Transformation Through Empathy Partnerships Webinar | A report by Jac Torres-Gomez, Wyndham City Council, Australia and Yvonne Lane Learning Limerick, Ireland

*** UPDATED ***

On Thursday 13 May 2021, Learning Limerick and Wyndham Learning City partnered to co-lead a webinar entitled: Transformation Through Empathy Partnerships. This was an initiative led through the PASCAL EcCoWell group, building on the paper developed by Peter Kearns in 2020.

Facilitated by Yvonne Lane from Learning Limerick, the focus of the webinar was on how learning cities and communities and their projects can progress using a lens of empathy for transformational change.

There were over 65 registrations, and 35 participants logging into our webinar from across the globe including South Africa, Australia, Hungary, Ireland, England, the United States of America, Scotland and India.

A recording of the session is available on the Learning Limerick and Wyndham Learning Community page, along with a copy of the slideshow presentation and various links to the projects and their empathy partnerships presented. The recording is featured below and also available at the Learning Limerick YouTube channel.

Introduction to the EcCoWell

Peter Kearns spoke to the model of EcCoWell2, why and how it was established. He then discussed his ideas on looking forward and how this group might sustainability evolve moving into the future.

Educational Peacebuilding in Medellin, Colombia and Acapulco, Mexico

Sergio Hernandez Mendoza, from Glasgow University, spoke about Educational Peacebuilding in Medellin and Acapulco, and understanding the role of education, culture and learning in responding to crises. The project is funded by the British Academy. It aims to investigate the circumstances, policies and practices through which Medellin (Colombia) was able to develop and implement an inclusive, lifelong learning strategy that contributed to the successful reduction in drug-related violence and crime and, through participative methods, to analyze the level of adaptability of good practices into Acapulco (Mexico).

In his own words, Sergio shared that the elements that made that partnership transformational, and had empathy as a driver in the partnership, was driven by the fact that they are a very international team of researchers. The University of Glasgow has established collaboration with research centres working on peacebuilding projects in both countries. The Foundation Ideas for Peace in Colombia and the Colegio de Sonora are our partners in the field. By working alongside politicians, community members, young people and stakeholders in both Medellin and Acapulco, the aim is to understand their perception of the role of non-formal education and culture to build longstanding peace. Drawing on these interviews, recommendations for responding to crises of violence will be developed. The innovative, participatory methodology will focus on informal education, producing an educational peacebuilding model and index for adaptability of good practices into Acapulco.

The collaboration between the research centres and the University of Glasgow has been very successful so far. Sergio explained that they have managed to interview more than 100 persons in both cities ranging from politicians, peacebuilders, artists, community leaders, teachers, priests, etc. The team in Medellin has developed a map of community stakeholders that have been active in peacebuilding projects especially in dangerous neighborhoods. It is fascinating to experience that community work has an impact on peacebuilding. They are still in an intermediate stage of the project. They are analyzing and codifying the interviews and will have preliminary results very soon.

Imagination was used to create and drive the partnership from the begging of the project, with the idea of the project came up during the 4th UNESCO conference on Learning Cities that was held in Medellin in 2019. Many mayors from Mexico attended the conference and I had invited people from the Municipality of Acapulco to explore the concept of learning cities. The City of Medellin organized tour visits in different neighborhoods where they had been implementing educational and cultural initiatives. They visited the famous Comuna 13 where the community members together with local authorities and private stakeholders have been working to reshape the face of the area. The representatives of Acapulco were fascinated by the projects and they had the idea to exchange practices between the two cities to explore building similar projects to address urban violence through education and culture.

For more information on this project, go to: http://cradall.org/research-and-development/cradall-projects/educational-peacebuilding-medellin-and-acapulco

Taipei and Datong as Learning Region Ecosystems

Eugenia Chang then shared about the Datong Neighborhood in Taipei. This project is inspired by the initiative “Living and Learning in EcCoWell Cities” by Peter Kearns in 2012, Datong Community College (DCC) has been promoting lifelong learning within Datong District, a traditional neighborhood in Taipei City, hard and deep.  Starting from the “Declaration of Taipei as a Learning City,” DCC works as the hub to integrate the resources from public sectors and local civic organizations and enthusiastic citizen volunteers. 

The project is called “Happy Farm, Eco City.”  This is an evolving project and aims to build Taipei a healthy and happy city with sustainable and eco-friendly living environment for citizens now and in the future. 

