Alan Seatwo Knowledge Management Specialist

1. Alan Seatwo Knowledge Management Specialist How information helps to promote diversities and social justice An overview of an information literacy project involving voluntary and community groups in Liverpool

2. Focus of this session • Explain how Edge Hill University Community Knowledge Transfer Project promote information literacy and learning opportunities helped to form new relationships between information and education.

3. WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER (KT)? • ‘Knowledge Transfer is about transferring good ideas, research results and skills between universities, other research organisations, business and the wider community to enable innovative new products and services to be developed. ‘ • Office of Science and Technology in DTI, 2002

4. CONTEXT: THE INSTITUTION’S POSITION • Edge Hill’s Research Policy outlines the institution’s own position in relation to Research and Knowledge Transfer: • ‘Edge Hill is a higher education institution and it is the institution’s collective understanding of the role played by knowledge in such institutions that drives and shapes its research policy and the associated research strategy’

5. THE ROLE OF LEARNING SERVICES WITHIN KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER • Learning Services aims to provide targeted support for KT through specific outreach project work. The two strands of activity managed by Learning Services are: • Community Knowledge Transfer Partnerships • Clinical Information Services for the NHS

6. Knowledge Management Specialist • Within the remit of the Knowledge Transfer Specialist, the Knowledge Management Specialist has a specific role to support Edge Hill University and the voluntary sector in the North West. • Support individual and organisational development in the voluntary and community sector. • Widening access to learning for all our communities

7. The role ofKnowledge Management Specialist We aim to achieve this by developing, promoting and delivering: • Learning and development services for people and organisations in the voluntary and community sector. • Innovative and non-traditional approaches to learning - including e-learning - to employers, communities and individuals. • Learning for disadvantaged individuals and communities.

8. What is diversity? • Diversity not only assumes that all individuals are unique, i.e. different, but that difference is value-added…about learning to include different perspectives and processes so that the work of the group or organisation can be as effective as possible, and to as wide a range of people as possible.

9. What is social justice? • The notion that society should be organized in a way that allows equal opportunity for all its members. Social exclusion describes a lack of or exclusion from full citizenship. Citizenship includes civil, political and social rights such as access to education and information, freedom of speech etc. • "social justice"  A Dictionary of Sociology. John Scott and Gordon Marshall. Oxford University Press 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.

10. My role within the project • Incorporating four different aspects • development worker • educator • information manager • expert adviser

11. Skills that required for the role: • Knowledge: understanding of the social work profession & awareness of how laws and policies • Skills: analyse social policy to determine its impact - intended and unintended • Values: should be committed to using knowledge and skills to improve the lives of individuals and the community.

12. Example 1: Merseyside Open College Network level 2

13. Example 1: Merseyside Open College Network level 2 • 44 were awarded MOCN and 13 were awarded NVQ Level 2. • Six people gained new employment as part of the outcome of the course; • overall feedback to the input from our service is excellent.

14. Example 1: Merseyside Open College Network level 2 • This flexible way of learning has helped community groups understand how learning can be achieved within and beyond the traditional classroom environment. • Feedbacks from the clients suggested that this training programme helped raising their level of self confident and awareness of information literacy.

15. Example 1: Merseyside Open College Network level 2 • Christina is a volunteer of a community organisation supporting domestic violence victims. ‘I am dyslexic and this course gave me the confidence that I didn’t have. Not only did I learn the community works skills in the course, but I also learnt the skills where to find information to support my work, I am surprised how much a community development worker can use from the census. I used to think only academics know where to find these things.’

16. Other examples • presentations in community groups and conferences; • working with a Chinese youth programme in Liverpool • developing online information and communication tools for community groups in rural area.

17. Example 2: Wah Sing Chinese Community Centre • Implementation of Child Protection Policy • located the information resources from online and directly from government agencies; • took part in their committee meeting and explain how the information was found; • discussed key issues concerning the adoption of the policy

18. Example 2: Wah Sing Chinese Community Centre • Improvements were made on volunteer recruitment and registration; building security and guidance for teaching staff etc. • We liaised with Merseyside Police to provide the organisation further advice and support. Merseyside Police confirmed an unconditional grant in a region of £1,000 to further enhance the building security facility.

19. Example 2: Wah Sing Chinese Community Centre • Improvements were made on volunteer recruitment and registration; building security and guidance for teaching staff etc. • We liaised with Merseyside Police to provide the organisation further advice and support. Merseyside Police confirmed an unconditional grant in a region of £1,000 to further enhance the building security facility. • The Cantonese Opera Group within the Centre also received grant from 08 Culture Company in total of £4,500 to purchase musical equipment.

20. Other examples • consultancy work for setting up Liverpool Filipino Association and 08 Chinese New Year Co-ordinating Committee; • organising dyslexia awareness sessions for Chinese community workers in Liverpool and Manchester Chinese language school.

21. Outputs • Since the project started in June 2005, over 277 people and 23 organisations were benefited from the project. The project supported organisations to raise £37,700 from various funding sources.

22. Self reflections • The project helped to form new relationships between information, education and the wider community outside of the university. • It takes time and trust to form relationships with community groups. • It covered a wide range of subjects, information resources and skills. • It achieved the aims of using information addressing the needs of diversity and social justice.

23. Looking ahead • New funding criteria and institutional focus on social enterprise • More emphasis on income generation • Danger of becoming an income generation vehicle for HE