- European Commission
- DGs
- Education_culture
- Valorisation
- Dissemination and exploitation of results
Dissemination and exploitation
of results of our programmes
Capitalize on past experience
CASE STUDY: Fenarete Campaign: Transfer of the Professional Training Methodology on Peer Education
The Fenarete Campaign builds upon the Fenarete project which had been funded in the years 2001-2003 in the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme. That project developed a model training course aimed at former prostitutes wishing to train as peer educators providing health and social support to those still working in the field. Both the methodology and results of the Fenarete project underwent linguistic and cultural adaptation for use in Hungary and Romania.
The first phase of the Fenarete Campaign project focused on assessing the national socio-economic and legislative contexts, on analysing the capacity building activities of the actors involved and on agreeing on the methodological approach; at the meantime project co-ordinators had preparatory visits which created a better understanding of the training needs of the new partners. During these first 5 months the partners established local networks (with NGOs, universities, health and social services, etc.) and involved public institutions in order to disseminate their first results, thus raising awareness of the role and encouraging official recognition of peer educators.
During the second and more operational phase of the project the partners chose to work with two transfer beneficiary ("importing") organisations: ARAS (an NGO active in AIDS/STI prevention in Romania) and Sex Education Foundation (a networking umbrella organisation in the health & social sector in Hungary). The two initial "export" organisations of the Fenarete project were TAMPEP (Transnational AIDS/STI Prevention among Migrant Prostitutes in Europe, an international networking and intervention project operating across 24 European countries) and the Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute.
The two transfer beneficiaries understood the concept of peer education and its application to social care and work with disadvantaged groups (primarily, but not only restricted to sex workers) and actively participated in the adaptation and translation into Hungarian and Romanian of the Fenarete handbook as developed during the original Leonardo da Vinci project (titled "Professional training for peer educators in prostitution field").
They were also involved in training of trainers (two training sessions were organised) and in networking activities (at local level) in order to raise awareness among associations working with disadvantaged groups, local NGOs active in social inclusion, local training bodies focusing on non-formal training, and universities able to integrate the peer educator model into existing curricula.
In addition to the handbook, all new project materials were translated into Romanian and Hungarian. All the old as well as all new materials are now available and downloadable from theoriginal Fenarete website.
The project obtained positive feedback from all stakeholders and the Fenarete Campaign also had a considerable impact on policy and training systems. In fact, the Fenarete methodology (training, preparation and use of peer educators in working with disadvantaged groups) has been incorporated into the curriculum for social work education in Hungary. Similarly, the resulting methodology and tools have been formally acknowledged by the Romanian Ministry of Health. Finally, new and old project partners kept on working together and have pursued further funding for other peer education projects targeted at various disadvantaged groups.