The elements that made that partnership transformational, and in what way was empathy   a driver in the partnership was through helping its citizens to pursue lifelong learning and thus a sustainable development of Taipei city to be assured has long been recognized since the Declaration of Taipei as a Learning City was signed.  And Datong Community College is dedicated to helping citizens in Datong district realize the meaning and the importance of lifelong learning.  Our project started from the very basic idea “greening our own surroundings and revitalizing our own neighborhood.”  So, citizens are more than happy to get involved and eager to help.  The partnership in our project has three elements to make it transformational.  One is the thorough support from public sectors (Taipei City Government).  The second is the enthusiasm and passion from local citizens.  And the third is the coordination efforts from Datong Community College.  DCC stands by the locals and exerts the social cohesion of locals.  At the same time the resources from the public sectors are drummed up through DCC.  The community consensus and mutual understanding are building up step by step.  Empathy underlies the collaborations from these three partners.  And Empathy unites. 

Since Datong District is a traditional community in Taipei City, the development and modernization of this district have certain limitation for the preservation of historical buildings. But the greening project of idle spaces and rooftops makes the whole community lively and amiable.  This old community starts to attract young people to move in again.  After the farming campus idea is introduced, the awareness of food safety and consciousness of healthy diet are thus infused into young generation.  At the same time, parents and grandparents can be influenced by their own children, and also seniors in the neighborhood started to get involved with the neighborhood activities.  And the most important is they feel they are valued by people.  Now they already have farming campuses from elementary schools to senior high schools, which enhance the awareness of food education and ecology.  Furtherly, the idea is promoted to the whole city.  Neighborhood farming gatherings and growing vegetables horticultural therapy are promoted.  Edible landscapes are spreading in the whole city.

Imagination was used to create and drive the partnership because the citizens involved have expectations for their future life--- happier, healthier, greener, and more eco-friendly. And then they are more eager to change their surroundings and more willing to invite others to work together.  Then a real and lasting shift towards the shared objective for an Eco Taiwan is possibly formed.

See Video presented at webinar and further supporting slides for more information.

Irish Network of Learning Cities

Denis Barrett shared the Irish Network of Learning Cities Partnership.  The Irish Network of Learning Cities was formed in November 2018, following its first meeting in Cork, as part of Cork hosting their ‘Learning Cities Conversations’ event. The network includes Cork, Limerick, Belfast, Derry-Strabane and Dublin Learning Cities.

In keeping with the mission of the UNESCO GNLC, the network members share learning and best practice and offer support to each other on issues of common interest to their learning cities. As a network, the members work together to celebrate learning, highlight what’s on offer across the cities and city regions and they want to celebrate the achievements of learners.  As part of the support that the network members give each other, they often attend and present at each other’s events hosted by each of the member learning cities and contribute to each other’s research etc.

The elements that made that partnership transformational, and the way that empathy was a driver in the partnership, was through peer support and empathy as key drivers of the partnership. In 2019, the Lord Mayors of Cork, Dublin and Belfast and the Mayors of Limerick and Derry City and Strabane Region formally signed an agreement to commit each city to work together and provide mutual support to help deliver on the vision of a Learning City for all citizens.

The Memorandum of Understanding between Cork City, Dublin City, Limerick City and County, Belfast City and Derry City and Region highlighted “a shared dedication to strengthening friendly relations and enhancing cooperation between the peoples of the cities and city regions… to carry out Learning City exchanges focused on the principles of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.

At the heart of a vision of a learning city is the commitment to using learning to improve the lives of all citizens, regardless of age or background. Learning can be used to create a more equitable and inclusive society, a more sustainable and healthy society and create inclusive opportunities for decent work and entrepreneurship.

The network held its first innovative “Irish Learning Cities Day” on September 30^th 2020. The five learning cities and regions worked together to show how the Network benefits all five cities and adds value to the efforts of individual cities.  This Irish Learning Cities Day will now become an annual event and is set for Sept 30^th 2021.

In terms of measuring success, each of the five learning cities document and articulate the many benefits of being in this network and what it means for their city.   The network meetings, which involve the five Learning City Steering Group Chairs and Co-ordinators, are a space where problems and challenges can be shared, support and assistance offered from partners; and partners to collaborate with on joint mutually beneficial initiatives.  Through the sharing of experience and advice, assisting each other with challenges that members experience from time to time; means that the partnership is having an impact in making each individual learning city member more effective/successful. The Festival Coordinators meet bi-weekly; and the wider INLC Network meet quarterly. Each of the Learning Cities take turns to host a meeting during the year. Thus, there is shared ownership of the network which contributes to its overall success.

