The Novact Institute for Nonviolence:
The Novact Institute for Nonviolence is a non-profit association dedicated to conflict transformation and peacebuilding. It has been working in the Euro-Mediterranean region for more than 20 years.
NOVACT is committed to driving change in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, creating transformative policies that promote peace, defend civic space, generate human security, ecological justice, gender justice, digital justice and prevent corporate abuses, so that communities themselves can make decisions that affect the future.
NOVACT is closely involved with social movements through a comprehensive protection strategy, understanding that for social transformation it is crucial to work on the collective strength of the people.
Our vision of Digital Organising
NOVACT seeks to empower representatives of associations, social movements and activists in the Euro-Mediterranean Region to use the potential of technology to continue working for social change. Likewise, we seek to generate critical awareness in digital environments, to guarantee human rights also in technologies and algorithms to promote that digital transformations and the automation of social processes protect the most vulnerable people.
NOVACT wants to create a platform for a set of self-managed courses on the following topics: (1) Introduction to Digital Organising: What is Digital Organising? What digital strategies are effective? (2) Digital Organising Intermediate: Advancing digital strategies for the organisation, including deeper analysis and advanced tactics. (3) How to Mobilise Effective Supporters: Strategies to effectively mobilise and engage supporters and sympathisers in a cause. (4) Advanced Campaign Management: Strategic and tactical campaign management, including advanced planning, execution and evaluation. (5) Digital Security: Practices and tools to ensure online security and protect activists’ sensitive information and privacy. (6) Ecofeminist Activism: Exploration of the intersection between environmental activism and feminism, and strategies for addressing these issues in an integrated way. (7) Planning Peacebuilding Interventions: Methods and approaches for planning effective interventions in peacebuilding and conflict resolution contexts. (8) Defending the Defenders. Self-protection during the struggle: Tools and techniques for the physical, emotional and digital self-protection of activists during the struggle for social causes. (9) Strategies of Mass Civil Resistance: Study of strategies and tactics of nonviolent civil resistance to generate significant social change. (10) Online Journalism: Fundamentals and practices of online journalism, including ethics, investigative techniques and digital content production (Project in collaboration with Reporters Without Borders).
The key to our approach is based on working along three lines of action at all times: (1) to ensure that rights holders accelerate their digital empowerment process and (2) to improve their understanding and capacities to influence, build movements and change policies in the digital environment; (3) to provide tools to influence the way in which public and private actors automate decisions through algorithms, reproducing biases and social violations.
To this end, NOVACT wants to create a training space on its website with all the courses it offers. As well as generating the content of the courses in a structured and attractive way for the participants.
Description of the expected service:
The Digital Organising Coordinator will oversee setting up this space, designing the courses, liaising with the trainers, making sure that the platform works properly and that the courses are accessible.
This person will also be NOVACT’s internal focal point, bringing together all the needs of NOVACT’s different projects and strategies and ensuring that the format and content of the courses are adapted.
Main characteristics of the service:
The courses must be fully online and must be fully self-managed: from enrolment, course monitoring, self-evaluation and receipt of a course completion certificate. They should also be a basis that can be complemented in hybrid format (face-to-face and online) when projects require it.
General presentation:
10 courses are planned:
- #Course 1: Introduction to Digital Organizing (English, Arabic).
- #Course 2: Grassroots Storytelling academy (English, Arabic)
- #Course 3: Intermediate Digital Organizing (English, Arabic)
- #Course 4: How to mobilize effective supporters (English, Arabic)
- #Course 5: Advanced Campaign Management (English, Arabic)
- #Course 6: Facing Massive Surveillance: Digital Security (English, Arabic)
- #Course 7: Planning Peacebuilding Interventions (English, Arabic)
- #Course 8: Massive Civil Resistance Strategies (English, Spanish)
- #Course 9: Online Journalism (English, Arabic)
- #Course10: Transformative Communication (Spanish, Catalan)
Each course must be available in 2 languages. Preferably English and Arabic, with the trainer speaking one of the two languages, but with all materials available in both languages. Some courses may be in Catalan and Spanish.
Expectations on the design of each course:
- The course should be presented on the NOVACT website, training section.
- It must contain a descriptive text, the teaching staff, the objectives of the course, and the course objectives.
- It must contain an attractive photograph presenting the course
- It must contain a link to the platform (Moodle or similar) where the course can be followed effectively. The web link should be to the chosen course in question, not to the generic platform.
- Each course must have a presentation in 3 languages: Catalan, Spanish and English.
- The NOVACT website (ww.novact.org) must contain this information for each of the courses offered.
- The website must also contain the presentation and the link to the courses that NOVACT offers in the School of Activism that we manage with Greenpeace.
Online platform for the courses
- To create the training space for the courses, we are committed to creating a platform (moodle type or similar) that includes the content of the courses.
- The platform must be prepared to offer courses in Catalan, Spanish, English and Arabic.
- The platform should require registration without the need for external confirmation. We want this step to be agile and not involve a waiting time. But we want to keep track of the people who start the course and know their language, email, origin and name.
- All NOVACT courses and materials should be available on this platform in an easy and intuitive way.
- The platform must be designed according to the NOVACT external communication manual to be provided by the NOVACT Communication Officer – Júlia Ponti julia.ponti@novact.org
- The platform must offer the possibility for people who pass the self-assessment questionnaire to automatically receive a diploma of having completed the course. The diploma must be in the language of the course and must contain the name of the person who has registered and completed the course.
