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Session 2.1: Is Financial Sustainability for Mentoring Projects Possible?
Session proposed by: Elmira Kakabayeva, Mentori Educational Centre, Russia
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Who are you and to which institution do you belong?
My name is Elmira Kakabayeva, I am managing Education Centre at Mentori National Resource Centre in Mentorship – an initiative of Rybakov Foundation. Mentori’s mission is to be an infrastructural platform for mentoring organizations and projects to make their work more advanced, sustainable, and professionally connected. To fulfill our mission we are developing several infrastructural solutions: IT platform that includes mentoring programmes for teenagers, students, elderly (in progress) that are realized through private profiles, matching system and individual schedules and diaries; an interactive nationwide map of organizations that develop mentoring projects; event calendar for those organizations; mediatheque of mentoring programmes and tools; a collection of mentoring programmes (in progress). We also run an annual international mentoring conference Global Mentori – the first international event on mentorship in Russia (2 days in November, 100 speakers, 3000 participants). As a result, we have established a Consortium of Mentorship with the most active organizations that develop mentoring projects to solve complex infrastructural problems through intellectual and financial collaboration.
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What is your major starting question or hypothesis
Who are the main stakeholders of mentoring projects? Where can we find sustainable funding for the projects that are focused on social-psychological support? We at Mentori resource center in Moscow believe that mentoring projects can be financially sustainable if we look at the new trends in business, technologies, and philanthropy.
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How do you plan the session? Which method will you use? (discussion; film presentation; short paper)
In 5 minutes I will present the way of how we are trying to live this hypothesis in our professional practice as a resource center. And then I would like to hear the discussion of the participants.
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What is the goal of the session?
I’d like to get more case-studies, ideas of financial sustainability of the mentoring projects and try to apply this experience to our practice.
Session 2.2: Mentoring – International Cooperations and Funding Opportunities: Best Practice & Pitfalls
Session proposed by: Frank Hiddink and Erna van der Werff, Open Education Community and Learning Hub Friesland, Netherlands
They host two sessions (2x 45 minutes)
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Who are we and to which institution do we belong?
The Open Education Community serves the needs of enthusiastic, dedicated teachers, trainers, students and other professionals in education with a community and sharing mind-set and an international orientation. It is a network passionate about advancing Open Education throughout Europe and beyond. The Open Education Community ensures innovative courses and practices do not end up on the shelf, but instead become widely used and get officially accredited and implemented in a sustainable way across Europe and beyond.
Learning Hub Friesland enables, drives and maximizes innovation in education in Friesland, the Netherlands. Learning Hub Friesland introduces pioneering approaches, methodologies and technologies. This includes also strategic planning of professional development for staff in line with individual needs and organisational objectives and increasing staffs capacity and professionalism to work at EU/international level. Educational materials developed by Learning Hub Friesland staff vary from curricula on student initiated company assignments and social entrepreneurial behaviour to ‘add on’ training programmes on internationalisation in entrepreneurship education.
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What is our major hypothesis?
Frank and Erna share a history of almost 10 years in internationalisation of education, arranging funding for innovative practices and managing transfer of knowledge and cooperation between international partners. From 2012 onwards, Frank and Erna have facilitated Mentor Programme Friesland to internationalise and to successfully transfer their programme to other schools in Europe. The resulting direct and indirect effects are by now widespread and have led to various follow-up initiatives such as the European Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring and programs such as SESAME on social entrepreneurship (mentoring).
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How do we plan the session?
Our first 45 minute session will focus on the added value of:
- Sharing & learning;
- Internationalisation and cooperation;
- European funding;
In the first session we will highlight best practices and pitfalls regarding:
- international transfer of mentoring programmes;
- applying for funding;
In our second 45 minute session we will enable participants to:
- learn about the various funding options for mentoring initiatives in a short introduction;
- experience in a pressure cooker workshop how to hand in a successful funding application;
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What is the goal of the session?
In our sessions we will adopt a direct style and will actively involve the audience, both during our introductions and presentations and afterwards. We will facilitate group discussions, Q&As and will organise a short pressure cooker work session in the second session to develop a European funding application on the spot!
The second session will be set up in a way people who did not attend the first session can fully take part without any (information gap) problem.
Session 2.3: Parents and The “Trap of Requirements” -Mentorship For Parents With Children in Vocational Orientation
Session proposed by: Jörg Belden, Consultant for Parental Mentorship, Schulmentoren, Germany
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Who are we and to which institution do we belong?
