Supporting Public Education Centers’ Educators for Refugee Adaptation Erasmus Project

Project Title

Supporting Public Education Centers’ Educators for Refugee Adaptation

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Integration of refugees; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Migrants’ issues

Project Summary

As the conflict in Syria approaches its 8th year, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe are dealing with the worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War. The unprecedented refugee crisis is increasingly spilling over to affect apart from the wider region, also Europe. Reality shows that refugee people face a range of barriers to enter urban life in their new countries, especially related to the fact that the municipality is not prepared for dealing with refugee people. This situation has forced municipalities and local authorities to assume key roles in managing the crisis by providing services and integrating refugees into their communities. The refugee crisis has also caused social tensions so ensuring social cohesion by involving both refugees and host communities in joint activities will contribute to improved relations, coexistence and stability within host municipalities.

The project of “Supporting Public Education Centers’ Educators for Refugee Adaptation” (PEC4R) addresses inclusive support for training of the municipal Public Edducational Centers’ (PEC) educators to provide well-qualified education, so they can cope with refugee adults often lacking the language skills they can fully participate, and are also affected by the traumas of war that are fully disabled and integrated. Municipal PEC educators facing such problems should be more prepared to know how to deal with it. Ensuring the provision of a modular training that addresses the main issues (integration, adaptation, language, war traumas, dealing with stress, right of refugees) should form an important part of the response to the current challenges. This training and supporting will combat at source some of the factors contributing to education failure of these people, while it would aid in combatting the risk of integration problems to urban life. Supporting material provided consists of an illustrated handbook for the PEC educators with accompanying printed/mobile/online supporting tools that will support the advisor throughout the different challenges they face nowadays. Equally, the supporting tools will also work towards engaging PEC educators and refugee people in a manner that is novel, attractive for both the municipality and the refugees (beneficiary). The outcomes can be easily multiplied across all cities that harbor refugee by applying the concept of open resources, commons creative licensing and free mobile and online applications.

Our consortium:
1- Coordinator: Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Public University, Turkey
2- Phoneix KM, NGO, Beligum
3- SoftQNR, software development company, Serbia.
4- Konya Municipality, Turkey
5- Izmir Bakırçay University, Public University, Turkey
6- Secondary Education Directorate of Karditsa, National Public Body, Greece

The project’s main target groups are:
– Municipalities and their PEC educators: Every EU municipality network will be invited to the project portal, while contacts will be made also with local supporting initiatives.
– Pedagogical and psychological experts: Material will be readily available to these stakeholders and will be implementable default in 5 languages, while translations can be done freely.
– Refugee adults (living in the city): They are to benefit from an approach that allows them to deal with their war traumas, being supported by teaching staff that is aware of the sensitivities and the special requirements needed for these people to integrate into their city environments and the host country.

Long-term benefits
The desired impact of PEC4R is a universal one, due to the global occurrence of the refugee problem. This is reflected in below local, regional, national, European and/or international impact assessments. It is expected that the PEC4R will provide supporting material for all affected PECs as well as other adult edcuation institutions in all partner countries at the end of the project, while transfers to other languages will also support the take-up.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 171870 Eur

Project Coordinator

ANKARA YILDIRIM BEYAZIT UNIVERSITESI & Country: TR

Project Partners

• SoftQNR D.O.O.
• DIEYFTHYNSI DEYTEROVATHMIAS EKPAIDEYSIS N. KARDITSAS
• KONYA BUYUKSEHIR BELEDIYE BASKANLIGI
• PHOENIXKM BVBA
• IZMIR BAKIRCAY UNIVERSITESI
• PANEPISTIMIO THESSALIAS