9th April 2012
How can digital communication skills help young people into employment?
We are currently running Cornwall's first digital enterprise programme for young people not in education, employment or training (NEET's) to understand the barriers they face and show them how digital communication skills can help.
‘Make It Digital' offers 16-19 year olds the chance to learn digital media design and communication skills, including digital storytelling through filmmaking, photography, blogging and animation. www.wemakeitdigital.co.uk
Working under the mentorship of our Digital Design Producers and with the help of 2nd year film students from University College Falmouth, our first group of young people have created a series of inspiring digital stories exploring the subject ‘choices for young people' through their eyes. We have been helping them learn new digital design skills and showing them how to use the internet to find support, inspiration, new skills and job opportunities.
Designing transitions
With youth unemployment at a record high, we wanted to design a programme that helped young people in the transition from school to employment or further learning. The internet has revolutionised the way young people communicate with each other. We recognised that most teenagers are already using social networking sites such as Facebook to connect with friends, but how many understand the real value of the internet for employment opportunities and skills?
Working as a provider for The Learning Partnership for Cornwall and Isles if Scilly (an organisation funded by Skills Funding Agency and Convergence), our aim is to help young people in Cornwall develop their digital skills, provide them with creative inspiration and connect them with relevant employment or training opportunities.
Our short programme has given our first group of young people a taste for what its like working in a professional digital service design agency and has enabled them to express themselves creatively through digital media. This in turn has built up their confidence for the future. We are teaching them practical design skills which they can add to a CV and introducing them to a possible future careers in the creative /IT sector.
Finding their voices
Our first Make It Digital programme has been insightful, challenging and inspiring. Most of the young people came to us lacking in confidence, qualifications, experience and ideas. Our creative design process and intensive one to one mentoring has helped them to think creatively and develop their personal digital story telling projects.
The results speak for themselves. You can view their work here www.wemakeitdigital.co.uk and watch their progress on Facebook www.facebook.co.uk/DigitalCornwall
It has been extremely satisfying to help a group of vulnerable young people find their voice through digital media.
Aidan Bolton (age 18) was the first to complete the course last week having made a film which explored his thoughts about apprenticeships and next steps after school.
"Sea have helped me think differently about my future. It has been a good experience working in a creative working environment and I have enjoyed learning more about digital media production. My film explores the issue around the stigma associated with apprenticeships - many people think that apprenticeships are for the under achievers at school but University isn't for everyone. I wanted to know what other people thought about this and used my film as a research project. Sea have now offered me some work experience with them so that I can work on real creative digital design briefs and think about whether I want to go into a career in the creative industry"
Making digital count
During the course, all students have received one to one mentoring from Careers South West, who have worked with them to fully understand their skills, strengths and help them put together an action plan which leads to real work opportunities or further learning.
Our collaborative approach means that we can take the course to small groups of teenagers in their community youth group, arrange visits to our design studio and use mobile technology to film and teach wherever they feel most comfortable.
16th January 2012
How can we create a community benefits system?
Designing Communities
Designing Communities is a unique project and a major legacy of the Dott Cornwall programme. It has transformed from a small project about the feasibility of a new community building into a potentially ground-breaking initiative that could reduce many of the negative social and economic impacts associated with deprivation in the UK. Our idea for a ‘community benefits system' has been presented within the House of Lords and Department for Communities and Local Government, and is being developed by Sea as a pilot programme for Cornwall Council with key partners.
Pengegon is officially Cornwall's most deprived neighbourhood. It is in the UK's bottom 2% for overall deprivation, income deprivation (bottom 1%), employment deprivation (bottom 4%), income deprivation affecting children (bottom 2%), education skills and training affecting children / young people (bottom 3%). The percentage of children in poverty (under 16) is 50.8% - which equates to around 135 children. The community has been described as lacking confidence and aspiration. Many residents don't access the support services available to them due to mistrust of agencies.
Overcoming Perceptions
We involved ourselves in the community to gain trust and capture views. We discovered that apathy sits on both sides of the fence. There is a perception that Pengegon residents benefit hugely from government support, however, beyond the localism (community regeneration) team agency intervention is minimal. This has a deeply negative social and economic impact; and this is something we began to explore in more depth, leading us to form new ideas on how to tackle deprivation in communities. We identified a much stronger community spirit and desire for change than the facts and figures suggest.
Enabling Self Sufficiency
Sea are now embarking on a pilot programme in Pengegon, which is centred around a vision for enabling the community to become increasingly self-sufficient. We envisage that this could significantly reduce the social and economic impacts of deprivation in communities.
