Frequently asked Questions

Let’s be honest, so far very few questions have been asked which is hardly surprising as the site is still in its early stages. But many of you probably have a lot you wish to know. This site seeks to be totally open, no question is too indiscrete. Below are some general responses. For personalised questions please send us an e-mail : jessi@injep.fr

What does E-pop mean ?

E-pop is the user friendly diminutive for pop’ educ’, itself a diminutive of popular education. It is a snappy name which fits in well with the Internet and suits all those who don’t want to wear out all their fingers on the keyboard to access a site. Strangely the homonym of e-pop " hip hop " is also a cultural activity of popular education.

What is popular education ?

Great question. It’s as old if not older than the law of 1901 pertaining to the setting up of a non for profit voluntary organisation in France. There is much talk regarding the principles of popular education especially within the framework of the ongoing public debate on popular education (OPR)
To find out more : the OPR site (http://www.educpop.org)
Standing apart from this debate, the e-pop site groups all the essentially practical national youth and popular education organisations recognised by the French Ministry of Youth, Education and Research, and all local recognised voluntary organisations.
Generally speaking the site is open to all voluntary organisations which stand for educational values, including all those which unawares are committed to popular education.

What is the aim of the site ?

The site seeks to be a crossroads between the statutory and non-statutory sectors. The missing link between NGO’s and the Internet, a talking shop. The site enhances the contents for and by NGO’s and strives to help them make better use of NTIC.

Who commisioned the site ?

The Ministry of Youth and Sports commissioned the site assigning the task to the National Institute for Youth and Community Education through the purpose-created JESSI Unit (Youth in the Information Age http://www.injep.fr/jessi).
" Make available to youth and community education organisations a site for the exchange of information and as a forum to share knowledge and experience on the role and relevance of NTIC in the evolution of popular education ". Such were the words of the Minister for Youth and Sports, Marie Georges Buffet, with regard to the site ,
Within Injep (http://injep.fr/jessi) the JESSI Unit, Youth in the information Age, has been designing and producing sites for the public services since 1999, such as :

• the youth council site

• the governmental site on young people’s rights
  http://www.droitsdesjeunes.gouv.fr

The JESSI Unit is project manager for the e-pop site. INJEP has made its computer and information centres available for this project.

What are the operational means ?

The project was launched in 2000 with a yearly budget of 28.000 €. INJEP contributed human, material and technical resources to ensure the success of the project. Occasionally Injep has brought in outside specialists for specific operations.

The development of the site was ensured by Multipass (http://www.multipass.net)

The surveys were carried out by François Bernard, previously NTIC manager at the CEMEA organisation (bernard@injep.fr)
The graphics were produced by " Home Made " (http://www.home-made.net)

Who are the partners ?

Effective partnership is essential to the site : from the very outset the 432 national popular education organisations have been closely involved in the construction of the site via a survey on the use of internet by voluntary organisations (http://www.educ-pop.org/42) and their expectations. Since then the site has continued to be developed respecting the same openness : the specifications and a " talking shop " have been put on-line to launch the discussions. All 432 organisations have overall access to the site : they can change or add to the data concerning them whenever they wish, or put in additional information for the benefit of other organisations.

A more formal partnership exists between the e-pop site and CNAJEP (National Commitee of Youth Popular Education Organisation) (http://www.educ-pop.org/74) which groups together the majority of popular education organisations, as well as with the review " Association, Mode d’emploi " (voluntary organisations, how to use them) which is an accepted authority on practical information for the voluntary sector.

The site remains open to new partnership proposals at all times jessi@injep.fr

What are the main functions of the site ?

• a self managed repertory of popular education organisations
• a data base for NGO activities
• a data base for NGO publications
• a current events column, backed up by a twice monthly newsletter : e-pop actu
• surveys on important NGO issues
• a FNDVA ( National Fund for the Development of the Voluntary Sector) resource data base
• a forum (talking shop)
• a detailed indexing of the best practical information pages
• a small ads page
• an internal research motor signposting all the registred NGO sites

What kind of technology was used for the site ?

We strive to ensure a match between our project and our techniques. We use an architecture which has already proved itself and which is called LAMP
L : Linux, which is the free and reliable system under which the server functions
A : Apache, which is the most frequently used web server in the world. As with Linux, Apache is free and open source.
M : MY SQL is our data base manager, here again it’s a classic.
P : Php as language of development.

What are the perspectives for the development of the site ?

• local repertory of recognised organisations
• on line user friendly legal and financial indexes
• training indexes
• an " à la carte " automatic information system
• a voluntary organisation " hot line " for questions on Internet.