19 August 2015

PRISMA project: visibility, results, impact and lessons learned

PRISMA (Projects: Resources, Insights and Management - a Social Media Approach) was a complex KA1 mobility project aiming to empower youth workers, youth leaders and project managers from 22 youth organisations from 12 countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Turkey - European Union and Moldova, Ukraine and Armenia- Eastern Europe & Caucasus) to raise their project management efficiency through social media tools and networking.


Objectives:
O1- to empower the participants in using social media tools for project management (collaborative work, time management, internal communication, visibility);
O2- to create a European network of organisations interested in developing their capacity through social media tools;
O3- to promote Erasmus+ framework in order to encourage participants to develop future projects together;
O4- promoting cultural diversity in an European context;

Target group: Youth workers, project managers, youth leaders from European and neighboring countries.

Activities:
- A1: 29.11-07.12.2014, training course, Bucharest, Romania (40 participants);
- A2: 16-20.04.2015, seminar, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (28 participants);
- January - July 2015: dissemination of results;

Methodology:
Nonformal education methods based on active involvement of the participants: ice-breakers, energisers, simulation exercises, workshops, case-studies, debates, reflection groups, field study, conferences, working in online environment, working in intercultural subgroups, intercultural evening, NGO market etc.

Visibility:
The project gained a large visibility. Offline, we made sure that the visual elements are present for each activity (during presentations, on promotional materials, roll-up etc.). Online, we reached over 134.000 users on Facebook with over 287.000 impressions and 13.000 engaged users. On Twitter we reached over 400 accounts, while on www.geyc.ro, there were 13 posts with over 24.500 views.

Dissemination of results
The project delivered the following outputs:
PO1- [2] NGO markets;
PO3- [1/participant] Youthpass Certificates;
PO4- [1] digital leaflet on the topic of "7 tips for collaborative work";
PO5- [1] digital leaflet on the topic of "7 tips for time management";
PO6- [4-5] project ideas;
PO7- [1] multiplication campaign at European level managed by all partner organisations suming 39 activities in 9 countries reaching about 1460 direct beneficiaries;
PO8- [1] network focused on youth projects - PRISMA network;
Project results were disseminated through 40 activities during 7 months in 9 countries with over 1400 direct beneficiaries.

Impact:
Taking benefit of a large network of partners, we believe PRISMA will impact on their organisational capacity by sharing good practices, planning future projects and working together in the frame of the newly founded PRISMA network. Moreover, the local dissemination events had a clear focus on the local communities aiming to raise awareness about social media tools that can be used in projects and in youth work. The project added value was brought also by approaching a large variety of stakeholders (NGOs, public institutions, media, companies etc.) and linking this project to European Youth Capital 2015 - Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Nevertheless, some of the project outputs were made available online assuring the visibility of the project, but also allowing other interested people to use these results in their work.

Lessons learned:
- Use the participants & partners contacts, experience and expertise. Have a flexible learning and be opened for new ideas and partnerships.
- Sharing resources, sharing responsibilities. Each partner was entitled to get financial support for the dissemination activities (when needed and within the budget limits).
- Intense and continuous communication. Leading 21 partners from 12 countries for one year it’s not an easy thing. Assuring a permanent, clear and specific communication shall be the key to keep everybody on track.
- Avoid “last moment” situations. In this way we managed to have a good preparation for each activity and to save around 30% of the travel budget (which was then redirected to visibility and dissemination activities). The travel planning was done on a case by case basis, by identifying alternative options through a mix effort of the organising team and the partners. Moreover, each participant was reimbursed 100% of the eligible travel costs.