Course contents:
10 courses are planned.
- Each course will be organised in 10 modules
- The first 9 modules will contain a video of maximum 10 minutes.
- The video may include the teacher and a power point presentation.
- The format and structure of the video should be equivalent and in the same style for each course.
- Each module must have selected compulsory readings related to each module. No more than 20 pages per module.
- Each module should contain an evaluation resource to test whether the module has been understood: games, quizzes, ad hoc activities.
- The tenth module should be a self-assessment quiz.
- If you pass the quiz correctly, you will automatically receive your personalised course diploma.
- Although this is the proposed methodology, NOVACT is open to listen and evaluate proposals for improvement or re-organisation of the courses according to its experience.
Main objectives of the expected service:
- To design together with the selected teaching staff the content of the Digital Organizing courses (follow-up, content, meeting deadlines…).
- Coordinate the approval of NOVACT in the various phases of course conceptualisation and teacher selection.
- Create a platform for autonomous digital courses linked to NOVACT’s website (they sign up and register).
- Each student has their own space where they can complete the course at their own pace.
- Each student finishes the course with a self-assessment that allows them to obtain a certificate.
- Each course is designed based on the content proposed by an expert trainer on the subject.
- Each course has the same interactive design and is adapted to the platform.
- It must be ensured that NOVACT can continue to use the platform autonomously by adding, modifying or deleting courses as required.
Products to be provided by the person or company performing the service:
- A NOVACT digital course platform (integrated to a known platform or creation of a Moodle-type platform).
- Generate content and materials for 10 autonomous interactive digital courses in English and Arabic.
- Ensure that these contents and materials are available on the platform.
- Create an operational manual (how to upload materials, how to modify the course, how to add or delete courses, etc.).
- Each course has the same interactive design and is adapted to the platform.
- It must be ensured that NOVACT can continue to use the platform autonomously by adding, modifying or deleting courses as required.
Details of tasks and timetable:
- Contact the chosen platform to design the course model (each course will follow the same model).
- Contact teachers for each course to adapt the content to the platform format (according to the chosen design).
- Follow up with teachers to upload the appropriate materials for the platform (videos, quizzes, texts, etc.).
- Ensure translation/subtitling of materials to have all content in English and Arabic – contacting and following up with translators.
- Upload the courses to the platform according to the agreed schedule and ensure that everything is ready to start the courses.
Phase and Suggested Calendar
Invitation to tender is made public – 5 April 2024
The period for the receipt of tenders is closed – 26 April 2024
The person/team/company in charge of implementation is selected and contracted – 30 April 2024
The proposal of the contracted person, the selected platform and a proposal for the teacher in charge of each course is agreed upon. The proposal of the person hired must include a detailed course proposal that will be replicated in the rest of the courses. This proposal must be approved beforehand. – 6 May 2024
The proposed teachers are contacted and videos are recorded, compulsory readings are selected and quizzes and tests are taken for each module. – 31 May 2024
All the information generated is uploaded to the platform, ensuring that the enrolment process and the process of obtaining the diploma is automated. It is essential that it is easily accessible to know the people who have completed each course. – 14 June 2024
The presentations of all the courses are uploaded to the NOVACT website, presentation section, with associated photo and in 3 languages. – 14 June 2024
A general test is carried out to ensure its functioning – 17 June 2024
If functioning properly, contract ends – 18 June 2024
Competences sought in the expert
- Experienced in the creation of digital trainings
- Experience in e-learning and training platforms
- Experience in digital course/content design
- Knowledge of digital and non-digital pedagogy
- Popular education perspective with participatory-based tools and methods
- Fluent English, knowledge of Arabic, Spanish and Catalan is a plus.
Budget:
Each tenderer is expected to submit a financial proposal covering all taxes necessary for the execution of this service. The maximum amount allowed for the overall budget of the service shall not exceed €8,500.
Proposal evaluation criteria:
- Essential criteria (Yes / No) Comprehensiveness and adequacy of the offer to what is requested in the TdR.
- Financial offer (20%) Financial proposal will be evaluated.
- Technical criteria (60%) Execution schedule, Methodological rigour and CVs of participants in the consultancy team, including previous accredited experience in similar work.
- Desirable criteria (20%) Originality and innovation of the proposal
Contractual terms and conditions
The person(s) with whom this work is carried out will enter a contractual relationship with NOVACT in which the price of the service and the delivery deadlines will be fixed. In relation to the latter, the delivery deadlines foreseen in the schedule of tasks included in these terms of reference will be considered. The final payment specifications will be reflected in the contract signed between both parties.
How to apply
Submission of proposals
Those interested in submitting a bid for this consultancy service should submit the following documentation:
- The financial proposal
- The CV of the person who will perform the service, indicating the previous work relevant to this offer. In the case of a team, the CV of the person who will lead the team and coordinate with NOVACT for its execution is required.
- A basic methodological proposal proposing:
- One or more digital platforms that could host the courses.
- A list of potential teaching staff for each course.
- A methodological proposal on how to approach the courses and ensure that they are motivating for the participants. NOVACT has made a proposal in this document, but we are open to rethink.
The deadline for sending offers is 26 April at 23h59. Bids Proposals should be sent to lucille@novact.org