Local radios are no longer operating as locally in digital times as they used to in analog days. The internet provides us the opportunity to take part in global movements, some of which are coming from or are based on local grounds. In the case of urban community radios, like Orange 94.0, it´s allready common to keep in touch with other local radios or initiatives in other cities. But there´s one big point missing in these digital forms of communication – the face to face interaction.
In this learning partnership real people tell each other about their specific way of working in their specific local circumstances in their own community radio, or training institution. The best thing about differences is, when you get to know them, and why they are there, you can only learn from them.
In our first meeting the main interests were to find out about the daily life of a community radio station in this very rural area of Inishowen.
How is the older generation being integrated into radio life and work?
How is training being organised and done?
How are interactions between people living in a continuously changing borderland?
When you expect to find differences, it´s likely to encounter similarities.
In our first meeting, the area of Inishowen reminded me a lot to the Austrian/ Hungarian/ Slowakian border situation. There´s a lot of development happening and people begin to orientate themselves in a cross border situation – orientating to the nearest big cities, no matter if they are in the same country or not.
The radio station sees itself in the same way, although it is not being heard on the other side of the border, it aims to integrate people from both sides. The older generation gets an important role in this aspect, as they can provide the younger with living history, on and off air. There are no particular trainings being offered at Inishowen Community Radio for older people, because in their integrative approach, they offer training for everybody. Here´s one big difference we could recognise, because in urban areas, most people are used to sticking to themselves and appreciate being taught in a more closed setting. Youngsters among youngsters, seniors among seniors – although there´s allways a certain point of disappointment involved with the situation. In Carndonagh we met some ex-trainees, who are still involved actively in the radio, with a long lifetime experience, who told us about their experiences with the radio training.
In this partnership we found out in the first meeting, that we can learn from each other especially in terms of empowerment, different strategies to achieve it and the will to offer the older generation involvment in actual processes, work that´s being done on a community based level – an experience that they know from their younger days, were we can learn from again.

Frank Hagen, frank.hagen@orange.or.at
http://www.orange.or.at