The project “Schulmentoren” – funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg – is implemented by two institutions – the Hamburg Ministry for School and Vocational Education (BSB) and the Coordination Center for Continuing Education and Employment (KWB), a Hamburg-based nongovernmental agency specialized on implementation of projects for different target groups. The project aims at development and implementation of mentoring schemes at 33 participating schools and provides inter alia training units for parent-to-parent mentors.
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What is our major hypothesis?
Parents have a strong inclination to support their adolescent and adult children to find their career path. But the complex system of vocational and academic education and the huge variety of career opportunities leave the parents feel overwhelmed with the challenge to advise their children. That applies especially to migrant parents, who are not familiar with the (in our context) German and Hamburg schooling, educational and academic system.
This leads to what we call in German “Anforderungsfalle”, “trap of requirements”: the parents’ task to help their children advance their career path and – concurrently – to be overwhelmed in giving them the right advice. Regardless of how parents fulfill this task, they will influence their children’s career choice. The children’s career choice is always a reaction to their parents’ influence – either as approval or as rejection. This experience proves that the question is not, if parents play a role in their children’s career choice, but what kind of role they play (or can play).
The answer is quite easy: In order to escape from the trap of requirements parents need to find their way of personal involvement. Parents do not have to be their children’s career advisors. But they may support them as companions. Parent-to-parent mentors can use their own experience, to raise awareness for the parental role and to show, how parents can be valuable companions for their children.
- How do we plan the session?
The session is divided in 3 thematical rounds (each lasts approx. 12 minutes), starting with a brief input (3 minutes address with a PwP-presentation), to be discussed afterwards. (Allowed are short statements and brief questions, 9 min.). Every round ends with an automatically given signal. After the third round the participants note down their personal “lessons learned”. If there’s time left, the participants may read out their notes.
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What is the goal of the session?
The aim is to show that and how parental mentorship may succeed – even during the difficult time of their children’s vocational orientation. A second purpose is mutual networking among those participants that are interested.
Session 2.4: Relations Matters – Dilemmas in Mentoring Youth in Foster Care
Session proposed by: Nathalie Kalbjørn Jensen, Programme Assistant and Stine Hamburger, Programme Manager, Learn for Life, Denmark
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Who are we and to which institution do we belong?
In Denmark there are around 1100 children, who are placed in foster care due to problems linked to family dynamics and/ or to the child’s development or health. National studies show that many of these children, despite being moved away from a toxic environment, are in a much greater risk at not succeeding in life because the challenges they have faced during their upbringing has had a negative impact on their personal, social and educational development. This calls for an ongoing attention to evaluate methods used when working with this group of at-risk youth.
In 2013 Learn for Life, a six year long learning program with two overall interventions, were initiated. The interventions are Learning Camps and a mentor program. The children in the program are between 8 and 13 years old when they are enrolled. Learn for Life has an overall aim to strengthen foster children’s learning and improve their life skills. Today Learn for Life collaborates with 41 Danish municipalities that, through the last four years, have referred nearly four hundred children placed in foster care to the program. Almost as many volunteer mentors has been mobilized.
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What is our major hypothesis?
Learn for Life’s mentor program is inspired by Jean Rhodes theoretical framework and by acknowledged research in the field that highlights the relationship between mentors and at-risk youth as the key component in successful mentoring. Furthermore it is inspired by the model from the book “Stand by me” is a cornerstone in building the right training of the mentors.
Areas from “Elements Of Effective Practice For Mentoring” are implemented, especially in the screening process with good success. By developing a long-term relationship build upon trust and mutual empathy and by acting as a role model, studies shows that mentors can have a positive impact on the emotional wellbeing, the academic achievement and the social behavior of foster children. Therefore, Lear for Life puts an emphasis on assisting the mentors in the relational aspects of the mentor role. This is done through training, monitoring and ongoing supervision from psychologist and program staff.
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How do we plan the session?
RELATIONS MATTERS Dilemmas in mentoring youth in foster care
Timetable in minutes
- 1-3: Introduction Learn for Life
- 3-10: Dilemmas in mentoring foster children
- 10-20: Discussion on training of mentors
- 20-30: Discussion on mentoring mentors during the match
- 30-40: Discussion on the complexity of the stakeholders around foster children
- 40-45: Summery/wrap up
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What is the goal of the session?
