Diagrama recognises the importance of research to better understand the challenges faced by children and young people who are at risk of social exclusion. Over a number of years we have formed partnerships and collaboration agreements with both universities and a number of international organisations.
We are actively involved in continuous research across a broad range of topics. Our aim is not only to gain knowledge which we can use to help to develop our own employees, but also to develop specific intervention strategies and share best practice for the benefit of those who work within our sphere of interest and the wider society.
Erasmus + - E-PROFID project
Diagrama UK is proud to be leading one of only a handful of projects chosen to receive Erasmus Plus funding in the UK's last year of eligibility for EU funding. Since the UK has now left the European Union EU funds are no longer open to us.
The Erasmus Plus programme is designed to give all people access to lifelong learning, regardless of their education or social circumstances.
Since being established in 2008 Diagrama UK has been part of many transnational projects an partnerships that have brought valuable learning opportunities to our clients and staff. Not only have people discovered new skills, talents and opportunities but have gone on to exciting new futures through links made. We have experienced good practice to inform policy and improve life's chances for all people we work with.
In this last Call for UK projects we created "E-Profid" - (Enhancing Professional Identity with Digital Tools). Diagrama leads a partnership comprising 4 not for profit community-based organisations and one university. Partner countries are Spain, Belgium and Italy.
The aim of the E-Profid project is to raise awareness of problems faced by people with disabilities. We work to change the public's perception and we train Care Workers to develop communication skills and new ways of supporting people with disabilities, especially those living in residential centres.
The world has changed in the last 2 years. The Covid 19 pandemic and its long period of "lockdown" was especially difficult for people living in residential units or care homes. Lack of access to family and friends was a major problem, particularly for those already marginalised from society.
Circumstances forced us to look at new ways of responding to social and care needs. Staff needed to share wider skills and broaden their area of operation. We were all forced outside our comfort zone. Digital tools were the only way to give some access to residents' family and friends, yet not many Care Workers were comfortable using digital tools to support this work, lacking confidence. Families of residents were also afraid to use technology and many did not have the equipment necessary.
Throughout all care establishments concentrated effort was applied to keeping residents safe, active, motivated and interested in life around them. More time was spent on creative arts and crafts. This showed how many hidden talents we had "in-house" as staff and clients worked together on therapeutic creations.
Across Europe care-giving organisations shared these problems; each doing their best to safeguard the health and wellbeing of their residents to survive the pandemic. When the EU called for Erasmus Plus project ideas, the E-Profid partnership was born.
The project has three main objectives;
- Help change the public’s perception of “Disabilities”, by celebrating “Abilities”
- Develop residents’ “Professional Identity”, celebrating and sharing skills and talent, and
- Train face to face Care Workers to become “Facilitators of Change” using digital and all other communication skills.
Project activities include all partners hosting high quality virtual drop-in workshops to showcase and share residents’ talent and skills. There will be an online retail facility, marketing links and shared virtual sessions inviting family and friends.
Throughout the project the emphasis in on “Ability” with a public awareness campaign and supported by community-led local invitation and the promotion of residents’ skills and talents.
Project activities also include 3 sessions of staff training to specifically focus on digital communication and social inclusion techniques. These will be held in 2022: April in Belgium; September in Italy; December in UK. Facilitators of Change are created who in turn cascade their skills and knowledge to colleagues and volunteers through local training sessions.
The project runs from June 2021 until end of May 2023 and involves Groep Ubuntu, Kortrijk, Belgium, Fundacion Diagrama, Murcia, Spain and University of Salerno in Italy. The project is led by Diagrama Foundation, UK.
GALA - Gentle Art, Living Art
Diagrama Foundation is the lead partner in the multi-national GALA (Gentle Art, Living Art) project which aims to empower vulnerable people. Working with partners from Spain, Belgium, France and Romania, the project aims to create new cultural inclusion activities for vulnerable people by training care workers and volunteers in Gentle Learning techniques developed by Groep Ubuntu in Belgium, which is renowned for excellent professional practice in communicating, motivating and empowering disadvantaged people.
EUROSOL
EuroSol – forms part of the Europe for Citizens programme and brings together partners from eight EU member states to promote European citizens' solidarity in times of the refugee crisis. The project, which finishes in 2018, is formed of a series of events held throughout Europe which aim to initiate debates among stakeholders in a bid to find common accepted solutions at local level and exchange of opinions at European level. The objective is to influence politicians and policy makers to promote intercultural dialogue, to combat stigmatisation of immigrants and to foster tolerance and empathy to bring about more cohesive, respectful, peaceful and tolerant EU societies. In June 2017 Diagrama Foundation hosted the Sensitive Labyrinth Theatre, from Germany, at Sun Pier House in Chatham where they applied the Access. Release. Transform (ART) method to introduce EU history and achievement to an audience of migrants and refugees. Participants were encouraged to become active citizens in the EU society by fostering their social awareness through participative art. The method uses a holistic, multi-modal approach to the expressive and creative arts focusing on community building, exploration, self-discovery and problem solving.
Thrive: Teachers' Professional Development
The aim of the European project 'THRIVE' is to reinforce the professional development of teachers of children up to 7 years old, in order to effectively promote positive behaviours in the classroom as well as future school attendance and achievement.
