Project: Your Local Representative, Strengthening Citizen Participation in Ukraine
Evaluation Date: October 2013
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The project was relevant in terms of its identification of the democratic problem. All people interviewed as part of the evaluation viewed the consolidation of power by one individual or party as the main issue facing the communities. Projects of this nature shine a light on governance and the need to pay attention to what elected officials are doing. The project provided a public space that highlighted the work of deputies. This was effective for journalists and some of the minority party deputies. For the journalists, the websites developed by the project provided a one-stop shop for information about local representatives’ work, while the minority deputies found the websites could be used as a channel to make their work public.

Theme: Community activism
Project: Empowering Vulnerable People through Internet: E-Learning Initiative for Young Migrant Workers in China
Evaluation Date: April 2015
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The project was built around the contribution that social media and E-Learning, through the project web-site, might make to connecting workers to each other and a wider world of knowledge, ideas and practical possibilities, to help them to change their lives for the better. Unfortunately, it was found that young workers were not familiar with computers, had limited access to them, and little time or inclination to work on E-Learning courses. Inexpensive smart phones are favoured by young migrant workers as their tool for communication. However, the phones are used for social purposes and entertainment and have limited capacity for downloading large files. This limited to a considerable degree the relevance of project strategy in this sphere.

Theme: Tools for knowledge
Project: Empowering people through citizens’ journalism in Albania
Evaluation Date: October 2011
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Although risks were accurately identified, there was no alternative strategy developed as a fall back, specifically regarding the continued participation of the University of Tirana as an implementing partner and the ability to obtain a broadcast license for a campus station. As these were the basis for the project, the implementation plan needed to be reworked and new partners found well after the project had started. But the campus radio at Elbasan was not used as the hub for the project and project efforts were then split between Tirana and Elbasan and the YouRadio web portal equipment placed in the IRIOM office.

Theme: Media