Twilight Group’s Protocol International Guidelines

International Network Protocols (I.P Copyright Twilight 2017 © )

International Network Protocols are to assist in the development of Community Development, Integration, Inter-culture leading to the more opportunities for all our Citizens regardless of background, Nationalities, creed, or ability. A society where Men Women, Boys and Girls are welcome in all their Diversity

International Network protocols are a “bottom-up approach” to current agreements and the developing of new agreements between Local Authorities & Community Groups, Sporting organisations Youth Groups etc, to maximise participation and success and social inclusion

Twilight Community Group’s International Network protocols are part of the Groups Twilight Groups Protocols. On review and completion by the partners a Charter of Friendship Agreement will be signed to commit to the agreed protocols. This Introduced locally with the proposed development to be regional and through our European Network to be implemented Internationally over a period of time and monitoring its success locally.
To develop a Protocol Programme there is a number of important “Sectors of Interest” that have to be put in place including the following.
Ø Community Interests.
Ø Exchange Programmes
Ø Commerce
Ø Arts & Cultural
Ø Sport
Ø Citizens Involvement Programmes
Ø Youth Groups
Ø General Advice Agencies (Locally and Nationally)
Ø Funding Streams (Locally , Nationally And European )

Community Interests.
For to have vibrant Network Protocol Agreements the communities of all parties of the Network have to engaged in the process. Therefore, it is important to research what the community groups expect from our International Network Protocols programmes. We should have a set of Criteria to make this section of the Protocol to have the interests and Community requirements to the fore. Once we engage with the community, we then appoint a member of the Twilight community Group’s Board or Associate Consultant to be a Liaison officer with the community group in question. Together with the Community group the Liaison Officer / Associate Consultant will work with the community group to promote ownership of the project, cross migrant community development and to assist Migrant Community Members to become community group Leaders to promote the benefits of integration, social inclusion we promote through our International Network Protocols to a template that we can measure the success of our projects.

Exchange Programmes.
Exchange programmes are an especially important sector of any International Network programmes.
Intercultural Exchange programmes are an excellent way to increase integration and educate each Party of their Network partners cultures. We therefore can have multicultural activities. Current Agreements both past, present, and prospective agreements require research and development. We must identify similar programmes where exchange programmes can benefit all sectors of our communities and the Parties of the Integration Network.

Examples could include,

Schools, Sports, Arts, Educational, Language, etc. Each Community has projects that can be researched and remodelled to be part of an Integration Project in each of the parties of the Integration network of communities including Migrant, Immigrant & Local communities. As already highlighted, this will give our society a more understanding of our new “Neighbours” to give our country a more respectful understanding and a social inclusive society.
As part of the Twilight Community Group’s International Network Protocol module we promote e twinning between our Community based Schools. This helps to create opportunities to study a pan European cultural activities and backgrounds.

What the benefits of eTwinning for our schools?
Through eTwinning the teaching and non-teaching staff (management, counsellors, librarians, etc.) can connect with other schools to set up online activities involving pupils and staff. The platform is also an excellent way to communicate with other schools and share ideas.
The Twilight Community Group as part of the Twinning protocol Module actively encourage and secure such agreements between their partners.

Commerce.
We have to explore the full benefits of the International Network Protocol programmes where we can develop a mutual benefit and interests in local businesses in the network regions. This can be easily put in place by connecting the Chambers of Commerce or similar bodies to develop strong links and programme of activities to be put in place at this stage.
In the area of entrepreneurship all nationalities we must encourage and provide educational services to fully support new business plans that will give Business Integration programmes support by the financial institutions of the State.
Our financial institutions need to expand and (or) develop an “Integration/Intercultural Business support plan” and encourage migrant & immigrant business owners and entrepreneurs to join Business groups and the Chamber of Commerce’s Locally and Nationwide.

Education and Training
The Twilight Community Group International Network protocols will support the designing and delivering of training courses for migrants/Local Communities on how to start their own independent activity, either in the business or in the social field. Training courses should offer a good balance between a theoretical approach based on delivering information and knowledge, and a practical approach based on direct experience.
Training courses will typically address the following topics, among others:
− Idea generation;
− Entrepreneurial thinking and behaviour;
− Financial literacy;
− Business planning;
− Market research;
− Management skills;
− Legal and administrative aspects of setting up a company;
− How to access funding;
− How to hire employees in accordance with the law and with labour market rules.
Training actions will also aim to:
− Improve knowledge of the host market and of the local business environment;
− Help migrants to assess the feasibility of their business project;
− Guide migrants in implementing their own ideas and help them concretely to start their enterprise;
− Offer migrants practical information and advice on legal and procedural aspects, both related to their status in the host country and to local rules to start and manage a business.

