Concepts:mech/activities

Translating Concepts into Mechanisms and Activities

Concepts / Principles

• Mechanisms / Activities

Collaborative, cooperative and participatory knowledge production

Everyone has the right to self-expression and access to digital tools

Empowerment, with a focus on youth, regardless of gender or social background

Community ownership

• Community Library: participants bring in eg. 3 books and perform tasks related to the library

• Induction for trainers who will facilitate several sessions on participatory learning, making safe space, and facilitating sessions democratically

• Deca Website - archive community library - users have password etc for website and can update without staff supervision - users have been given training

• Use of open source software and creative commons licensing in individual and community creations

• Users can access other people’s work to use for other projects

• Learning should be fun and experiential

• Deca is an open space for the community

• Free workshops / sliding scale for specialized workshops

• Lending library and equipment

• Activities that mix social backgrounds and males/females - availability of workshops that are single-sex

• Safe space

Group agreement (even for one-offs eg at beginning of sessions/workshops) - addressing how people will deal with each other, use the space etc. Agreement can be revised. Facilitated by community area facilitator “CAF”

• CAF and director trained in conflict management

• Designated counsellor role

• Systems - where you can find materials, knowing how to move through space and do things within the space, knowing who to connect with specific needs

• Trust-building games - eg falling onto each other

• Incorporate youth into roles - eg mentorship program

• Self-service system for borrowing and using soft materials

• Suggestions/ideas/concerns box

• Membership Scheme

• Scavenger hunt in space - in groups - same tasks/questions, different order

• Session drawing and painting on walls

Self-sustainability - expertise, finances etc

• Space rentals

• develop a comprehensive program that’s not bound to the space for which deca team could be paid a fee if implemented with other communities or clients eg businesses/other NGOs etc...

Arabization of digital tools and practices

• Promote the arabization of software interfaces and manuals

• Use Arabic in filing systems in the server and computers

• All postings and communication in the space should be in arabic

• Making sure to use arabic language in trainings as much as possible

Shared responsibility and authority through collective decision making

• Deca Director and Community Area Facilitator - joint decision making on programs and

workshops

• Deca Staff - networking with local community and collectively deciding on community needs

• Adef Board with new Deca members

• Deca Staff rotating responsibilities - eg chairing meetings etc - so power does not get concentrated

• Consensus-decision making