Durham

Objectives

To establish a partnership to support social and economic regeneration through learning for the people of Durham.

Objectives included: the establishment of the partnership, identification and prioritising of learning needs in the city and the development of an action plan for improving skills and widening participation in learning.

The focus of the project has been the partnership strand of the Guide, although some attention has been given to the participation strand. The Guide has been used extensively by the two key officers included in the Pathfinder Project.

Work with the project consultant has concerned the holding of a consultative conference and summarising key messages from it. It has also involved a great deal of work with the partnership including individual consultation with Steering Group members, drafting and clarifying objectives, helping to develop useful baseline data and work to support development of Learning Shops.

Outcomes

The actions taken involved meetings and discussions, the consultative conference and individual meetings mentioned above and exchange of information on aims and objectives.

The project has encountered some problems. One is the development, during the life of the project of the Government's initiative for Learning partnerships. The project has also had difficulties in sustaining the interest of committed individuals in the past and a previous initiative had been disbanded for this reason.

The project is faced with significant challenges in relation to resources and employer engagement - although there is support for specific projects. However, marketing is a key area of interest and it is hoped that the setting up of a Learning Shop will be built on this. The project managers at Durham draw from their experience some essential components, which they believe must be in place if a Learning City initiative is to be successful in getting off the ground. These are:

• a local "worker" for the partnership with credibility across the local community;
• co-ordination by a neutral organisation;
• monitoring of project work; and
• a balance between talking and developing shared understandings and tangible activity and outcomes.