Imagination is used to create and drive the partnership because the Irish Network of Learning Cities was created by each of the five member cities in their various roles, as all five cities share a common mission and face similar challenges.

The Network was formed as an all-island network of cities, for support, inspiration, know-how and sharing good practice.  The Network is inspired by the vision and mission of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, and is committed to the implementation of UNESCO Learning City policies, in particular:

The Beijing Declaration on Learning Cities, and the Mexico Statement on Building Sustainable Learning Cities;

The Key Features of Learning Cities –

To effectively mobilize resources in every sector to promote:

• Inclusive learning from basic to higher education;
• Revitalize learning in families and communities;
• Facilitate learning for and in the workplace;
• Extend the use of modern learning technologies;
• Enhance quality and excellence in learning, and
• Foster a culture of learning throughout life.

• The Cork Call to Action on Learning Cities –

To implement lifelong learning strategies pertaining to the social, environmental and economic dimensions of the SDGs that promote:

• Equitable and inclusive learning and living environments;
• Green and Healthy learning and living environments;
• Opportunities for decent work and entrepreneurship.

For more information see -

https://www.corklearningcity.ie/resource-documents/inlc-presentation-for-ecowell-event-may-13-2021.pdf

http://learninglimerick.ie/irish-network-of-learning-cities-update-report-spring-2021

Global Learning Festival

During her interview, Diane Tabbagh shared that in 2020, Wyndham co-led (with Melton City Council), designed, implemented and evaluated the Global Learning Festival (GLF). The 2020 GLF aimed to provide unity and connection to communities all over the world during what was a challenging and difficult year for communities; and to give learners a firsthand experience of the benefits that lifelong learning can bring during uncertain times. They worked with 20 key partners from across the globe including with RMIT in Melbourne to deliver the Festival and to capture the impact of our partnerships. The festival highlighted and relied upon many successful collaborations and partnerships across the world.

They were also working with two separate but intertwined partnerships. The one between Wyndham and Melton – we are neighbours and our communities were experiencing similar challenges in 2020. And secondly, the partnership between the larger global group of 20 – whilst they were spread across the globe, our communities shared many common experiences and challenges.

Diane then shared the elements that made that partnership transformational, and in what way was empathy a driver in the partnership. In her words, Diane felt the project was transformational in a broader sense – in the sense that this was the inaugural Festival, the first time this type of thing had been attempted. The success of the GLF proved to be the transformational nature of the partnership – in the sense that they could not have achieved such a level of success without this partnership.

Empathy underpinned our approach to the project and the partnerships – consciously checking in with partners in an ongoing way using an empathy lens – what is going on for the partners at this point in time, where is support needed, what is empowering for them, what can we do to support? There was also a component of also checking in with our co-lead, sharing our experiences and challenges during our regular planning meetings.

Diane felt the partnership was successful by the fact that the Festival actually occurred was our first measure of success of the partnership. Over 110 Events registered from over 15 countries including Israel, Ireland, Qatar, UK, Mexico, Aust, Turkey, US, Kenya, Hungary, Taiwan and Colombia.

Registrations came from various sectors including university, youth, disability, community development, local government, education, state government and libraries.

Over 8500 people logged in and ‘attended’ different events, as well as viewing recordings. Over 250 presenters shared the floor across four days to share their ideas on learning across all the events.

To undertake their evaluation – they used Most Significant Change Technique, CIAT, surveys and a comprehensive partner evaluation and impact session post event to measure the impact of the partnership, and what changed/it meant for partners involved capture people’s thoughts on their involvement in the GLF, and if, and in what ways, the GLF achieved its goal of creating hope and unity for those involved. The Collective Impact Assessment Tool known as CIAT, was developed by the Community Learning Board at the City of Melton and is a free tool available to all organisations. CIAT rankings are based on decided project outcomes, their sustainability long term and partnerships – this is ranked via a number of methods including: surveys, event data, marketing analytics]

The next festival is taking place 8-11 November 2021. Wyndham Learning City has a formal MOU with the other co-lead partner city (as they did last year), however this year, we have created a statement of commitment for the partners to provide them a guide to being involved and setting parameters/expectations. The first meeting took place 20^th April – they had 13 attendees – and a further enthusiastic response from many others regarding their involvement for 2021. They have taken the feedback they received through the evaluation and fed this back into the planning. Imagination was used to create and drive the partnership, because they started by using empathy to consider where our partners were at (introspection, imagination), including their co- lead partners. They asked them what is their capacity? What is going on for them? The global pandemic had a similar but different effect/challenge. Strengths, gaps, needs. This was a challenge given the changing nature of the pandemic and its impacts. They had to consider which other partners might like to come on board, and in which ways?

