Organisational Handbook

Organisational Handbook ICC

The following sections intend to give a summary of partners involved, tasks and responsibilities in organising ICC. Although the handbook tries to split up the responsibilities into well defined areas, the communication and co-operation between the partners is most important. This "handbook" expresses that ICC is a project in process and depends on the willingness of partners to co-operate and to take over certain responsibilities.

The handbook is divided into the following main chapters:

International Association ICC
General Rules for Participation
Tasks & Schedule
Information Folder
Application Form
Selection of Participants
Workshop List and Selection of Workshops
Technical Aspects and Rooms Needed
Accomodation & Leisure Time
Financial Framework

1. International Association ICC

The International Association ICC consists of two main bodies:

The Board
The International Partners

ICC Board

A board, elected in a general assembly, acts as driving force of the association and the camps. The actual list of board members can be found on ICC website following: http://www.icc-camp.info/index.php?id=icc-board.

International Partners (National Co-Ordinators)

An up-to-date list of national co-ordinators can be found on ICC website following: http://www.icc-camp.info/index.php?id=contact.

Becoming a Member

Interested people might get in touch with the ICC board or the resposible national co-ordinator.
Additionally, interested people are able to join association ICC every year during the assembly held on site directly at the camp.

2. General Rules for Participation

The association is responsible to arrange the participation of the groups of different countries and to deliver all necessary information to the local organiser.

A participating country has to nominate a national co-ordinator who organises the participation of the group and takes over all responsibilities for national co-ordination. Only in exceptional cases students can take part without an accompanying national co-ordinator. In these cases a national co-ordinator from another country has to take over the responsibilities.

The number of students and the number of countries accepted for ICC is decided by the local organiser in co-operation with the association ICC. In order to keep the organisation manageable and to make the social interaction possible the number of students is restricted to 60 participants and 40 international staff members at the camp.
ICC invites groups with a maximum of six students and two tutors per country. In case of an higher number of applications expected than places available the association has to decide which countries and how many participants from each country can take part.
The national co-ordinator has to submit via the Web-form the intention in which camp to take part soon in the year in order that these decisions can be made. Otherwise the possibility to take part can not be guaranteed.

ICC generally is open for European (geographically) countries. Up to two groups from non-European countries can be invited to take part with a group of up to three students and one tutor in ICC. Only if there are more free places more participants form non-European countries can be accepted. Intentions to invite non-European countries have to be discussed with ICC association as soon as possible.

3. Tasks & Schedule

Below you find a general schedule and task allocation between the Association ICC, its National Co-Ordinators and the local host organisation.

An up-to-date schedule, adapted to the date of the camp is provided online (internal part of ICC website, in .html) and shown upon login as soon as possible and when the internal website is ready for the next camp.

Task allocation and schedule ICC

Tasks and Structure ICC

The above schedule is updated every year according to the dates of the camp.

Concerning the schedule on site, the following general scheme was applied (can also be found in the information package given during preparatory meetings in a text based version):

Example Schedule — This schedule will be adapted to the local situation in the host country.

4. Information Folder

Association ICC produces an information folder to bring ICC to the attention of students as well as sponsors. This folder is available in English and can be translated to other languages. The information folder is available for download on ICC website.

National Co-Ordinators are asked to fill in the necessary information on the folder (address for sending back expressions of interest by prospective participants or additional national sponsoring logos) and send it out to interested institutions, carers and youth. Statements of interest which are submitted by making use of the form in this version will be forwarded to the responsible national co-ordinator. If there is no national co-ordinator so far and there can not be found a new national co-ordinator for this country, ICC gets in contact with the applicant and discusses the possibilities of participation (e.g. joining another national group).

5. Application Form

Association ICC produces an application form which is used to collect all necessary information from participants. The application form is available in English and can be translated in national languages if necessary. The application form has to be sent out by the national co-ordinators to all the prospective participants interested in ICC. The information gathered with the form is the basis for the selection process as well as the organisation. The application form is available for download on ICC website.

The information collected of students selected has to be submitted by making use of the according Web-form (internal part of CC website, available upon login once this internal part of ICC website is adapted to the new camp.

6. Selection of Participants

The national co-ordinator is responsible for the selection of the participants by using and evaluating the sent back application forms and taking - if necessary - additional information into account.

