This project, funded by DFID and undertaken by Big World in collaboration with Gamos Ltd., aimed to assess the value of multimedia and Internet based resource creation and collaboration in extending the ability of training centres to train effectively. The focus was on centres responding to the needs of the poor; delivering training which improves employment opportunities and therefore the livelihoods of trainees and their communities.

Gamos has made an alliance with the University of Reading, and taken a role in the management of Acroatics, a company dedicated to short course training. The lead trainer is Dermot Shields who has a long track record of training DFID (UK) staff in governance and is widely recognised as a key expert in this area. Dermot also managed and ran short courses at the University of Reading during the 1990's, until reorganisation and other priorities within the University led to a management decision to stop.

Our desire not be boxed in has lead to us being one of the first organisations to promote creativity as a learnable skill. We are unashamedly fans of Edward De Bono. De Bono and other champions of creativity feel that critical thinking within Western education often overshadows creative thinking. Gamos has observed that in participatory programmes, there is a prevailing assumption that if poor communities are encouraged to analyse their situations through reflection tools such as group discussion, mapping, wealth ranking, seasonal calendars, etc, that a creative solution will arise from within the community. There is a prevailing assumption that a natural creativity will rise to the surface if the situation is analysed to a sufficient level. And yet creativity is a learnable skill. Communities trained in analysis AND creativity implement actions that are more innovative and have a greater degree of anticipation about future contextual changes resulting in more sustainable actions.