Useful informations

• To promote the offer in the neighborhood and to invite participants it is very important to have the target audience of the promotional campaign well in mind. In the case of activities targeting migrants, it is necessary to identify their gathering places. Contact, for example, the pastor of the church they attend or the imam of the mosque presenting the initiative and asking them to distribute the flyers or wait for the worshippers at the end of their religious ceremonies and deliver the flyers possibly explaining what it is about.

A highly important venue for gathering are ethnic stores: asking the managers of ethnic stores to be allowed to post the flyers you have prepared for the activity is a very effective method of promotion.

Try to use as much as possible the available communication channels you will find in your given neighborhood:

o   public notices in places like cultural centers, libraries, but also in supermarkets, local stores, kiosks, ….

o   local radio stations

o   social media of people, initiatives, associations or local organisations known in the neighborhood

o   neighborhood oriented online networks (like nebenan.de in Germany, meinbezirk.at in Austria or nextdoor.com in some other European countries)

o   local adult education centers (like Volkshochschule in Austria and Germany)

• You have a good chance to make your offer attractive for different kinds of participants if you work with a diverse team (of professionals and volunteers), having good access to different socio-cultural groups in your neighborhood.

Highlight how potential barriers to participation will be removed.

Examples:

o   language barriers: trainers can also speak English (or French, Spanish, Arabic etc).

o   gender barriers: trainers are women (for some cultures, the presence of male trainers teaching women is a serious barrier).

o   child care: babysitting service during workshop hours, or painting activities will also be organized for children during the workshops.. 

• To make it attractive to activate different type of adults (different ages, etc) / involve different kind of participants: During the workshop, some basic techniques for making a mural painting are learned by first conducting a series of exercises on another medium such as a sheet of paper.

So the techniques learned can be used as desired by each participant on other media as well.

Directions are also given for alternative materials and equipment that are readily available to everyone, so that an artwork can also be made from home and independently.

Each person can thus use the techniques he or she learns in his or her own way: the workshop is thus suitable for target groups of all ages and types.

• To ensure access for disadvantaged people (suggestions): The workshop takes place in a space open to the public and on the ground floor already adapted for use by people with physical disabilities. By using user-friendly materials and equipment, the activities can be easily carried out even by people with disabilities. 

• To integrate/anchor your offer in community learning: make it part of other community-oriented events like festivals, shows. Cooperate with other community activities like dancing/singing groups, political initiatives, grassroots health organizations, social initiatives such as soup kitchens or second hand clothing stores. The workshop can be conducted at regular intervals in different outdoor public venues (e.g., parks and public gardens by setting up tables to prepare materials and using fence walls to make murals) or indoors (library rooms, homes for the elderly, kindergartens to beautify and brighten up the walls) so that the community and all users of nearby public spaces can enjoy it and perhaps become curious and want to participate in future sessions.