Despite this the mentor program is faced by recurring dilemmas:
- How do we train the mentors, with the aim of maintaining the match for at least 18 months and ideally the six years the child is in the program, to navigate in a complex sphere of different stakeholders around the foster child?
- How do we train mentors to be able to build a long-term relation with the foster child, when the child is not, in all cases, enrolled in the program voluntarily?
- How do we monitor the mentors, so the relations do not end and still respect the fact that they are doing it as volunteers?
Session 2.5: Impact Measurement of Mentoring Programmes
Session proposed by: Clara Pèron, Value for Good, Germany
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Who are you and to which institution do you belong?
I, Clara Péron, am the founder and managing director of Value for Good, a specialised consultancy in the field of sustainability and social impact. We work with clients across sectors to enable companies, public and international organisations and foundations to create, increase and measure their social impact.
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What is your major starting question or hypothesis
Measuring the impact of mentoring programs enables organisations to increase their impact by identifying ways to further improve their programs. Furthermore, impact measurement enables a robust communication of results to key stakeholders, which can in turn increase funding.
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How do you plan the session? Which method will you use? (discussion; film presentation; short paper)
The session will start with an overview of how to develop and implement an impact measurement strategy. Thereafter, useful frameworks for setting up cost-effective impact monitoring and evaluation systems will be provided. Actual case studies from mentoring programs will show concrete examples of best practices and lessons learned that can be applied by the participating organisations. The session will be facilitated using a visual presentation and offering the space for discussion.
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What is the goal of the session?
The goal of the session is to give practitioners practical examples of tools they can test and implement in their own organisations to ultimately increase the impact of their work.
Session 2.6: Using Technology for Mentor’s Assessment and Mentor’s Support
Session proposed by: Joke Aerts, Spanish Social Mentoring Network, Spain
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Who are you and to which institution do you belong?
My name is Joke Aerts and I am a staff member of Spanish Social Mentoring Network. I am responsible of coordinating the Mentoring Project for Refugees in Catalonia.
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What is your major starting question or hypothesis
Can technology be useful to monitor Mentoring matches and measure big data at the same time?
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How do you plan the session? Which method will you use? (discussion; film presentation; short paper)
- Short presentation about Messagenes and our social mentoring frame (the app model that we are using to monitor relationships and extract big data)
- Questions about the presentation
- Debate: Do you have similar experiences or see possibilities for the use of this technology in your organizations/ projects?
- Share proposals and best practise
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What is the goal of the session?
To promote strategic alliances between the technology field and social field to work collaboratively to achieve social changes.
Session 2.7: About the Establishment of a European Research Network on Youth Mentoring
Session proposed by: Dirk Postma & Òscar Prieto-Flores, NHL & Stendon Hogeschool, Netherlands
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What is your major starting question or hypothesis
The aim of this proposal is to begin to establish research partnership collaborations between scholars (university researchers) and practitioners. Only working in a systematic manner, we can build an online network that could have onsite meetings during the European summits organized by the European Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring. The idea is to establish agreements on the ways of joint collaboration that could permit us to generate a relevant network of organizations and be ready for future collaboration under large European research funding schemes such as H2020, RISE networks as well as other types of funding on the medium term.
This network could benefit from the previous work of scholars who have collaborated with other research networks at European level such as the Global Youth Mentoring Network (GYMN) or the International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion Network (IMISCOE) as well as other community–based and school-based enriching experiences.
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How do you plan the session? Which method will you use? (discussion; film presentation; short paper)
In this regard, the organization of the session will be the following:
- Brief presentation of the attendees.
- Brief presentation of the main EU research funding possibilities that could be connected to youth mentoring scholars and practitioners’ interest.
- Establishing a dialogue and agreements on the ways we can be organized as a Research Network.
- Brainstorming on how to do lobby at European institutions for the recognition of mentoring in the research agenda.
4. What is the goal of the session?
In the sake of research possibilities at the European level we need to create a sustained network of collaboration. The goal of the session is to start a research network, to agree on the ways we can collaborate together from the Berlin summit on and possible common targets for research funding.
Session 2.8: Online Mentorship – The Answer to Support Vulnerable Young People Around the World?
Session proposed by: Simon Fakir, SOS Children’s Villages International
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Who are you and to which institution do you belong?
My Name is Simon Fakir and I am Co-Founder and CTO of Volunteer Vision. One of our priorities is supporting SOS young people on employability through innovative and sustainable methods.