Training actions may also include knowledge and advice on how to extend the activities of the newly created business to the country of origin of the migrant, in view of a possible future re shoring of activities
– Once external conditions will make it feasible
– In order to benefit local development.
Therefore collaboration and mutual exchange with other organisations need to be embedded into all proposed activities concerning the identification of potential migrant entrepreneurs, the design and
delivery of training and the development of mentoring schemes.

Arts and Cultural
The Arts and the Cultures of the parties of the Network should also be to the fore in our Integration Network Agreement Protocols. This in an area where it can be of educational benefits with Student and performance exchanges as part of the planned activities. Networking the different Cultural backgrounds can introduce all cultures different identities to the Network and in most cases identify the similarities rather than the differences that exists. We promote ownership of the project to the
Communities through Leadership development. We also promote the Intercultural approach to all Art & cultural events. An Intercultural Arts & Cultural Festival / Day is one of the Twilight community groups Objectives where all the Migrant, Immigrant & Irish/ Local communities come together to display their Arts & Cultural identities to the Network. Such Activities will give us greater Integration & a Socially Inclusive Society Culture is a positive element that can facilitate social inclusion by breaking isolation, allowing for self-expression, supporting the sharing of emotions, and bringing a ‘soul’ to measures tackling material deprivation. As evidence shows, cultural participation may have a major impact on psychological wellbeing.
It is also observed that initiatives tackling material deprivation may be jeopardised when the intended beneficiaries live in a situation of exclusion from the majority society’s culture – which
may critically undermine the motivation to change – and when prejudice and stereotypes affect social and cultural identities and the desire to belong. Such cultural exclusion may only be reversed by conscious and proactive efforts toward mentality change, on the part of both the majority and the minority populations. Community mentalities will
only change if people can deepen their knowledge of the other and to improve mutual understanding through positive encounters. The arts and culture provide the ideal platform to make this happen.
An empirical study in Germany, for instance, indicated that the role of art and culture in the process of migrant integration has, so far, often been underestimated. As with education, cultural participation is clearly linked to a positive perception of the migration experience and current life situation.

Sport
Social inclusion is among the Twilight Community Groups priorities for the role of sport in society .The values of sport such as the equality of opportunity and fair play are equally European values.
By bringing people together, building communities and fighting attitudes of xenophobia and racism, sport has the potential to make an important contribution to the integration of migrants in the EU.
Sport is a universal language and therefore Sporting Connections to be put in place with likeminded clubs to encourage connect and bi annual visits that in turn will add to the Tourism and Commerce benefits of an agreement.
By Having Integration Sports programme we will have the target of an inclusive society. An example of this approach is shown to be very successful as is evident in the Twilight Community Groups Integration World Cup which is a programme developed by the Community group and by the FAI ‘s input now has a learning aspect which provides a language education service through the medium of Soccer. The Twilight Community Group Also Incorporate such an event into the Polska
Eire Annual festival where we are the main organisers of the local festival. This and the FAI programme provides the opportunity to expand this programme nationwide and therefore assist in
the integration through sport of the Twilight Community Groups Integration network protocols.
That is only one of many organisations that also promote integration through sport , but the Twilight Community Group promote an educational module of all sporting integration programmes
Sport not only keeps you healthy and raises your IQ – it can also be a really good way to integrate foreigners into society. New research shows that sports clubs’ emphasis on development and learning rather than pure competition is vital for integration. A clearly positive factor for integration is the sports club’s motivational climate, where it’s a matter of learning and developing and perhaps working together creatively to resolve challenges. Another decisive factor for integration is the
trainer’s willingness to relinquish a little authority and let the players or athletes have influence on the training and daily life in the club. This an Important Part of the Twilight Community Group’s ethos as we encourage the communities to take ownership of their projects as we actively promote new community Leaders to drive the integration network protocols into the future.

