Examples of Added Value Through Input In Hull, the Learning City Group has been successful in promoting a city-wide Single Regeneration Budget bid for learning. No single institution could have obtained this kind of commitment from the City, TEC and private sector who must support such bids. In Thetford, the "Learning Curve" resulted in a focus of education and training expenditure in the town, often to the displeasure of other market towns in the area. This included inputs such as a project where a major computer supplier put IT provision in the supermarket, a County Council school improvement initiative, marketing money, an after school organisation approaching the group about mounting provision and a local college investing in improved facilities.

Service Process - Is the Learning Community Organised to Deliver Differently? Learning cities organise through partnership and collaboration within and across sectors. These organisational structures add value in so far as they enable delivery to be more effective and better fitted to needs. The particular strengths of the learning city approach are perceived to be the links between economic development and learning, and community development and learning. Organisational structures should support these two connections in a vibrant and creative way. Ideas for the Assessing Service Process Are there clear indications in economic development plans for the community of the role of learning? Are the aims of the learning city and those relating to the economic development of the region synchronised? Do partners within organisations recognise better and more effective working arrangements with partner organisations than at the beginning of the initiative? Is there an increase in availability of information on the expressed needs of communities?

Examples of Added Value Through Improved Service Process In Norwich and in Hull the Learning City is a part of the economic development strategy for both cities. This is apparent in all the published information on economic development planning. The aims of the Learning City initiatives both support the strategy for the city as a whole and the need for economic development to include development of people's skills is clearly spelled out. In Sheffield the Learning City Group had been meeting for some time alongside the Education Strategic Forum of the TEC. Both these organisations had a key interest in developing the learning infrastructure and community participation in the city. Drawing together of the two forums and a clarification of roles has made partnership activity easier and this has prevented unhelpful duplication of activity.

Service Outputs - What has the Learning City Delivered to People Living Within it? A key measure of added value is the products that would not have been there through the efforts of single providers alone. One measure is these products themselves - new learning centres opened and take-up of what they have to offer. Related measures might be the awareness of what is available and attitudes towards it. In many ways, this is the most concrete way of expressing added value which current learning cities have to offer. Learning cities can show concrete outputs in terms of media campaigns, guidance projects, computer links for schools and joint work with partners' organisations involved. Ideas for Assessing Service Outputs What projects has the partnership, rather than any single individual provider developed? What facilities are provided and how is such provision measured? This could be places in a creche, hours in course delivery, training places available etc. Is the project being evaluated for hard data, e.g. numbers of users, social groups of users etc? Are projects without buildings or course outputs, e.g. media events being measured and compared with the cost of equivalent marketing/publicity for individual institutions?

Examples of Added Value Through Service Outputs In Norwich during Adult Learners Week 1997 the Learning City Partnership used external funding to co-ordinate and run a Learning Festival. This raised awareness of the learning opportunities available in the City through a programme of taster events, outdoor activities and exhibitions. At the same time the notion of the Learning City was publicised through the badging of the events themselves. The local press are a part of the Learning City Group and gave considerable coverage, including publishing programmes of events in the paper.

Intermediate Outcomes - the Benefits to Users Arguably the most important benefits of learning city initiatives are those felt by the people living and working within them. They enjoy the use of better infrastructure and opportunities for learning and the opportunity to engage in the developments and changes going on and influence their direction. Some of these are planned but some will be unintentional. It is important to capture both these if possible. These intermediate outcomes are the discernable differences and benefits felt by individuals as a result of the activities of the partnership. Ideas for Assessing Intermediate Outcomes Assessing benefits for users means asking those involved. This should involve both quantitive data (e.g. percentage of satisfied customers, number of examination passes achieved) with qualitative data. Collection of case studies can be important for giving depth and meaning to the figures. They are also vital for publicity and marketing where role models can be important. In dealing with adult learners, destination data should be collected, if possible, particularly on vocationally-oriented training provision. Each kind of provision will suggest its own intermediate outcome measure. It is important to look beyond the immediate users of individual schemes. Nursery places may benefit children in terms of their pre-school development, but they may also benefit parents in terms of being able to access jobs or training. Both aspects should be explored. As well advising on satisfaction and informing on value added, the collection of information on outcomes for users gives valuable feedback for future planning. Assessment of long-term outcomes looks beyond the experience of individuals. It looks at what has happened to the community as a whole that may be attributed to the partnership and participation which have resulted from the initiative.

Example of Added Value through Intermediate Outcomes Norwich - The Learning Shop Educational guidance in Norwich has a history of collaboration but has consisted of a number of short-term initiatives. These have revealed substantial need, with periods when little has been possible in terms of provision, other than that provided in connection with government training schemes. None of the providers of post-school learning in the city has premises in the city centre: though all offered guidance, their location tended to tie it to particular institutions. Norwich is the only major city within a 45 mile radius. Large numbers of people come in each day to shop and work. the city centre is compact with the City Hall and market providing a landmark in the shopping centre. The group which meets to drive forward the Learning City has representatives from the TEC, all post-school education providers, City Council, employers, media, the LEA, Careers Service and the voluntary sector. The partnership has attracted a limited amount of funding from DfEE to take forward the Learning City initiative. Two major providers, the College of Further Education and the University of East Anglia had been having joint discussions on funding a city centre learning shop - this would give information on educational opportunities, on their provision, and information from other local providers. The Learning City group discussed and supported the initiative, assisting joint working between institutions. Applying some of the DfEE funding to the project provided advice on its development to its individual member organisations who "own" the shop, embedding it in the Learning City initiative and using the shop as the public face of the Learning City. Norwich City College and the University of East Anglia are the main funders and jointly planned and set up the initiative. Additional funding for premises and start-up costs came from Bull International, Norwich City Council and the DfEE funding. Additional partners who also contributed funding include Norfolk Adult Education Service, Norwich School of Art and Design, Open University and Easton College (Agriculture and Horticulture). The shop is in a prime central location in the market area and is opposite the Norwich Advice Arcade which houses organisations such as the CAB. It has large shop windows with displays from providers and has a high standard of decoration and furnishing. It is permanently staffed with trained advisers and is open six days each week. As well as information on formal learning, it carries the Norfolk Library Service database on local clubs and societies. In its first six months of operation the shop has been visited by 12,000 people from all sectors of the population, from those with basic skills needs to post graduates. Take-up of learning opportunities is being monitored. At least one provider believes that increased numbers have been seen through referrals. Callers are often referred to other agencies for specialist advice and support. The process involved in setting up the Learning Shop involved complex negotiations between stakeholders, and with the Careers Service which also offers elements of educational guidance to adults and is encouraged to make such provision self-financing, as well as the normal processes involved in setting up a new facility. What adds value in terms of what has happened is the involvement of all of the city's publicly-funded adult learning organisations in a joint project which markets learning opportunities to all prospective learners. For their contribution, each provider is getting a "6 days a week" information outlet in the middle of the city. No single provider could do this alone: if they were to, the information to the public would be poorer. The interest and involvement of the City Council, employer interests and the voluntary sector might not have accompanied a single provider initiative. A facility which did not involve negotiation with the Careers Service would not have received the support of the TEC or the DfEE. The Learning Shop is a public face for the Learning City - it is also a demonstration of the value of collaboration over competition.

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