REVIJ - Reparation to the victim in the European Juvenile Justice Systems: Comparative analysis and transfer of best practices
The project REVIJ - Reparation to the victim in the European Juvenile Justice Systems: Comparative analysis and transfer of best practices, aims to conduct a comparative of the measures provided for victims in the European Juvenile Justice Systems.
GET THERE
The overall aim of the GET THERE project is to equip vocational, educational and training (VET) provider organisations with methodologies, tools and competences in order to be the future employability educators and thus speed up the development of employability skills among unemployed people in all partner countries.
PROVYP
The PROVYP (Professional Orientation of Vulnerable Young People) project aims to reduce the number of low-skilled adults by providing improved careers guidance using open educational resources and tailored learning opportunities, particularly aimed at vulnerable young people. The project is in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy and the European Agenda for Adult Learning.
EURehabChildren
The EURehabChildren project is a research Project in the field of Vocational Education and Training aimed to establish an integrated approach towards Rehabilitation of Victim and Offender Children.
Empowerment Approaches and Social Inclusion (EASI)
The Empowerment Approaches and Social Inclusion (EASI) project is being delivered through a partnership with Dialogues and Basta, The project is working on identifying good working methods through regular meetings and discussions and exchange of good practice. It is developing new tools for disadvantaged groups to use towards their integration into society.
Activities include seminars, workshops and discussion groups with the objective of finding ways to eliminate social exclusion through the development of new tools aimed at helping disadvantaged groups reintegrate into society. This is a good opportunity for those involved to share ideas and learn from other people's experiences and methods.
Juvenile Drug Use: Tertiary Prevention Strategies
The Juvenile Drug Use: Tertiary Prevention Strategies project is delivered in partnership with four other partner countries - Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Estonia. It aims to support the development of more specific and effective prevention interventions in the field of juvenile substance misuse by looking at existing practice in each partner country. The research gathered from the project will then be used to plan future interventions and raise awareness amongst key stakeholders and service providers.
European Comparative Analysis and Transfer of Knowledge on Mental Health Resources for Young Offenders (MHYO)
The European Comparative Analysis and Transfer of Knowledge on Mental Health Resources for Young Offenders (MHYO) is an innovative and sustainable project aimed at sharing knowledge and expertise in the field of young offenders with mental health issues; children and young people who are at the same time offenders and victims of their own mental health and who enter in the vicious circle of delinquency and recidivism.
Diagrama works with five other European countries, which include Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Estonia and the UK. It aims to support the development of more specific and effective prevention interventions in the field of young peoples’ drug use/abuse by looking at existing practice in each country, which will then be used to plan future interventions and raise awareness amongst key stakeholders and service providers.
All partners are analysing their national health and judicial systems for young offenders with mental-health disorders aged between 10 and 21. The research findings on comparative analysis of the national legal framework, as well as European good practices, are the basis of the study. The research is working on identifying treatment strategies for young offenders with mental-health needs in order to promote practical tools and adequate policies that involve children’s mental health and the juvenile justice system.
Greener Futures for Young People
Greener Futures for Young People works across a range of community-based organisations and social enterprises to capture entrepreneurship and to develop new business through delivering high quality, local and effective social, health and care services. The aim of the project is to raise the profile of the not-for-profit sector as a career choice for able young people.
Some of the objectives include:
- The transfer of good practice amongst partners
- Identify innovation and develop understanding of how to increase sustainable jobs for young people
- Demonstrate how social enterprises are a key to unlocking the potential of community groups and not for profit associations
- Develop a European Model for Social Franchising
- Facilitate work experience placements for young people whilst supporting the needs of not for profit organisations
- Create Networks for self-help and shared understanding
Into Caring Europe
The project Into Caring Europe - ICE aims to improve the quality of domiciliary community care by learning from each other what qualifications exist in each partner country. A new pilot course will be developed specifically to raise the standard of domiciliary care available and raise awareness about the needs of clients. In order to achieve this goal, client learners will be involved in the development of this new course, contributing their knowledge and highlighting needs that are not currently met by existing provision. The partners hope to get close to the needs of the beneficiaries by working with professionals whose job it is to find domiciliary care solutions for the specific client groups on which this project is focused on.
For further information about our activities, please visit the Into Caring Europe Information Centre.
EASE - Empowerment Approaches and Social Enterprise
The EASE project – Empowerment Approaches and Social Enterprise – consists of ten partner organisations, which represent big and small social organisations with potential for integrating and disseminating the project across Europe.
EASE aims to transfer the Basta model, based on empowerment and social enterprise, to two social organisations, Elia in France and Diagrama in the UK. Both Elia and Diagrama wish to create sustainable social enterprises that will allow for employability and entry to the labour market for marginalised groups.
The target group and participants in the EASE project are the trainers currently involved in the two organisations. They will be in charge of importing and adapting the model to their country-specific context. Furthermore, the project wants to reach those who have little or no formal education, but who want to take on a new path in life with social enterprise, developing their innovative and entrepreneurial skills. This means the training will be targeted for tutors and trainers, but also for those without any previous experience of formal education.
EASE is partly funded by the "Transfer of Innovation” programme and is part of the European Union’s Lifelong Learning Programme.
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