Citizens Involvement
For a Network Agreement to be a success the citizens of both parties must see the benefits in their interests (which we would have explored and researched in step one). They must be involved and recognised and rewarded for the efforts in developing the sectors of the Networking that they have actively developed by providing Community leader development programmes and the intercultural cross community projects. As a community group our Integration Network Protocols promote that members of the Networks community Groups work on projects in conjunction in a cross community
programme of project development. This in turn promotes integration and avoids the perception that each migrant, immigrant and local communities only work on their “Own” community Activities
that are not of a cross / integration activity or Project.
the aims of the Integration Network Protocol project are to:
•improve citizen’s understanding of the new power structure local Government as well as the opportunities to interact and impact its decision making process;
•Promote active participation in local elections including the organising of interested citizens who may wish to be a candidate in Local / National elections
•help create a sustainable platform for increased pan-European citizen participation;
•offer concrete solutions to specific citizen problems and have them debated with the European ,National, local policy makers;
•create a long lasting network for policy debate and involve citizens across borders, building on their cultural diversity and promoting the development of a common European public space.

Youth Groups
Youth Groups such as community groups developed in the City and County must be listened to and their interests included in the Network Protocol. The youth of today are the citizens of tomorrow who will be responsible to continue the Progress and continuity of any Agreement as they will progress in to the other above mentioned sectors and it is important not to lose the knowledge and interest they have shown during the Youth Groups they had engaged with in this sector of interest.
Network Protocols Actively promote ownership of projects and to help grow and develop Community Leaders.
When it came to the experience of migration, it seemed to depend very much on individual circumstances. Many of the immigrant youths were given extraordinarily little information around their migration before they left their country of origin. They generally had mixed feelings of excitement about the new country and sadness about leaving home, but most were now happy about the move. children generally integrated into Irish society more easily than the Adults did. Parents had a
number of discussions around the issue of conflicts between them and their children.
In many cases, parents and children arrive in the country at different times and this time of separation can lead to increased conflict during reunification. Parents concerns around their children in Ireland included a lack of respect, along with attitude, disciplinary and behavioural
problems. They also felt that their children in Ireland had too many rights but not enough obligations, while the parents’ own rights and obligations seemed unclear. Many of the parents had experienced racism in their neighbourhoods, the workplace in schools and in some cases from their own families but had quite different experiences of discrimination against their children, with some experiencing it and others not. Unemployment was seen to be a big problem amongst the immigrant parents, and this can affect their children, particularly the way children perceive their parents as role models in terms of their own educational goal.
These highlight the areas of which the Twilight Community Group’s Integration Network Protocol module can give a template of integration rather than the studies that listed the problems rather than
the solutions to the above paragraph.

General Advice Agencies (Locally, Nationally)
We must engage fully with the organisations that are in place both locally and nationally. Local organisations such as Tourism, Industry and Employment, Connect Ireland, IDA etc may have the same contacts that are required by the community groups who require the guidance and expert advice to integrate fully into society. By discussing plans with these organisations, a two or even a three-prong approach can be used to expand and make the Integration Network Protocol part of the
future development of a socially inclusive society.

Funding Streams
Funding is a vital component of a successful Integration Network Protocol Agreement.
There is a number of funding streams available through the European Citizens for Europe Programmes and we have to set aside funding locally to aid the development of the integration programme going forward. The European funding programme is a complex application and time and energy and resources have to set aside on an ongoing basis to get the maximum return from this funding stream and their twice annual calls which have specific areas identified by the European agency for each year.
We must also engage with The Wheel, Leargas, Community Foundation Of Ireland and all organisation that assist Irish interests in Applying for funding which includes integration and events that may be tied in with a common thyme for such visits.

Current Agreement
Every Local Authority have current Twinning Agreements which are separate to this programme and new agreements under construction. The members of a network can discuss this separately if they wish to as TCG do not have the authority to develop such Municipal District Twinning Agreements.

Conclusion
A vital component of an Integration Networking Protocol is the review of the current Agreements we have in place. We cannot stress the importance of having a strong International Network Protocol Programmes. We must now evaluate our current agreements and use the criteria that we have in place for “New” Agreements going forward into the future. It is vital that we get value for the outlay of public money and keep our Citizens informed of our intentions. Having used our criteria and our new cost benefit analysis and success scoring system we will be able to make an inform decision on what agreements we should be spending our allocation of funding wisely. We must take extreme to ensure we get the best value for our funding allocation and always remember we are only the custodians of the European Finance.

At the completion of the review, all parties sign a TCG Charter of Friendship Agreement agreeing that these are our Protocols for future agreements within our network, other Municipal Districts and NGO who are authorised to represent their District may discuss other agreements and arrangements separately.

Yours Sincerely

Murty Brennan,
Twilight Community Group,

15A Hebron House
Kilkenny,
0863255840
[email protected]