Rural and Coastal
It is often assumed that deprivation is concentrated in urban areas, but rural poverty and isolation are common. Coastal towns often attract transient or elderly populations and suffer high levels of unemployment, particularly in the winter months. A number of Transformation Fund projects focused on rural and coastal areas.
- Several projects focused on breaking down the "digital divide" by making ICT and digital media learning opportunities more accessible in rural and coastal areas. Some concentrated on older learners - Dip into Digital, The Seaside Roadshow. Others targeted young adults - The Media Bus.
- New learning venues were opened up in rural areas and virtual learning environments and Skype were used to make learning accessible to isolated communities - Learning Leicestershire, Online to Scilly - Cornwall Adult Education Service
- Projects connected communities in rural and coastal areas with cultural facilities such as museums and art galleries - Cornwall Look Group Network - Tate St Ives
- Learning opportunities were opened up for unemployed people, enabling them to gain new skills - CoastNet
- Outdoor learning opportunities were well used in rural areas to engage excluded groups - Wellies, Peak Wise People, Nature at Sundown
Rural and coastal projects often faced similar issues and adopted similar approaches to overcoming them:
- Distances - Many rural and coastal projects were working over large geographical areas, and the distances presented problems. Often they needed to work in partnership with many different local organisations and community groups to engage effectively across a wide area. Setting up such partnerships can be time-consuming and regular communication is needed to keep them alive.
- Technology - Projects used technology in many inventive ways to enable people to engage in distance learning. However, one of the reasons for the "digital divide" between urban and rural communities is the lack of a fully developed digital infrastructure in remote rural areas. This caused problems, particularly where there wasn't enough bandwidth to use video and audio effectively. It was often preferable to link into existing websites, rather than trying to set up new platforms or portals. For example, Learning Leicestershire linked to the existing Leicestershire Villages website which is well known and widely used in the area.
- Intermediaries - Projects made good use of "learning champions" or "buddies" to reach out into rural communities or support local learning groups. Good learning champions can add enormous value but they need training and support if they are to fulfil this role effectively, and resources and staff time needs to be allocated to this.
- Nature - The natural environment can be an exciting learning resource in rural and coastal areas, but many individuals and groups do not engage with it for a variety of reasons. Informal learning groups can provide support to overcome barriers to access, provide safe and supportive opportunities to try out new experiences, and introduce people to new knowledge and skills.
The key to successful informal adult and community learning projects in rural and coastal areas is effective networks and communication.
- Learning projects in rural areas need to make effective use of existing networks, so time must be spent finding out what expertise, knowledge and skills partners can bring, in order to use that effectively.
- Once partners are on board regular communication is needed or people and organisations in isolated areas will soon cease to feel part of the project.
- Creative thinking is needed to overcome access problems caused by long distances, and transport costs may need to be factored in.
- Technology for distance learning needs to be tried and tested to make sure that it will work effectively and do the job required.
- Intermediaries, such as learning champions and buddies, have a vital role to play. They offer valuable support where technology is being used remotely, to help overcome "glitches" which may disrupt the learning process. They are also important in initiating and maintaining self-organised learning groups in small communities.
- Training is crucial to success where there are many people involved in delivering learning. Where intermediaries are working in dispersed locations they need initial training and ongoing support to fulfil their roles effectively. Time also needs to be allowed for CRB checking where intermediaries are working with vulnerable groups.
Deprivation in rural and coastal areas is often hidden, existing as small pockets in areas which are fairly prosperous overall. However there are communities in remote parts, such as the far west of Cornwall, among the 20% most deprived areas of the UK. Informal adult and community learning can reach into these communities in a way that larger institutions may find difficult, providing opportunities to gain new knowledge and skills which can offer a route out of poverty and isolation
Web Links
England's Seaside Towns
A 'benchmarking' study - Regeneration and economic growth - Communities and Local Government
New programme to get older people online | NIACE
Get Digital is working with people in sheltered housing schemes, including over 80 schemes in rural areas, to improve internet access.
