Background information

Features of the institution/information on the interviewees

– Type of education: non-formal adult education

– Type of institution: folk high school/Training-plus centre (Vormingplus-centrum)

– Name of the institution: Citizenne – Vormingplus Brussel – Interviewee 1: senior manager (D1_01)

– Interviewee 2: adult learning practitioner (D1_02)

Citizenne, also know as Training-plus Centre Brussels (Vormingplus Brussel), is a non-profit folk high school situated in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. The organi-sation’s mission is to make a valuable contribution to the social cohesion in the city of Brussels by providing socio-cultural activities. These activities are non-formal educational ones and include cultural, leisure, community-based objectives.

The name of the organisation ‘Citizenne’ refers to the ‘city’ which is the ground of action for the organisation and to the ‘Zenne’ which is the river that flows through the city of Brussels; furthermore the name also refers to ‘active citizen-ship’ as an overall aim of the organisation.

Some of the main objectives of Citizenne are:

– working on the bridging between communities and groups of people living in the different Brussels districts;

– creating opportunities for cultural and social involvement for all the people liv-ing in Brussels;

– enhancing social integration in and through the civil society.

In doing so, the organisation takes into account some of the specific characteristics of Brussels. Some examples are:

– there is a strong social polarisation in the city. This is reflected in, for instance, high unemployment among young migrants;

– Brussels is a city known for its cultural diversity: people with a lot of different nationalities and cultures all live together. Adults with Dutch as their mother tongue are actually a minority in Brussels. We will give some more details later on the Citizenne target groups and the language they use;

– there are a lot of organisations offering non-formal adult education in Brussels.

There is also a wide range of high-quality training opportunities for the Dutch-speaking population of Brussels. Over the last six months of the year 2005 more than 2.200 non-formal educational programmes were offered by over 200 different organisations.

Because of these characteristics, the organisation focuses on some specific target groups and target issues.

First of all, the organisation tailors her services to the needs of specific groups underparticipating in the field of adult education in Brussels, such as low edu-cated adults (especially those having left compulsory education without a qualifi-cation).

Planning intercultural programmes is also essential for the organisation. One can not presuppose that in a city like Brussels and its metropolitan area people and groups of people find each other spontaneously in the mosaic of cultures and communities. Therefore, Citizenne explicitly wants to connect different cultures and communities in the city with each other.

The organisation has been focusing on three types of issues over the last five years:

– City and community development and urban characteristics

Working on issues that urban communities and neighbourhoods are facing today (e.g. growing inequity, growing unemployment, economic recession, ethnic and socio-economic polarization, etc.) by means of community building and urban development.

– Intercultural dialogue in a multicultural society

The ethnic diversity among its residents is a characteristic of any major city.

Guiding and supporting intercultural processes (debates, discussions, exchange of ideas, etc.) between different cultural communities and ethnic groups so that they can meet in a friendly atmosphere (see model 1).

– Empowerment

Helping people and groups that experience social discrimination to regain and increase their social strength, using methods like consciousness-raising and social action (see model 2).

These focuses arose from the region analysis and the SWOT-analysis the organisa-tion applied when making a strategic plan. By doing so, the organisaorganisa-tion is able to clearly analyse the needs of the people living and working in Brussels.

Funding sources of the organisation

A major subsidy is granted by the Flemish ministry of Culture. In the year 2006 Citizenne received 476 993,06 euro. The organisation also receives financial aid of

the government of the Brussels-Capital region (Department of Culture, Youth and Sports). Although the organisation derives some income from its registration fees (usually very small contributions), donation, etc., most of the incomes are related to the state subsidy. The strategic plan, incorporating the mission and vision of the organisation and its strategic decisions on what to do, constitutes an important means in obtaining these financial resources. The organisation makes a strategic plan every four to five years. In general, compared to most formal educational institutions, Citizenne has quite limited resources.

Background data to profile target groups for access strategies

 Language

An important aspect to profile target groups in a multilingual city like Brussels is the language of the (potential) participants. About 55 percent of all Citizenne’s present participants today are to be considered Flemish (which means they have Dutch as their mother tongue). 45 percent of the participants are not Flemish; they are either Walloon or migrants that have a different mother tongue. Nevertheless, most of the Citizenne activities are in Dutch. The interviewed coordinator argues that for some non-Dutch mother tongue speakers, attending activities in Dutch is a way of learning and practicing the Dutch language. For them, the use of another language is in fact a motivation to attend a class or activity, not a barrier. In half of the cases, there is a translation into French, English, Arabic, or some other lan-guage. This means 50 percent of the programmes are bilingual.

 Gender

The current participants are mainly female (65 per cent). The organisation does not take any steps to reach more men, because this is not a priority to the organisation, the coordinator explains. In some cases, teachers try to engage male participants in an indirect way, for instance by encouraging the female participants to bring their husbands and children.

According to research, not more than 0,2% of all the activities of all thirteen Training-plus centers are directly aimed at attracting more male participants (FOV, 2008, p. 50).

Access strategies

 Childcare

The organisation rarely organises childcare for the participants’ children. This is only the case for bigger events and some family-oriented courses and events. Nev-ertheless, the fact that not finding childcare might be a barrier to participation is

something Citizenne takes seriously; for instance by avoiding activities on Wednesday afternoon when there is no school.

 Reduced fees

Not all activities are free of charges, although many are. Because of the organisa-tion’s funding it is impossible to offer all activities for free. One of the instituorganisa-tion’s main principles related to the tuition fee is: the price should not be a barrier to participation.

The enrollment fees are differentiated:

– illegal immigrants and refugees, who have no income, pay no tuition;

– adults with a substitute income enjoy a reduced tuition;

– students and elderly people are eligible for remission of tuition fees;

– all other adults pay a full tuition which is maximum 15 euro per day.

The organisation does not ask for any identity papers to check this – which is merely a matter of avoiding paperwork.