As a guideline for selection the following criteria should be used:

Vision (legally blind or partially sighted) - compile a group manageable by two guides
Conduct of English (production and understanding / usage) - for a most efficient participation
Social skills - to benefit from ICC and network / get in touch with the other participants
Do not prefer one sex - and keep in mind that there might be additional tasks asking for a person of equal gender
Do not prefer special education / integrated education
Do not prefer one region of your country - in order to build up a stronger national network of participants
Date of submission of the application form
Students should be only once/twice at the camp, so take into account special reasons for a multiple participation.

The national co-ordinator fills in the webform at the ICC system to submit the selected students and the information on them. This information will be combined by ICC and handed over to the local organiser.

According to that, all information on staff members has to be provided by using a similar webform.

In order to arrange the welcome at the camp location the travel information has to be submitted, too.

7. Workshop List and Selection of Workshops

Every country participating / national group coming to the camp with a group that consists of less than four participants is asked to prepare at least one workshop.

All other countries, arriving with more than four participants and the respecive number of staff members, is asked to prepare and give at least two workshops. Association ICC and the local hosts also provide workshops following the below scheme:

Local hosts / host institution: 5 workshop units
International groups (1 workshop unit per 3 participants each): 20 workshop units
Association ICC: 6 workshop units

By preparing a workshop the following should be taken into account:

Duration: 3 hours (introductory) and 6 hours (advanced) workshops are possible and necessary
Breaks are necessary and compulsory
Workshops should be as practical and hands on as possible
Theoretical presentations should be avoided
Workshops should be motivating and refreshing
Workshops should give a motivating insight and should not be seen as training replacing training at local level
Students at different (knowledge & skill-) levels should be taken into account

A short description of the workshop has to be prepared and submitted upon notification by the ICC Association. This information is collected and submitted by the national co-ordiator within ICC website (internal area) and used for organising the workshop plan and for the selection of workshops by students. A detailed description with the following information has to be provided till June (latest):

Clear title (and possible subtitles - especially for 6 hour workshops consisting of 2 workshop units)
Name and contact information of the Workshop Leader
Target Group the workshop is designed for / best apted (depending on AT used / needed - all combinations are possible here: Without any AT; With Screen Magnifyer; With Speech-Output from Screen Magnifyer; With Speech-Output from Screen-Reader; With Braille Display
Prerequisites (needed skills to enjoy the workshop, level of vision, used assistive technology)
Knowledge and skills of the participants needed
Technical necessities (equipment, hardware, software)
Need for an additional tutor
Description of the contents
A handout for the students (to be prepared and uploaded when submitting a workshop)

ICC co-ordinates the workshops and produces a list of workshops. The list of workshop proposals will be sent to the national co-ordinators in order to let the students know what workshops are possible.

The selection of workshops is done directly at the camp after a introduction phase and a most beneficial first 9 hour starting workshop (the first 2 days at the camp). The topic for this first 9 hour session is discussed and arranged during the preparatory meeting.

After this introductory phase and discussions with other participants and getting to know the ICC framework and infrastructure, participants are able to select up to ten favourite workshops. The national staff is asked to guide and help their participants to select those workshops within ICC webste (internal part).

ICC produces the final list of workshops, builds up the programme for the week, and informs the local organiser about the local and technical necessities.

ICC established a panel for quality control of workshops, programme, handouts, and descriptions. Organisers of workshops will be encouraged to well prepare motivating workshops and outline materials according to a high quality standard.

8. Technical Aspects and Rooms

If 60 students are planned to take part, the following technical equipment should be available:

PC workstations: 70
Braille display: 35
Screen enlargement software on every PC
Screens (20/21", flat): 15
Smaller screens: 55
Speech output systems (incl. headsets): 20

To run the camp the following number of rooms is needed:

16 - 20 rooms for Workshops (PC and Communication)
1 Room or Technicians / Organisation
1 Meeting Room NCs
1 Camp Office
1 Large room for meals
1 Large room for general assemblies on site

Additional framework needed:

