Learning Communities Catalyst

1. Policy Framework to 2004/05

The 2004-2008 Brisbane City Council Corporate Plan recognises the need to encourage lifelong learning using libraries and community partnerships1. The Brisbane City Council Informed Communities Strategy 2003 has five key platforms involving activities such as regional libraries, community events, collaboration between learning providers, and community internet access. Under this strategy, together these platforms aimed to:

• use a diverse range of strategies to support people and their communities to learn, grow, collaborate and contribute to supporting each other, their individual communities, their city and the Brisbane City Council objectives to achieve Vision 2010.
• acknowledge that Brisbane comprises a multitude of communities including those based on geography, friendships, family, ethnicity, culture, shared interests, workplaces, sport and recreation.
• make sure that Brisbane's communities are well placed to contribute to shaping the direction and development of the city, through ensuring effective information channels and addressing access issues.
• implement strategies that may be local, regional or citywide. They may involve information in written form, public education and events, community programs and meetings, use of Council community facilities and online services.

2. Results to 30 June 2005

All partnerships have successfully engaged a range of different types of learners in new pathways through the partnerships and programs run by BCC since 2002. In total approximately 13,679 people have benefited from the program with an average satisfaction rating from participants of 92%.

(i) Community Access to ICT partnership with Education Queensland
This partnership commenced in 2002 after a pilot in 2001. It is now in its third year of a four year Memorandum of Understanding between BCC and Education Queensland. The project involves calling for applications from schools throughout Brisbane at the beginning of the year to provide basic ICT non-formal training for adults. The emphasis has recently moved to training with ICTs rather than about ICTs. Courses to be offered by schools this year include amongst other options: How to pay bills online? How to make a family photo album online? Chatrooms - find out what your children are doing. The program is popular and promotion aims to ensure participation by marginalised groups within the community. The partnership aims to play a part in overcoming the digital divide in society and to both (1) foster the engagement of schools with their communities and (2) provide lifelong learning opportunities that may catalyse further learning by participants. A separate joint paper and presentation by Education Queensland and Brisbane City Council will be provided at this conference.

(ii) Community Access to ICT partnership with Artrageous Sandgate Community Arts Centre Inc
ArtrageIT is a community based provider of non-formal learning programs. It is a subsidiary of Artrageous Sandgate Community Arts Centre Inc which has been running arts and cultural adult education programs since 1999. Under a Service Level Agreement for 2003/04 and 2004/05, ArtrageIT has provided basic ICT training within the Sandgate/Deagon community particularly for disadvantaged groups including elderly and unemployed people and people with a disability. Courses have been pitched at a level and pace suited to client needs. In 2004/05 due to the collocation of ArtrageIT with a community arts centre, a multi-media course was included in the program as a natural synergy and to potentially as an entry point to more formal learning options.

(iii) Community Access to ICT partnership with the Cathay Community Association This program has been running since 2003/04 and provides basic ICT training for senior chinese people at the Cathay Club in Fortitude Valley, the location of Brisbane's Chinatown. The training is one of many activities available for the club members and is part of a strong commitment of the chinese community to provide opportunities for their seniors to continue to learn in their later years. A chinese speaking facilitator presents the program and translated teaching materials have been provided.

(iv) Community Access to ICT partnership with West End Reading and Writing Group
Members of the West End Reading Writing and Computing Group are either currently living independently in hostels or have recently moved into public housing. Each member has a disability (either physical, intellectual or psychiatric) and needs support to maintain independent living status. In the first year of support for the program, Council contributed towards a "Life Skills for Independent Living" course that included training in ICTs. This year support has been for an indigenous group using relevant components of the program that was initially trialed. As with the ArtrageIT and Cathay Club programs, this program has aimed at:

• Provide entry level training for participants
• Contribute to the development of an evidence-base on the benefits of informal training in ICTs including: increases in confidence of participants in using ICTs, satisfaction levels of participants, identifying the most successful and unsuccessful aspects of the program and ideas for program improvement.
• Support for increased use on community online services.

(v) Lifelong Learning in Libraries
This program has been running for two years and involves one hour long learning sessions in library meeting rooms throughout the city. A pool of 60 volunteer facilitators run the sessions based on topics of community interest in which they have expertise. Facilitators are required to meet the standards of Council's Code of Conduct and to run the sessions as Learning Circles rather than lectures, concentrating on the collective learning opportunities created. For example, June sessions were:

• Botanic gardens guided walks
• Credit management
• Embroidery for today
• How to minimise your bank fees & Personal and family budgeting
• Music through the ages
• Practical Feng Shui
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Speaking with confidence with style

Other topics have included personal health and wellbeing, community precinct development issues, local history, environmental management and a wide range of others.²

(vi) Lifelong Learning through Learning Lounges
Council has established three Learning Lounges in libraries that provide the opportunity for individual or group learning in a comfortable setting with computers and a range of software provided. Preliminary results only are available on their success in supporting lifelong learning.

(vii) Learning Circles
In the last twelve months an emphasis on the need for community capacity building in a fast-changing environment has developed. Learning circles have been used as community learning methodologies for major town planning and development initiatives. Whilst evaluation of the success of learning circles continues with existing projects, results from a recently completed series of five circles with individuals and existing community groups in regard to the Brisbane Foreshore Redevelopment, produced good results. For this project Learning Circles were held on a range of topics to inform the community on the planning and redevelopment process and to support their future involvement in it. These Learning Circles were rated highly by participants as a positive community learning process (74%), were popular (84%), rated highly as a way of supporting the community to become more involved in Council projects (87%) and rated highly as a way of better informing the community about Council processes and encouraging individuals to share ideas (80%)