The Penguin Train the Trainer Project

<< Background >>Our motivation to apply for the project: We have worked for several years on the question of “How can we keep our spark alive as cultural workers?” and have built up considerable experience and practices around the topic. Exchange with peers made it obvious that overwork and burnout are a big problem in the European independent cultural sector. It was a strong need for us to leverage our expertise and help others to keep their spark alive.The needs we addressed by target groups:Individuals in the independent culture field, driven by passion, often face the delicate challenge of balancing their enthusiasm for the job with the looming threat of burnout. The absence of a comprehensive framework to make sense of their experiences and identify energy drains necessitated the development of tools for proactive energy management in the workplace.Cultural organisations grapple with managing employee turnover and sustaining a high level of professionalism within their teams. Creating attractive work environments is crucial to draw in motivated and talented individuals. So cultural organisations need ways to harmonise individual and organisational needs, ensuring a sustainable deal between organisation and employees.<< Objectives >>1. Create and test an Education Program: Knowledge about how to keep our spark alive had to be turned into an education program. With the project we wanted to test this program with a diverse group of cultural workers and gather feedback.2. Create Multipliers: Educate a select group of cultural workers who could act as multipliers, disseminating our ideas and experiences within their respective contexts.3. Start a Discourse: By implementing the program, we aimed to foster discussions on proactive energy management and the overall well-being of cultural workers. This discourse was essential for collective learning and improvement.4. Offer Penguin Ideas and Tools to a Wider Audience: Our aim was to create an online learning platform where project participants and other cultural workers could get access to the penguin project’s ideas, tools and methods, contribute their own learnings and share knowledge with peers. This should support the above mentioned discourse and cultural workers’ independent learning. << Implementation >>1. Project Management: Planning, organising, steering, evaluating, reporting.2. Opening Workshop: Launched project, set learning goals, introduced participants to key concepts, started group building process.3. Practical Application: We facilitated interactive online sessions to support individual application of concepts and tools.4. Movement Workshop: Developed a physical component to enhance holistic well-being and energy management.5. Developing the online Learning Platform: Developed a dedicated platform for continuous learning, resource access, and community building.6. Closing Workshop: Harvested learnings, gathered feedback, and motivated to keep going with the penguin project.7. Communication and Dissemination: Utilised various channels for sharing project activities and insights, including publications, presentations, and networking events.<< Results >>1. Educational Materials: Used during workshops, including the penguin book, exercise descriptions, links to further readings. These materials now form the main content of the online learning platform.2. Online Learning Platform: The online learning platform is an extension of the penguin project website and serves as a repository for educational content, tools, and community interactions. (see www.thepenguinproject.com/learning-platform)3. Workshop Documentation: Detailed documentation including agendas, exercise descriptions and photos.4. Movement Toolkit: A toolkit or guide developed as a result of the movement workshop, providing strategies for incorporating movement into workshops and daily work routines. 5. Dissemination Materials: Most of our communication materials are digital: Facebook and Instagram posts, the penguin website, the online learning platform, an online radio show. We’ve also re-published the original penguin book.6. Participant Evaluation: Mid-Term and final programme evaluation by participants.7. Programme Graduates: 11 individuals trained during the project who are now actively sharing knowledge and experiences in their respective cultural contexts.See annexes for results.