Community Job Creation
From our continued engagement with the community we have learnt that most of what motivates residents is based around their community. Subsequently we have co-developed a "community job creation" scheme that encourages residents to become more active in their communities, gain confidence and develop the skills they need for getting back into employment.
The scheme enlists residents on community projects such as the build of a new community centre, community maintenence, retrofitting houses for energy efficiency, installing broadband - anything and everything that will create a significantly improved living environment.
Create An Intermediate Labour Market
This will create an intermediate labour market that links people with jobs in their own estate and create a catalyst for sustainable employment that is supported through skills development and family/community engagement. If their activity performs a valuable role in the community and can be sponsored, each resident will have the option to be paid the minimum wage and come off benefits.
4th November 2011
How can we design a better service for people living with dementia?
Sea have been hard at work this week preparing a business case and pitch for the Design Council and Department of Health as part of the “Living well with dementia” project launched earlier this year.
During this project we have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with some really great partners; Age UK, Volunteer Cornwall, NHS Cornwall & Isles of Scilly, Arts for Health and Cornwall Council, all are really passionate about improving dementia care and already play key roles in supporting those with dementia.
As we get nearer the deadline and our idea develops I think it would be a good time to reflect on some of the fascinating, surprising and revealing insights we have had during our journey.
One of the first things we learnt after picking up the brief was the enormity of the challenge that is dementia, my own granddad was diagnosed with vascular dementia but it wasn’t until this project that I really started understanding dementia.
Dementia is not a disease in it’s own right, it is a series of symptoms which can be bought about by a whole range of different diseases and other factors, Alzheimer’s being just one example (although by far the most common). In fact there are 97 different types of dementia, which makes identify and diagnosing the condition much harder especially at the early stages, and actually although GPs and other clinical practitioners can diagnose dementia through a series of cognitive tests there is no way to definitely diagnose the cause of dementia except at post mortem or, in very rare cases a brain biopsy.
The condition is wide spread, with 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 having a form of dementia and 1 in 3 people thought to be affected by dementia (family, friends etc.). These figures are only going to rise; in 2021 it is expected that there will be one million people in the UK with dementia and this figure is set to increase to 1.7 million people by 2051.
- We mapped the cost of dementia, watch our video. Click Here
So we have a complex condition, a huge portion of the population affected and naturally there is a big cost associated with the care. Estimates show that the cost of dementia to the UK is in the region of 20 billion pounds, around 26,000 pounds per person on average. However we know through Ed’s Grandfather's experience that this figure can easily exceed this with his dementia care to date costing in excess of 132,000 pounds!
Dementia however is not a condition that is best represented through facts and figures, it is an extremely emotional experience and can greatly affect the lives of every one involved. We know from person experience, from others and from those that provide the care that dementia is extremely challenging and there is a huge amount of stigma associated. What is needed is a range of care and support as well as understanding but does it exist and where can people go?
This is where the stigma becomes an issue, dementia due to its nature is a frightening condition but if diagnosed early enough and with the right support individuals can continue to live their lives perfectly well. Simply understanding that early diagnosis is beneficial could make a massive difference. In a survey of GPs less than 40% of doctors agreed with the statement; “families would rather be told about their relative’s dementia as early as possible”, if there is a perception that actually people would rather not know, mixed with a lack of confidence in the dementia care pathway (only 44% of doctors agreed that there are satisfactory specialised services for older people and/or their families in my area to meet the needs of those with dementia.) then surely the motivation for early diagnosis is reduced.
- Ed Rowe's Father and Grandfather who was diagnosed was dementia. It has been their journey and experience of dementia which has shaped our project.
However if there is a clear understanding of the benefits of early diagnosis matched with a whole range of support topped off with a proactive approach surely that is a recipe for success. Age UK as part of their changing lives approach have placed an individual in a Cornish GP surgery, their role purely based around dementia, supporting those who have been diagnosed and pro actively finding those who haven't, as a result the surgeries dementia register has increased by 33% in the short time spent in that position.
We are not the experts in dementia, but we have surrounded ourselves with them, we have personal experience and a desire to solve problems. Dementia is such a massive subject it is impossible to talk about all of the issues but hopefully this has given you an insight to just some of our findings.
17th October 2011
Could a community work exchange help people find employment & skills?
Working with people across Cornwall, we have co-designed a service that brings people who are at risk of redundancy, unemployed or looking for an employment change together to facilitate the sharing of knowledge, skills, services, advice and positivity. New Work Exchange is a "community hub" where individuals use the resource of the community to help meet their employment goals, increase their employment prospects and quality of life.
We envisage that "new work exchange" hubs could be online and/or within existing community facilities such as job centres, libraries or colleges.
This new service aims to address the main aspects that are missing from conventional skills and employment support channels.
