TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

The international landscape Contemporary trends encountered by the Centre are also being felt across the international landscape. The need for more experiential, collaborative and sustainable learning opportunities has been expressed. The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness1 in 2005 reinforced by the Accra High Level Forum in 2008 communicated several key recommendations to guide responsible and effective development practices. In Berlin, in 2008 to concerned group of development training and learning institutes met to formulate their response and action plan to address the challenges presented. The seven messages endorsed by the High level Forum on the Effectiveness of International Development Training2 were as follows:

1. Address training and learning in the context of capacity development; 2. Establish guidelines for development learning programmes; 3. Identify good practices to monitor and evaluate training and learning results; 4. Strengthen local training institutes; 5. Align training and learning to local capacity needs assessment systems; 6. Harmonize training and other learning practices; and 7. Join efforts and collaborate at different levels to share information and resources. As an expression of institutional commitment to the common agenda, the ITC ILO proposed to organize a joint learning programme. The Turin 2009 Learning Link3 was the result. Participants from 34 institutions and countless countries attended the weeklong event to address five fundamental themes. Partnerships were established and practices were shared. The success of the event contributed to the visibility of the Centre within an extended community of potential partners as well as the development community at large. The Compass contains several answers to the questions posed and seeks to reconcile this responsibility with the Centre‟s economic reality. More information on the Turin 2009 Learning Link, as well as the 2011 edition can be found at the official website.

In 2009, the Belém Framework for Action: Harnessing the power and potential of adult learning and education4 recognized:

1 Both the Declaration and Agenda for Action can be found at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/11/41/34428351.pdf 2 Full statement may be reviewed at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/WBI/Resources/BerlinStatementonInternationalDevelopm entTraining.pdf 3 Review results, as well as information for the 2011 edition at: http://link.itcilo.org/ 4 Review the complete framework at: http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/INSTITUTES/UIL/confintea/pdf/working_docum ents/Belém%20Framework_Final.pdf

“the key role of adult learning and education in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Education for All (EFA) and the UN agenda for sustainable human, social, economic, cultural and environmental development, including gender equality (CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action).”

In 2004 the International Labour Organization (LO) reiterated the importance of training with the Human Resources Development Recommendation, 2005. The ongoing initiatives for staff training and development have occurred within this context, paying particular consideration to point VII. Training Providers 13.d) which states: “Members should develop quality standards for trainers and create opportunities for trainers to meet such standards.” The Compass guide and on-line toolkit provide the opportunity for staff to enhance their skills, as well as contribute to the development of others.

The evolving nature of Centre activities Open courses have been for years, perhaps decades, flagship products of the Training Department. This era has not yet come to an end, but signals indicate that times are changing rapidly. Participants and institutions are expressing needs for more relevant, reactive and practical approaches to learning. The traditional methods for conveying information also seem to less effective. The Centre is adapting to maintain the recognized position as a leader in the field of international development training. On 15 July 2009 an internal workshop called “Promotion and Organization of Open Courses” was held to examine the challenges of offering open (otherwise referred to as “standard”) courses. It is within this climate that a new approach to providing services is being explored.

1. Focus on large events or „Cluster workshops‟ It has been suggested that the Centre‟s Technical Programmes work in collaboration with the technical sectors of the ILO to develop several large events composed of more than 50 participants each year. The importance of enhancing partnerships and aligning initiatives has been noted on numerous occasions. Carefully selecting a series of mutually supportive open courses from the existing repertoire, supplementing them with ILO (or other partner) resources, and combing everything in a logical learning progression for professionals has great potential. Often referred to as Academies, this method may also include electives sessions to define individual learning paths and render large events more relevant and responsive to learner needs. This delivery approach will allow a concentration of staff efforts and an increased visibility of partner involvement. Although this approach may take many forms, the following points outline possible areas of enhanced effectiveness.

Concentration of the promotion and organization of activities a few times a year instead of 10 times6; Improved opportunities for networking between participants. The larger and diverse the group of participants is, the more opportunities will exist for enriching conversations and establishment of new partnerships7; Diversification in target audiences as this format of events may attract additional target groups8; More powerful marketing approach would increase the possibility of diversifying sponsors; Increasing visibility (e.g. by handling larger activity budgets one could include an input from a „star‟ presenter in the agenda);

5 R195. Recommendation concerning Human Resources Development: Education, Training and Lifelong Learning (2004) can be found at: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/ampro/cinterfor/publ/bar_195/pdf/annex3.pdf 6 Ten is considered to be the average number of open/standard courses for each Technical Programme. 7 Organized learning represents about ten percent of all learning, the rest takes place in informal or semi-formal settings (e.g. professional networks, conversations with colleagues and experts, job rotation and mobility, stretching tasks, quality groups). 8 Top decision-makers are more likely to attend events that last a couple of days, while large numbers of field practitioners are attracted by the Boulder course on micro-finance.