*1. The first step is each person writes down their big vision or idea about the issue. In our case we used OurGhema as an example of a big vision idea to respond to rural womens’ empowerment.
*2. After 5-10 minutes they hand this paper onto the person next to them. This person then writes the list of ingredients that would be necessary for to make that idea possible. For example, a lease for a co-working space, women interested and available etc.
*3. After 5-10 minutes they hand this paper onto the person next to them. This person then writes the actions that would be required to turn the ingredients into a tasty dish :wink: . For example, approach local real-estate owners to get a lease, connect with womens’ groups in rural areas etc.
*4. After 5-10 minutes they hand this paper onto the person next to them. This person then writes the news story that would be aired once the project launches and is a success. This is a bit of fun and gives people a sense of what it would be like if the project actually happened. The groups then all share their news stories at the end.

“REPETITIVE QUESTIONING” (also known as the “chaplain” technique)

  • This is the technique that I learned from my colleague and friend who is studying at Harvard Religion/ Theology School.

  • It has been useful for me in getting to the depth of certain assumptions behind problems, in particular for those working on them and not necessarily the beneficiaries.

  • It’s as simple as a pair of people where one is the listener and the other the sharer.

  • The pair agree on the question to be asked and the time limit - consent is important because the process can be quite confronting. For example, the case we used was me asking @Yosser what is women’s empowerment?

  • The listener then asks the sharer the question. The sharer responds until they have no more to say. The listener never responds, just listens. When the sharer has no more to say the listener simply asks the same question again. The sharer responds. When the sharer has no more to say the listener simply asks the same question again. This continues until the time limit is up - usually around 10mins but can be longer.

“PRODUCTIVE FICTIONS”

  • This is another technique I have learned from the Design Studio for Social Intervention (DS4SI). They use it a lot as a part of their creativity labs where they consult with communities, civil society organisations, government etc… This has often been with socially-excluded communities (les communautés defavorisés) on infrastructure and access.

  • It’s as simple as imagining - almost role-playing - if an thing was there. This then gives the people would be served by that thing a chance to share what they would need it to be.

  • The example I used was a bus stop. On thinking about if a bus stop was on your street you might share, well I would need it to have a timetable… and a ramp for a pram … a shelter because it rains a lot here etc.

“PARADOX CARDS”

  • These are the cards I left with @zmorda that were gifted to us by our friends at Namahn, a design studio in Brussels.

  • These and other cards - like the Method Kit cards @nadia used in her workshops and also now with Zmorda - can be useful in thinking through complex problems and considering factors and pathways.

THE GOLDEN CIRCLE

  • This is the significant approach to communications that Simon Sinek shared in 2010 and has gone on to inform many leaders and communicators.

  • We watched the essence of the approach in this clip. I encourage you to watch the whole TED talk here.

A couple of example communication plan formats

Here are two different outlines that might assist you in coming up with a communications plan. They are what I’ve come up with based on my experiences and I encourage you to do more research to develop one that will work for you.

HIGH LEVEL PATHWAY

  • I have used this in a kind of workshop capacity with a client who was running an independent radio show and magazine. She needed help on thinking through how long term sustainability. These are the questions we brainstormed around to consider opportunities around marketing and fundraising.
  • Why
  • Influences
  • Character/ expression/ posture/ stride
  • Collaborators/ communities/ resources/ supporters
  • Audiences
  • Marketing platforms
  • Impact/ legacy
  • Roadmap

MARKETING PLAN

  • This is a mix of categories that I have come up with after collaborating on various high profile projects for my own marketing plans.
  • Current situation/ rationale
  • Vision - This is the biggest, longest-ranging look at how the project positively affects the world
  • Mission - This is fundamentally, at the most basic level, what the project seeks to do
  • Values - Think in terms of impact not implementation - These will inform decision-making (such as accessibility) - Consider “core competencies”
  • SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Doing a SWOT can be very useful however there are now new techniques that emerging that address complexity better and I necourage you to research them.)
  • OFFER
  • Format and themes of offer - eg. OurGhema
  • Brand identity - the who behind the offer - personable, authentic as per @noemi workshop
  • Target audiences
  • Partners
  • Key messages
  • Platforms
  • Marketing outcomes
  • Risk management
  • Evaluation
  • Budget
  • Timeline

It has been an honour and a pleasure to connect and collaborate with each and all of you. N’hésitez-pas de me demander des quéstions et bien sûr j’ai confiance dans vous tous et je continerai de vous envoyer mon énergie de n’importe où je suis :blush: :seedling:

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So how was the camp in Medenine? Some feedback please :slight_smile:

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Anique: really useful list!

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@baderdean Check out @noemi’s amazing post and the following comments here. A great insight into how it’s been and is continuing…