Transnational meetings are at the heart of all Networks, and SIBdev is no exception. The Covid pandemic has caused a great challenge in this regard which could only be overcome by introducing new tools for cooperation and socializing that contributed to both the effectiveness and the inspiring atmosphere of the gatherings from time to time.
The Activation meeting, organised between 8-10 September 2020 was a good start for that. Within this event not only the regular issues like management and communication, ULG meeting feedbacks and action planning were discussed but also the possible ways of improving stakeholder engagement, on- and offline as well. For that purpose, ad hoc expert Katalin Bunyevácz has shared some good practices from other projects: the use of Padlet platform by Ravenna, hybrid ULG meetings from Ister, and Facebook groups used for campaigns to bring the members of a certain community closer to each other, like the online old photo exhibition by Pori or the gardening contest by Újbuda. Also, some basic online tools and platforms were presented that could be used by SIBdev partnership as well to enhance stakeholder engagement. The presented methods were also tested on the spot through interactive workshop exercises: participants created problem trees and persona types together on Miro platform related to core topics of SIBdev project, ageing and unemployment.
Effective ways of online working with the ULG group were also core topic at the next meeting, held between 17-19th November 2020. Within its framework ideas of the URBACT digital team were shared and partners continued to getting familiar with online tools by learning and practicing the basic functions of Miro. The social highlight of the meeting was a virtual toast when participants consumed the snacks received by post from Herleen, the planned host city of the event.
During the 3rd meeting on 9-10th March 2021 the partnership welcomed ad hoc expert Maria Chiari who presented the Masterclass schedule which has proven to be an important contribution to the professional content of the project. As social highlight, participants could watch videos prepared by Pordenone, the planned host city of the meeting and take part in a game called ‘Favours of Pordenone’ where they could test their knowledge on Italian gastronomy. The meeting did not only have its taste but also its sound: during the preparation the LP, Herleen had collected favourite music from all participants that were played at the meeting and the group had to guess the person it belongs to.
The 4th meeting on 26-27 May 2021 which was supposed to be held in Aarhus also had its thematic and social highlights: during the icebreaking session titled Aarhus for me – get to know the city through local eyes! Aarhus team members have presented the city from their truly unique point of view, allowing insight into their close surroundings and typical daily activities.
As a thematic highlight, Goal Compass the world class Danish model for successful citizen involvement in setting and following up on community goals was presented by the Aarhus team. The Danish model focuses on six principles: be genuinely curious, focus on professionalism and value, draw changes together, focus on the meaningful, embrace data, stop and learn and follows them with the aim of creating a new framework for leadership, management and development of welfare.
The professional content shared during the events together with the common efforts for socializing and improving online working methods have resulted not only in valuable thematic discussions but also in an inspiring atmosphere which presents a great basis for further cooperation, on- and offline as well and makes SIBdev Network a real family of professionals.
