Growing Together: Immigrants Empowerment as Local Citizens and as Educators Erasmus Project

Project Title

Growing Together: Immigrants Empowerment as Local Citizens and as Educators

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 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Inclusion – equity; Migrants’ issues

Project Summary

“Growing Together: Immigrants Empowerment as Local Citizens and as Educators” aimed at contributing to the well being and integration of adult immigrants and their children and promoting a dynamic and intercultural society where immigrants participate actively. It fostered adults’ education to improve their own future but also their children’s, whom they will educate and to whom schools are already reference spaces that the project chose to exploit further.

Three European territories were involved: Odemira, Lleida and Follonica. They have common challenges, like assuring quality services and development conditions to all population in equal conditions and without discrimination. Each city was represented by the municipality and a public school: Município de Odemira (coord.), Agrupamento de Escolas de S. Teotónio, Ajuntament de Lleida, Escola Balàfia, Comune di Follonica and ISIS Follonica. The transnational dimension was an added value – it brought different perspectives, experiences and critical reflection and it allowed a shared approach to issues that need collective answers.

‘Growing Together’ was innovative because of its approach and partnership. It chose to build on existing roles and dynamics, to bring private and public actors together in a joint effort and to tackle together issues usually seen as separate: immigrants’ participation in school and in society. It was not the result of an individual proposal limited to a time and space of intervention and impacts were more widespread.

Project was successful in the objectives proposed:
– Facilitate non-formal and alternative learning paths for adult immigrants
– Raise the skills and understanding of immigrants in school parenting
– Develop better immigrants’ integration strategies and methodologies at municipal level
– Consolidate local networks for social cohesion, participation, interculturality and non-discrimination
– Multiply local citizens’ initiatives and projects, in particular of immigrants

Three main activities/outputs were developed:

1- WORKSHOPS: LIFE SKILLS FOR IMMIGRANTS’ INTEGRATION
To favour adult immigrants’ integration 7 non formal education thematic workshops (28 hours) were implemented to enhance social, personal and linguistic skills. The topics were: Language Labs, Local Services & Supports, Culture and Interculturality, School Support, Leisure/Family Education, Participation and Citizens’ Projects proposal and discussion (bridge to 2nd activity). A total of 42 workshops were made with the participation of 551 persons (many participated in more than 1 workshop, representing around 150 persons).

2- CITIZENSHIP PROJECTS MONITORING: IMMIGRANTS IN ACTION WITH LOCAL SUPPORT NETWORKS
Departing from skills and networks built in the 1st activity, immigrants took action and organised civic/public projects. Difficulties were overcome with monitoring sessions held to assure learning results, planning/execution and the needed network/support/resources. A total of 27 local projects were made involving 91 migrants organizing (some in more than 1 project), 959 assisting or benefiting directly from the projects and 66 local institutions/projects/associations. Highlight can be put in training to manipulate food that open job possibilities, the approval of the enlargement of opening hours of kindergarten or the debates that unveiled discrimination and difficulties faced by migrants.

3- RECOMMENDATIONS: LOCAL ACTORS FOR IMMIGRANTS’ INTEGRATION
During the transnational meetings, some visits, debates and exchanges were done to open the project to communities, raise awareness, debate/exchange, and invite migrants to speak. In the 3 debates, 15 projects/associations were visited or invited to speak.

The outputs were assembled in a book that is available in the project website. It details the activities (strategies, methodology, resources, results and evaluation) becoming a reference and tool for its application by project partners and other schools and municipalities.

The results achieved can be grouped under the following themes:
– Greater integration of immigrants
– Greater support of parents to the school education of their children
– Consolidation of local networks and services/supports
– Social transformation of society – interculturality, openness, proximity between cultures
– European perspective of the possibilities of working for inclusion of local actors.

Furthermore, we have to consider that with dissemination activities we estimate to have reached more than 272.000 persons.

On regional and national impacts we highlight the availability of new tools, activities and reflections and the renewed visibility given to the challenge of immigrants’ integration but under a positive perspective. This is also an European impact, as all over Europe immigrants and diversity integration and dialogue is causing many problems of social disarray, violence, exclusion, poverty and, hence, of loss of prosperity and competitive advantages.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 119340 Eur

Project Coordinator

Município de Odemira & Country: PT

Project Partners

• Comune di Follonica
• Agrupamento de Escolas de São Teotónio, Odemira
• ISIS Follonica
• AYUNTAMIENTO DE LLEIDA
• Escola Balàfia