Diane concluded sharing that the pandemic may have inadvertently led to a new familiar way of working for us – suddenly we are “in” each other’s rooms/houses, meeting each other’s families. This peek into our private selves had the effect of familiarity, closer working relationships and promoting empathy.

https://www.globallearningfestival.com/

Bigger Picture of this Work on Partnerships, the Role of Empathy to Help Us

Jac Torres-Gomez then gave an overview of what is an empathy partnership, indicating that as we had seen in the four great interviews from Eugenia, Sergio, Diane and Denis, working in good partnerships creates greater and variable opportunities and outcomes (i.e. sharing of resources, ideas, networks).   Good partnerships promote collaboration verses competition, especially in a traditionally competitive funding environment as shared by Peter earlier.

Embedding partnerships into formal learning or community strategies accelerates progress in strategy actions compared to ad-hoc approach to partnerships.   

Jac shared that as seen in the 4 examples, I must empathise we cannot, and should not, predict or preconceive what the partnerships ‘should’ and will look like. 

Thus, applying a lens of targeted and purposeful EMPATHY Partnerships lens in planning, implementation and evaluation of a shared learning project:

• Helps empower rather than hindering through human connection;
• Breaks through and down bureaucracy in government often leading LC initiatives;
• Invites creativity and flexibility in our learning projects and their partnerships, as Peter’s EcCoWell model suggests, seeing our projects and partnerships as creative learning ecosystems;
• An EP lens it is about taking a step in partnership planning and implementation to understand not only what we and our partners are bringing to the table, but how they have got here and why.

In today’s uncertain world, it means taking time to critically almost ‘feel’ where are partners are at, & what is their capacity to offer to the partnership. Using empathy and stepping back to allow a partnership to unfold, may surprise you!

The tool you can see in my slides has been developed by the team at the EU Centre RMIT University, and is supporting researchers and program implementers, including in LCs, to link to the SDG’s through using a propeller model. The arms are around relating, learning and measuring. EP fits into the relating lens of the propeller.

Using a Project Management Model to look at Partnerships, we can apply an Empathy Partnership Lens:

• Plan – for all scenarios while keeping scope clear (without predicting).
• Implement – run the program or event. Check in with partners in an ongoing way using the empathy lens – what is going on for the partners at this point in time, where is support needed, what is empowering for them, what can we do to support?
• Evaluate – using both quantitative and qualitative tools such as MSC Technique, CIAT and even running a comprehensive partner evaluation and impact session post event to measure the impact of the partnership, what changed for partners involved.
• Re-assess/ Re-plan – next event or program, formal partnership MOU with the other project co-lead, and also creating a statement of commitment for the partners to provide them a guide to being involved and setting parameters/expectations.

How does applying an empathy partnership model contribute to a better world?

Transformation requires new ways of working to adapt to uncertainty & achieve success.  We heard through the 4 speakers saw that a model of partnerships to achieve our goals, and that of the SDG’s, required a new paradigm. Thus, we saw that applying an Empathy Partnership approach could help accelerate in the right direction.  It is important to strive to link the SDGs to our work in a more overt way, beyond SDG 4 where ‘education and lifelong learning’ sits, using empathy. It takes more time, but once EPs are set up, we can work smarter, kinder, creatively.

Key Takeaways

As webinar participants saw highlighted in the four interviews, working in non-traditional ways in partnerships is not only possible, buy also vital for long-term and sustainable change. It offers a higher chance of achieving the SDG’s because collective response is stronger, more progressive and considerate to differing and changing needs. Applying an EP lens allows us to break down traditional ideas of bureaucracy, to drive a new model of sustainable change, transformation and connection. Empathy in a partnership also supports partners to be introspective on their own needs, it adds heart to our projects, and tells a better story in our reporting.

Yvonne then closed the webinar thanking the speakers and participants.