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

• The following activities fall into the 4 above mentioned principles

• Community Library: participants bring in eg. 3 books and perform tasks related to the library. When one brings their own books to the librarian to include in the library system, they become part of that

library and therefore claim ownership. Lending library and equipment -Self-service system for borrowing and using soft materials

• Training for trainers who will facilitate several sessions on participatory learning, making safe space, and facilitating sessions democratically. every trainer that becomes part of Deca should receive these trainings

• Deca Website is necessary - 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 eg. can be filed on a server/deca website. Whomever comes through the Deca doors and creates a project should be given the opportunity to make their project public through server/website. This will allow others to see Deca's productions as well as use it for further processes

• Learning should be fun and experiential. Deca facilitators should be found by the Program Manager, Community Facilitator, and Deca Director and through a thorough interview process, and later monitoring and evaluation, it is the job of the Deca Director and Community Facilitator to ensure this is accuring in all workshops

• Deca is an open space for the community. Each individual that comes to Deca will be registered by the receptionist (membership card, forms with personal information). Implement open hours/days at which the Community Area will be available to users where the Community Facilitator will be implementing activities. The workshops will have set hours/days and be open to the public through a registration process - hours/days/number of participants/age group of workshop. Workshops are free / specialized workshops are suggested fees

• Activities that mix social backgrounds and males/females. Availability of workshops that are single-sex. Further discussion on this topic is necessary. The benefit of male or female workshops will give opportunity for participation where there may not have been and also a sense of to comfort to be oneself. After building trust with them and their families, through word of mouth at home and schools, this may allow for youth to become a part of the mixed settings. The drawback is that people will enter a comfort zone and not be willing to try new ways. This has been articulated by a reference in Zabaleen

Safe space

- Systems needed in Deca: Registration (emergency/personal contact information for individuals, sign ins and outs/membership cards), Emergency (Disaster, First Aid) Who to Contact for Specific Needs eg for space rentals, conflict resolution

-Systems within the spaces - where you can find materials, knowing how to move through space and do things within the space - refer to logistics document that describes maps and signs needed  A fun way to familiarize the community with Deca is through a Scavenger hunt in the space where they follow directions and answer questions that will navigate them through. This can be done with youth in groups or with adults alone.  This could be done through the registration process as a way for new individuals to get to know Deca.  You can change the order of questions to make different hunts for each participant

• Group agreement (at the beginning of activities in community area/sessions/workshops) - addressing how people will deal with each other, use the space etc. Agreement can be revised. Facilitated by community area facilitator CAF. Trust-building games - eg falling onto each other

-CAF and director trained in conflict management -Designated counsellor role to work with community on personal issues -Suggestions/ideas/concerns box where participants can express anonymously

• Incorporate youth into roles - eg mentorship program. If the Community Area Facilitator finds that a youth participant has specific traits they are strong in, work with them in mentoring other youth. This will create a community run area

Self-sustainability - expertise, finances etc

• Space rentals for specific workshops eg filmaking

• 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 eg. lina attullah creates a program on how to write a newspaper and then it can be implemented anywhere, just as Adef has its already established programs that can be run anywhere as long as you have the materials necessary. We propose the implementation of the programs at other spaces initially in order to network and gain trust in the community. Refer to Outreach ideas document

Arabization of digital tools and practices

• Promote the arabization of software interfaces and manuals by having all computers equipped with the appropriate software

• 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 that will be discovered through networking with the Deca Community, as well as through meetings with NGOs/businesses etc in Moqattam and in the Cairo Area

• Deca Staff - networking with local community on a daily basis in Deca and collectively deciding on community needs which will later be relayed to the Deca Director and Community Area Facilitator
• Deca Staff rotating responsibilities - eg chairing meetings etc - so power does not get concentrated
• Consensus-decision making

• Adef Board with new Deca Board members will meet monthly to discuss Monitoring and Evaluation, workshops, needs of community - found through the suggestion/concerns/questions box

• Deca Monthly Community Area meeting where people share what their needs are and the anonymous suggestion/concerns/questions box will be addressed. it would be advised for the Adef Board and

new Deca Board members to meet before this meeting occurs in the community area