Paid work to help REconomy spread in the UK

Published on April 23, 2014 in Blog, Project news
Having been recently awarded 3 years of funding, the REconomy Project is looking for help to inspire and support UK Transition groups who want to get involved in REconomy-type activity. The REconomy Project is part of the Transition Network (TN). This post outlines the contract for REconomy Comms & Support that’s on offer.

 

Applications are now closed for this role.

This work package aims to: raise the profile of REconomy in the UK, primarily among the Transition Initiatives (TIs) so they know what can help them get started; and do some targeted communications to non-Transition audiences and outlets, such that this wider awareness helps the grass roots activity take hold. It also includes a research activity to explore how TIs resource themselves. This is being offered as a one year contract for the supply of services as stated here.

1. Responsibilities

Work package delivery will involve working primarily with the REconomy project manager (PM) Fiona Ward, but also with Rob Hopkins (TN comms) and members of the TN staff team to deliver the integrated aspects. The scope of this work is the UK, though where outputs are useful more widely they will be shared internationally (this sharing is not in the scope of this work).

Communications

  • Give input to development of a REconomy communication strategy. Ultimately this will integrate directly with the new TN communication strategy. The PM will be responsible for the REconomy comms strategy overall and its integration with the TN comms strategy.
  • Deliver the REconomy comms strategy – we assume this will include a mix of creating new material and sourcing new content from others, for example, blog posts, guides, event promotion, content for other outlets including mainstream articles or press releases, social media content, getting & sharing stories from the TIs and other places etc.
  • Delivering the strategy will likely include responsibility for building relationships with a small number of targeted organisations or individuals.

Events & support

  • Help promote and stage 2 regional events in partnership with local TIs and possibly linked to the TN Regional Roadshows.
  • Develop an ‘event-in-a box’ toolkit to help TIs stage their own local REconomy events that may focus on different audiences e.g. Local Entrepreneur Forums, councils etc.
  • Attend a small number of TI’s local events, and/or offer phone support to others at the design stage.
  • Give credible and engaging presentations about REconomy to a variety of audiences.
  • Handle REconomy-related inquiries from the UK i.e. phone calls, emails etc. and direct people to the right resources. This will require working with the rest of the REconomy team as they test and develop new support resources, and also being aware of the wider TN offer.

 Research

  • Research how TIs and similar groups currently resource themselves, not just in the UK. Define a research process and scope with the PM, then talk to TIs and other groups, do desk based research etc., and pull together a summary with recommendations that can be used by TIs everywhere. This work will feed into wider TN ‘resourcing the core of a TI’ work, once that funding is secured.

2. Required skills & attributes 

E = essential, D = desirable

  • E: An interest in Transition, and REconomy aspects in particular.
  • D: Participation in local Transition activity or similar, or REconomy-type activity.
  • D: Experience of defining communication strategies, and ideas for approaches that can be used to do this.
  • E: Knowledge and experience of current methods that can be used to successfully engage our target audience including social media.
  • E: Evidence of ability to communicate directly (e.g. presenting) and indirectly (e.g. written/online) with our target audience in a succinct, clear and compelling way.
  • E: Experience of organising events.
  • E: Experience of working with partner organisations to jointly define and deliver shared communication.
  • E: Experience of informal research i.e. following a sensible process to produce a useful outcome.
  • E: Personal resilience and capacity to fulfil the requirements of the work on time and within budget.

3. Terms

This work package contract is being offered out to open tender. The work will run for 12 months and will begin as soon as possible but not later than July, and will be UK-based.

The proposed budget must not exceed £18,000 including VAT. We expect this work to require around 2-3 days per week of effort on average sustained throughout the 12 months. This budget is to cover resource time.

In addition, there is a project costs budget of £7,000 that will contribute to costs of staging the 2 regional events (venue, local promotion etc. – some TIs may also be able to contribute towards event costs and/or ticket sales may help cover actual total cost); travel & expenses related to research and attending some TIs’ own local events; and design and printing costs for some of the communication materials and other outputs. The proposed use of the budget will be agreed with the PM.

The supplier of this contract will report to the REconomy project manager Fiona Ward. We will pay based on milestones being met – these milestones will be agreed at the start of the work. The supplier will be expected to attend a small number of meetings with the TN staff team, usually in Totnes; and will be welcome to attend other optional team meetings and strategy days but at their own cost.

We are very happy to discuss any of these terms providing the total budget is not exceeded and the work is delivered as defined.

Note that we have funding for this work for 3 years – the work for years 2 & 3 may be offered on a different basis and this supplier will be welcome to apply at that time.

4. To apply

If you feel excited by this role, and you think you have the expertise we are looking for, please send:

  • a CV;
  • a cover letter outlining how you meet the requirements in sections 1 & 2 above; and
  • your initial (brief) thoughts on how you might go about this work and what budget you would require

…to fionaward@transitionnetwork.org by 5pm on Friday 25th April.

We will invite a small number of candidates for interview, probably in London or Totnes. Meanwhile if you have any questions please contact Fiona.

5. Background info

 

We are extremely grateful to Friends Provident Foundation and the Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation who have funded this project activity.

Author: Fiona Ward. Image credit: Repowering London.

 

3 Reader Comments

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  1. Daniel Key says:

    Sounds exciting!

    • Fiona Ward says:

      Hi Daniel,
      We think so too! Just to note we managed to get this full spec here in time after all to hit the newsletter – so you might want to take another look…
      Cheers Fiona

  2. Chris Dyer says:

    Malvern Hills Food Alliance

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