We enable employees worldwide to engage as digital 1:1 mentors for young jobseekers between 18 and 29 years old. Our platform enables mentors and mentees to meet online and to conduct joint online learning sessions with embedded eLearning materials. By measuring the social as well as business impact, we can make distinctive statements about the personal as well as professional development of both mentors and mentees.
SOS Children’s Villages is the largest non-governmental organisation focused on supporting children without parental care and families at risk in 135 countries and territories. We help children who can no longer live with their parents and families in difficult living conditions so children can grow up in a nurturing environment and their rights to care, education, health and protection are respected and fulfilled. For more information, visit: www.sos-childrensvillages.org
We also work on the integration of innovation and technology to support the development of children, young people, their families focusing on digital skills development with e-learning, online mentorship, development of ICT skills, access to technology and online education resources in emergency situations, etc. For more information, visit: www.sos-childrensvillages.org/ict4d
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What is your major starting question or hypothesis?
Is online mentorship an answer to support vulnerable youngsters at scale around the globe?
What does it take to make online mentoring effective?
How to build a valuable and learn-orientated relationship online?
Online mentoring – an overrated hype or the next step in eLearning?
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How do you plan the session? Which method will you use? (discussion; film presentation; short paper)
The sessions will start with a 15 minutes’ presentation, which will then be followed by a discussion with the audience.
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What is the main goal of the session?
Display our – the Volunteer Vision and SOS Children’s Villages – approach to support vulnerable young people on employability through mentorship. Explain first results at the example of our global mentoring program eCareer and discuss online mentorship added value, challenges, potential … along the way.
Session 2.9: How to Successfully Involve Target Groups that Are Difficult to Reach?
Session proposed by: Marleen Bovee, Yolanda van der Hooft, ROC Midden Nederland – School for Vocational Education, Netherlands
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Who are you and to which institution do you belong?
Marleen Bovee: Senior Advisor Educational Development and programme manager Early School Leaving
Yolanda van der Hooft, project leader peer support at the Organisation: ROC Midden Nederland, School for Vocational Education, Utrecht in the Netherlands.
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What is your major starting question?
“How to successfully involve target groups that are difficult to reach”?
In our experience the students who could benefit the most are at the same time the students who are difficult to reach or drop out of the mentoring programme. Forcing them to participate is counterproductive and certainly not in line with the thoughts of mentoring. How can we convince this difficult target group to participate and enjoy the benefits in a sustainable way?
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How do you plan the session? Which method will you use?
Introduction: brief introduction to the major question and the experience of the hosts.
Transfer in: participants get to know each other and explain why they have joined the session.
Discussion in small groups and registration of successful and not successful practices
Sharing plenary the main results, identify 3 good practices and 3 practices that were not successfully and discuss how to put the new knowledge into practice.
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What is the goal of the session?
The main goal of the session is to explore good practices on how to achieve, successfully, young people most at risk, furthermore how to use the different ideas and how participants can support each other after Berlin.
At the end of this session:
- All participants and hosts have extra knowledge on how to involve (young) people that are difficult to reach.
- Participants are inspired to use the good practices.
- Participants know who to contact in case of questions on the information shared.
- Interested participants have made agreements on how to keep in touch and continue sharing experience to enrich the learning that goes on.
Session 2.10: Mentoring as One of the Ways of Corporate Social Responsibility
Session proposed by: Anush Ovsepyan, Head of Saint Petersburg Affiliate at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Russia
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Who are you and to which institution do you belong?
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Russia is the part of Big Brothers Big Sisters International, one of the world’s most effective individual mentoring programs whose mission is to help children who need support. We work with orphans, foster families, socially disadvantaged families and children with disabilities in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Russia is Non Governmental Organization whose aim is to provide children in difficult life situations with an individual mentor who can share knowledge and real life experiences with them. We help children to realize their potential and to build their futures. We nurture children and strengthen communities.
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What is your major starting question?
I would like to speak about mentoring as a new model of social activity and the starting question is: Are there any creative ways and cases to support mentoring as part of corporate social responsibility?
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Which methods will you use?
The session will be based on interactive tools of discussion and brainstorming.
The following topics will be discussed:
– Effective Corporate Volunteering,
– Pro Bono Cooperation,
– Professional Orientation Projects for Mentees.
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What is the main goal of the session?
The main goal of the session is experience exchange. The most interesting practices, ideas and instruments for their realization will be documented and shared among the session participants for their daily practice.