Numbering and signs for orientation and mobility in large/coloured and Braille print
A short description of each Braille display has to be available
Two rooms should be fully equipped for blind students
Two rooms should be fully equipped for partially sighted students
There must be a short introduction for the tutors at the day of arrival. Additional training and tutorials will be provided on demand during the computer camp
For screen magnification software short manuals should be available in the same way as well as a short introduction if necessary
Special software has to be delivered beforehand where possible to the technicians. Small programs can be installed at the time, but more complicated systems must be installed beforehand. Workshop leaders are responsible for making software as well as installation information available
The provision of keyboard mappings to different languages is necessary. Since most keyboards will have a German layout additional printouts on paper of the layout of an e.g. English keyboard have to be provided. Hotkeys to switch the mapping have to be installed. A folder of information on the workstation should be provided (an example can be found in the download area)
Workshop leaders are responsible for organising and installing software they need for running their workshop. Only English version of software should be used
In order to prevent a virus chaos at the camp a) virus detection software checking the HD at start-up has to be installed on every computer, b) memory resident virus detection software shall be used (however, problems with special software may arise, c) workshop leaders and participants are requested to check their disks which they bring to the camp
DVD-ROM, CD-/DVD Writer
Standard Office / OS - Software
Copier
Blackboard / Poster walls / poster stands for displaying lists and news
All PC workshop rooms should be equipped with access to the Internet.

ICC established a technical panel supporting the organisation of IT. This should guarantee that most important things are taken into account during preparation and that local staff can rely on experiences of previous years. Each year during the preparation meeting the technical details are fixed.

9. Accomodation and Leisure Time

To be able to manage ICC for a group of 60 students, 100 - 120 beds (depending on week) are needed for 7 nights on an average. 20 accompanying persons for the national groups, local organising staff and organising staff from ICC as well as leisure time staff will build up this group. The number varies according to the number of countries coming along and the number of local staff sleeping at the camp.

It is expected that an all inclusive service is offered (breakfast, lunch, dinner), soft drinks and small snacks for the workshop breaks. Special diet necessities could be necessary and vegetarian food should be served. These necessities are collected via the application form and therefore known beforehand.

If needed, ICC will establish a leisure panel to support the local organisation and hosting. Experiences from previous years are - upon request - made available for the local organisers / hosts.

10. Financial Framework

Participation Fee

ICC charges the participants with a fee that will be published upon request. The fee has to be collected by the national co-ordinators and to be transferred to the Association ICC before the camp starts. In exceptional cases the fee can be brought along to the camp in cash (Euro).

A contribution of 50% of this fee is the main source of input by the Association ICC and is also used to cover the running costs of the association as part of the preparatory work. 50% of participation fee is at the disposal of the host.

Accommodation & Subsistence for Additional National Staff

National staff in a proportion of 1 staff to every 3 participant(s) is free of charge. If a country brings a group of 1, 2 or 3 participants, 1 staff member is free of charge. If a country brings 4, 5 or 6 participants, 2 staff members are free of charge. Additional national staff ("exceeding staff members") is charged by the host with a lump sum for accommodation & subsistence at the camp that will be published upon request.

Fund Raising at European Level

Association ICC supports fund raising for the host at European level. These funds shall be used to cover the costs of the host.

Local Funding

The host is responsible for fund raising at local level to cover the costs for running the camp.Each partner is responsible to cover their own budget to fulfil the tasks outlined above. The national groups cover their own costs.

What has to be covered by Association ICC:

Hotel for preparation meeting
1 dinner during the preparation meeting
Travel costs for organisation team and board (preparation meeting, camp), if no national funding is available
Technical equipment & transport of this equipment: Server, Braille displays, headsets (small contingent), sound system (2-3), WLAN-router (1)
Software (Windows, Office, Screen-reader, Screen-enlargement)
Workshop scheduling & organisational management incl. travel costs
ICC-website: Data entry procedure, hosting and maintenance
ICC-tool: Programming, hosting and maintenance
Technical support onsite (1 general expert, 1 AT-expert) incl. travel costs
Workshop proposals (6)
Financial management of association

What has to be covered by the local partner:

Meeting room & food supply at the preparation meeting
Accommodation at the camp
Food supply at the camp
Technical equipment (PCs, screens, printer, headsets, Braille-printer, network-infrastructure, electric-infrastructure)
Local management
Technical support (1 local expert)
Workshop proposals (5)
Leisure time tutors
Leisure time activities
Necessary materials at the events
Insurance for students, staff & equipment

What has to be covered by the national groups:

Staff for national organisation
Tutors & workshop trainers
Preparation costs (mailing, telephone, materials)
National staff onsite (1 person per every 1-3 students)
General liability and travel insurance
National workshop preparation and production of handouts / aterials for the workshops
Travel costs (preparation meeting & ICC-camp)

All in all it should be mentioned that ICC is an association being in a continuously changing process corresponding to the annual event of the camp. Therefore the success of ICC depends on the communication, interaction and co-operation of all the partners. The mission here is to be as flexible as possible!