Skills Exchange:
Individuals can exchange skills and services amongst a community using a credit system based on time, this can be used by individuals to gain skills in new areas of interest, as a way of updating skills relevant to employment or as a means of accessing free services.
Positive Mentoring:
Individuals can arrange to meet with a mentor; this can be anyone from a life coach to the local electrician, the two individuals arrange a meeting where the mentor can provide the individual with advice in an informal relaxed manner, this might be insights into an industry, advice from someone who has been in their position or just some positive thinking. A mentor shares their advice and in return receives time credits.
Advice Events:
These are events where a group or individuals in similar circumstances and interests can come together in an informal and friendly space and share advice and experiences. Events could be organized by shared interest or location groups.
Professional Connections:
One of the key innovations of the website is that each individual has their own profile which records their activity on the site and can link with business and support providers. This provides an additional level of support, matching up those in need of support with providers; and giving businessa direct link to a pool of potential candidates, providing an opportunity to headhunt talent
Information:
As well as these core-sharing functions the site will also provide a means for discussion and sharing of digital content, which would provide the chance for individuals to share their stories, tips and things that inspire them. A key feature of the service we wish to develop is a radio show which focuses on employment issues, a panel of experts answer questions submitted by listeners as part of a weekly show.
For more information about this project - please watch our video
http://vimeo.com/seacommunications/innovation-in-giving
10th October 2011
How can we present GB expenditure & benefit data to show opportunities for innovation?
Central to finding opportunities for innovation is understanding the data surrounding the challenge. We have been looking at figures for benefit claimants and the cost of unemployment in Great Britain from 2009 to 2010. You can see a visual breakdown of this information by clicking the image above.
4th October 2011
Could community radio help people to find skills and jobs?
An innovative new radio show aiming to help those affected by redundancy has been tested at a local radio station in Redruth as part of our bigger project to tackle the issues surrounding redundancy in Cornwall.
The show is just one of seven potential services conceived from New Work Cornwall, the Skills Funding Agency sponsored project we have been leading for the past 18 months.
Listen to the radio show
Duration: 25 minutes
The radio show that aims to give listeners access to support, employment information and advice was conceived from a series of workshops with people facing redundancy or recently made redundant.
At our co-design workshops we asked local people what their employment issues were and discussed potential ways to solve these problems. Many people felt they needed more information about how to set new goals and access employment opportunities in Cornwall. They suggested that a radio show would be a really accessible way of providing that information.
The pilot show, nicknamed "Headhunted", was broadcasted on Redruth radio in September featured Ed with presenter Nick and Lizzie Larbalestier - a professional NLP coach (Neuro-Linguistic Programing) who specializes in confidence building - to look at people's behaviour and how they perceive their life and employment situations.
In a workshop after the show, listeners said that the show offered something useful and was different to that of traditional support and information channels. They suggested that each radio show could offer something different for different areas and that they should be made available to download as a podcast.
Clare Pawley from Truro said, "Discussions about values and confidence building offers me information which I couldn't have got elsewhere."
The feedback from the pilot radio show has been incredibly positive and we envisage that regular podcasts such as these could be made available for the public to download via a website. We'd love to hear from organisations or budding entrepreneurs wishing to work with community radio stations across Cornwall and develop this service as a social enterprise.
17th March 2011
Imagine if Cornwall was a Worldwide Superbrand...
by Robert Woolf
Last weekend (11 - 13 March), 20 volunteers had less than 48 hours to design a new service for Cornwall based on the theme "superheroes". This was part of ‘Global Service Jam', an event which over 70 cities across 6 continents took part in, all with the same superhero theme. The team worked together using a service design methodology to define this theme into the following challenge - how can we take advantage of Cornwall's super powers in order to grow Cornwall's economy? They explored the issues in more depth using top down and bottom up techniques, and they then designed and prototyped a new service called ‘Oyster'.
This event was held at Pool Innovation Centre, and live streamed, to showcase the opportunity for Next Generation Broadband. We were watched for 60 hours, by 120 unique viewers, who used social media tools to contribute to our insights and ideas from a remote location. This remote expertise helped to shape the challenge and opinions of the volunteers.
The volunteers had no previous experience of service design. There were a mix of age groups - ranging from 17 to 70. There was a mix of experiences too - including architects, teachers, businessmen, designers, students, quality surveyors and so forth.
When you think about it, to have come up with any service at all in 48 hours is quite an achievement - and yet this team managed to not only understand the challenges facing Cornwall post-Convergence (European funding) but also to identify a unique and beneficial solution that does not exist in Cornwall.
