Our Glossary

Ongoing glossary of the language we are using

At the first Steering Group meeting in Lisbon, we often found that we were using the same words, but these words meant different things to different people. This lead us to start a glossary of the shared language being used in the project. We can edit and update the glossary as we advance in the project.

Similarly, if you see something you don't understand, add that to the list. Scroll down to find more terms that may need explaining.

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Added value

Is this the additional benefit provided to a project by using a management tool or innovative practice?

Blogs

Blogs are easily updated websites, with a clear voice developed by one person or a small group of authors. Items are organised in date order.

Burning issues

Matters of concern to a community of practice, that may then form strong conversation threads.

Community of practice

Communities of practice are often described as "groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly (Etienne Wenger).

Complementarity

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Content

Anything that can be captured using techjnology tools or a content management system, including e-mail messages, documents, forum discussions, videos.

Content facilitator

Someone who encourages people to contribute material, and then organises it so that it is accessible to all.

Conversations

While some content will be formal documents, much of the value in communities of practice comes from the less formal discussions that people have through e-mail, blogs and forums. Particular conversation threads may be triggered by burning issues.

Content management system (CMS)

Software that includes a number of technology tools. These may include blogs, e-mail newsletters, static pages of content, and discussion forums.

Development partnerships

Are EQUAL funded partnerships working on pilot projects.
EQUAL DPs bring together interested actors, with relevant competence ( Public authorities, NGO's, social partners, etc.), who cooperate to develop an integrated approach to multi-dimendionalproblems. The partners pool their efforts and resources in porsuit of innovative solutions to jointly defined problems and common goals.

E-mail

E-mail may be used for one-to-one communication, or in a group, where one e-mail may be "star burst" out to other group members. They can then reply to the sender or to everyone. The messages may also be available on a website, operating in the same way as a forum. E-mail newsletters usually contain brief items with links to web pages, and can be sent to members of an em-mail group as a one-way cxommunication.

Forums

Spaces on a web site where messages may be posted so that others can comment or add their own ideas.

EQUAL
The European initative to promote new means of combating all forms of discrimination and inequalities in the labour market. More here.

Incorporators

Are these people who adopt new practices, products or tools under a mainstreaming strategy[[http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/equal/about/index_en.cfm|]]

IM (Instant Messaging)

Innovation

Is this the use of new practices that provide added value?
In EQUAL innovation covers new methods, tools or approaches as well as the improvement of existing methods. It can also be a new objective (eg. new areas of employment, new qualifications) or concern systems development( eg. institunional structures) in connection with the labour market.

Mainstreaming

Adopting policy recommendations or findings from EQUAL DPs into central or local government own programmes.

Management tools

These refer to the tools on innovation and mainstreaming. A management tool is a tangible output of EQUAL Management Authority of EQUAL National Support Structure that has an added value concerning the promotion of innovation and mainstreaming with a positive impact on the work of the Development Partnerships.

Periphery

Policy makers and people who promote projects.

Practices

Practices are the same as management tools. It is a tangible output of EQUAL Management Authority of EQUAL National Support Structure that has an added value concerning the promotion of innovation and mainstreaming with a positive impact on the work of the Development Partnerships.

Thematic networks

Thematic Networks offer a unique opportunity to participants to share practices and to help DP’s to improve and consolidate their products and to define their mainstreaming strategy and targets. Thematic Networks may also contribute to new policy recommendations.

Tools (2)

Management tools are explained above. Tools may also refer to technology tools used by the community of practice: for example, e-mail, e-mail groups, blogs, wikis (like this one).

"we"
The Steering Group and EQUAL managers.

"they"

ESF managers and people who conceived the tools.

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Reading through the main programme document I (David Wilcox) looked for words and phrases that I thought might need explanation because:

• They have an official meaning that may be different from common usage
• They may have different meanings in different languages
• They represent a key idea that it is useful to spell out

Here's my long list ... which is a bit daunting. I find the best way to tackle these glossaries is to take a few that are easy, and some that will trigger ideas for others. We have made a start above. Can you help by choosing one or two and writing about them?

Access
Actors
Adaptability
Adaptation
Added value
Adoption
Aggregators
Application sharing
Approaches
Appropriation
Archiving
Blogs
Burning issues
Calendar
Cases
Coaching
Co-design
Community
Community of practice
Complementarity
Concepts
Connections
Consolidation
Content management system
Context
Continuous improvement
Coordination
Co-organisers
Critical factors
Culture
Customisable
Demonstration
Designers
Development
Diffusion
Discrimination
Dissemination
Diversity
Domain
Drupal
Electronic whiteboards
Elements
Empowerment
EQUAL
Equality
ESF
Evaluation
Exchanges
Expandable
Experts
Facilitators
Feeds
Framework
Generalising
Globalisation
Horizontal mainstreaming
Identify
Impact
Incorporators and potential incorporators
Innovation
Innovative practices and products
Innovation mainstreaming
Innovation-mainstreaming cycle
Innovative solutions
Institutional structures
Integrating
Interaction
Interface
Investment
Involvement
Knowledge
Learning
Learning environment
Legitimisation
Lessons
Logframework
Mainstreaming
Management
Management level
Management practices
Mechanisms
Members (of a community)
Methods
Micro level
Modular
Monitoring
Needs
Objectives
Online community
Online community space
Operational programme
Operationalisation
Operators
Organisational routines
Outcomes
Participants
Participation
Partnership
Perspectives
Pinging
Platform
Policies
Polls
Peers
Pluggable
Practice
Practices
Practitioners
Principles
Priorities
Priority domains
Products
Product validation
Programme
Programme managers
Project
Project promoter
Quality criteria
Relationships
Researchers
Resources
Results
RSS
Self-assessment
Self-evaluation
Sharing
Shared context
Social expectations
Social inclusion
Social recognition
Space
Stakeholders
Steering group
Stories
Strategies
Structural changes
Structural environment
Tagging
Tangible products
Target group
Teams
Techniques
Technical support (for tools 1 and 2)
Technology
Technology toolbox
Tools (1)
Tools (2)
Toolkit
Trackbacks
Transfer
Transnational cooperation
Trust
user-oriented pedagogical resource
Users
User communities
Validation
Valorisation
Value
Vertical mainstreaming
Videoconferencing
VOIP
Webcasting
Web publishing
Wiki
Workflow