Musinc: Developing a transnational quality framework and resource bank to use music within non-formal pedagogy to achieve social and musical inclusion to describe the job role ‘community musician’ Erasmus Project

Project Title

Musinc: Developing a transnational quality framework and resource bank to use music within non-formal pedagogy to achieve social and musical inclusion to describe the job role ‘community musician’

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Access for disadvantaged; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

Context:
The overall aim of the Musinc project was to develop a shared European understanding and definition of the role community musician, leading to the co-creation of resources and a toolkit to aid professional development and influence best practice. The project invoked a particular lens examining the achievements and potential of traditional music as a means to build individual and community identity, and therefore social inclusion.
The Musinc team comprised participating organisations from five European countries (Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Romania, and UK), all of whom hosted an international visit. All the partners had worked with at least one other partner in previous EU funded projects.

Objectives:
To create resources for developing, improving and extending community musicians’ competencies
Through the project activities and on-line resources (Intellectual outputs) to achieve the following outcomes:
Develop a shared understanding of ‘community musician’
Increase employability of community musicians
Improve understanding of how traditional music is a social process
Increase social inclusion for project participants
Improve European cooperation

Partners:
Wren Music (UK) is a Devon based arts organisation, and it is all about music and people. Wren’s programme holds these ideas in balance from promotions of concerts and events featuring professional artists, an open access non-formal education programme of participatory musical ensembles for all ages, and targeted interventions with excluded groups. Wren Music is MusInc co-ordinator. www.wrenmusic.co.uk
Euridea (Italy) is an educational institute with a penchant for music. It provides courses for performers, other professionals in the music sector and adult amateurs. www.euridea.com
Asociatia BRAT ONEST (Romania) was constituted in Feb 2010 in Onesti where, by volunteering and donations, using a previous experience in Adult Education we try to help disfavoured +50 and 18-30 years people to overcome the risk of social exclusion. https://bratonest.webs.com/
“Skaņumāja” (Latvia) was established in year 2006, with an aim to promote processes that relate to folk music – supporting folk music groups and individual musicians, as well as organising different events, concerts and festivals; preparing educational events – organising courses and camps; international cooperation. http://muzikanti.lv/lv/
Szubjektív Értékek Alapítvány: (Hungary) Founded in 2002. Our main goal is to provide opportunities for young people to realize their creative ideas, and to implement projects emphasizing cultural diversity with them. http://www.szubjektiv.org/

Main Activities:
Transnational meetings blended with staff training event. Each organisation was invited to bring two community musicians and two project managers along to each visit.
The host organisation had prepared a local ‘Sample Project’ for the visitors to observe. Each organisation took a different theme: working with older people in residential settings (Italy); community choirs/ensembles (Romania); folklore dance events (Latvia); working with socially excluded groups (Hungary); working with mixed abilities (UK).
Musicians and project managers were able to observe the projects in action, which was followed by a structured group reflection based on the session they had observed. This discussion often led participants to reference the theory behind their own practice, and develop their understanding of what is possible in each setting. Through this, the group repeatedly returned to consider three core questions:
What is a community musician and what skills do they need?
What is social inclusion?
What role does ‘traditional folk music’ have to play in this process?

Results/impact:
From this process, musicians took away repertoire, new practice and project ideas, while the project managers took away extensive notes in order to draft, edit, hone and re-draft the intellectual outputs. This repeated process instilled the routine of reflection in the practice of the project team, and helped them to bond across their country groups.
In the final international visit, the community musicians worked in small groups (with each group member being from a different country) to prepare a short music-making session which they delivered using the other project members as the participants. This allowed observation of each other’s project/session planning technique, as well as session delivery.
The partnership has shared the ways in which music can be of use when working towards the outcome of social inclusion. There has been movement in understanding of social inclusion, and what conditions are required to maximise the social impact of their community music projects.

Longer Term:
From the plans that are already being made, it seems relationships and sharing of learning will continue to flourish in the short, medium and long term.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 182395 Eur

Project Coordinator

Wren Music & Country: UK

Project Partners

• euridea
• SZUBJEKTIV ERTEKEKEK ALAPITVANY
• Skanumaja (House of Sounds)
• Asociatia BRAT ONEST