Here's how they did it:
// Friday 6.30pm - 9pm // Brainstorm
After an initial icebreaker, we started our Jam with a very open plan brainstorm about the meaning and connotations of the word "superheroes", with a view to defining a challenge at the end of the evening. The open format helped people to start thinking about suitable challenges for Cornwall and as the facilitator, it was interesting to observe the ebb and flow of +/- energy as people with very different views shared their ideas and opinions.
The team was heading down the route of defining their challenge as one of bridging the gap between younger and older generations. And then, after supper, they turned on a sixpence, rejected the notion that we should try to make superheroes out of normal people and began to think of Cornwall as the superhero. I was impressed, and our challenge was set: "How can we take advantage of Cornwall's superhero qualities?"
// Saturday 9.30am - 1pm // Diagnose & Co-discover
If Friday night was all about talking, Saturday was all about doing. In the morning the group set about understanding the nature of the challenge in more depth 
and undertaking wider community research to examine the local issue. Armed with Flip cameras, chalkboards and anything else they could lay their hands on, five groups travelled to different parts of West Cornwall to explore the issues, needs and motivations of people and business; whilst another group stayed at the Innovation Centre to analyse the economic landscape of Cornwall in more detail.
Once again, I was impressed by the team's willingness to get out of their comfort zones and reach out to people. As I followed the tweets of other jams around the world, I noticed that many other cities had delved straight into the ideas whereas we were continuing to define the challenge. These fresh insights clearly helped the team to sharpen the challenge around economic development in Cornwall.
// Saturday 2pm - 2.45pm // Sharpening the brief
After lunch, our final challenge was set: "How can we take advantage of Cornwall's super powers in order to grow Cornwall's economy?" This was when the team learnt about the importance of a good question, it must be well defined and focused on a clear outcome. The impact of this is that the team moved as one from here on, successfully working in collaboration and harmony.
// Saturday 3pm - 5pm // Co-design
Possibly the most unfamiliar activity of the weekend for the group was our co-design exercises. By now, everyone was beginning to form ideas based on a linear train of thought. I mixed this up by taking three teams of five people through a very non-linear process for generating new ideas and innovations. Each team then had to develop their best idea, looking at the idea/service through a number of different perspectives and role play.
One of the ideas fell a part at this point and so we took the best of their idea and embedded it into a stronger idea. Indeed, bringing the three ideas together into one service - a service that would answer our challenge in a unique way - was a big challenge but by now the group were building on each others ideas and respecting everyone's voice as equally valid.
// Saturday 6pm - 9pm // Co-develop
A day of structure, definition and idea generation ended with the team getting extremely creative, developing the service prototype and rallying to each others cause. Working in small groups but coming back together as one team, the night ended with each team presenting their prototypes to the team. In a make or break moment, I pulled together the various strands together into one all inclusive sketch - the energy and relief was palpable. Everyone agreed with the solution, and everyone believed in the new service...even though it didn't have a name.
// Sunday 9.30am - 1pm // Document working prototype
In a crazy morning session, the team conceived and developed storyboards, scripts, logos, strategic and operational goals, and a brand called Oyster (helping Cornwall's pearls to shine brighter). The results can be seen here: http://planet.globalservicejam.org/content/oyster-cornwall-remove-grief-growth
// Sunday 1pm - 3pm // Lunch and Legacy
We then fell apart, exhausted (well I did).
So what did we learn?
For me, the Global Service Jam demonstrates that service innovation can be achieved by anyone, on any subject, across any sector...so long as you adopt the right process.
The team thoroughly enjoyed the process, they took ownership of this idea and to my surprise they are currently exploring the opportunities for developing the service further. Now that is something I hadn't envisaged. Here is their top-line pitch, not bad for just 20 hours of collaborative working:
"Imagine if Cornwall was a worldwide superbrand. Where Cornwall's economy grew as a result of a unique mandate. Where ‘collaborative consumption' removed the grief from growth, to deliver global advantages. A bank of everything, except money. A bank that invests the best of our resources, to help our pearls shine brighter. Welcome to Oyster - owned by people, powered by Cornwall, loved by the world."
23rd July 2010
Service design with cake
Project / Designing Communities
Having identified the viability of a community building in Pengegon, our next challenge was to co-design it. We wanted to empower the community and take ownership of the building, but we recognized that engagement of so-called ‘heard to reach' communities is challenging.
Enter the service design cake. Children and parents came after school, they created floor plans and moodboards and made a community centre model out of cake and sweets. This was inspiring and insightful, and demonstrates how it is possible to get any community motivated to participate.
Following this co-design activity, we used this information to develop some early stage building space plans for further discussion with the community. And here was the result:
"The residents already feel that they own the new community centre, even though it doesn't yet exist."
Claire Arymar, Neighbourhood Manager, Cornwall Council
