Cross-borders intercultural and societal entrepreneurs Erasmus Project

Project Title

Cross-borders intercultural and societal entrepreneurs

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: Integration of refugees; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Context/background of the project:
1) The European Union faces a significant influx of migrants and refugees which requires synthesising effective and innovative intercultural and social entrepreneurial processes to empower them and the decision-making processes to create sustainable communities in their host countries and their countries of origin.
2) The Cross-border Intercultural and Societal Entrepreneurs’ partnership, representing cross-sectorial educational fields, undertook this 3-year project to respond to this need, and set the following general and specific aims:
General aims:
1) to enhance the skills of adult educators working with migrant and refugee communities to overcome barriers to their inclusion and participation in the host communities, through a 5 Life-Skills educational programme aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals
2) to develop a sense of care and responsibility in host communities towards migrants and refugees
3) to facilitate the exchange of inclusive, intercultural and social entrepreneurial training models developed in four countries: Spain, Sweden, Turkey and UK.

Specific aims:
1) Output 1: An online curriculum for adult educators entitled ‘Migrants and Refugees as Re-Builders’ based on a 5 Life-Skills programme: i) Sustainable livelihood: The art of covering fundamental human needs and rights; ii) Affection and belonging: The art of caring and accepting to be cared for; iii) Prevention and protection: The art of promoting human security; iv) Understanding and engagement: The art of developing critical and constructive thinking and engagement; v) Participation and social entrepreneurship: The art of enhancing socio-economic value for communities.
It uses, as a benchmark, Manfred Max Neef’s matrix of existential and axiological human needs, and Amartya Sen´s capabilities themes of political freedoms, economic facilities, and opportunities for social cohesion and social entrepreneurship, at three levels: personal, professional and societal.
2) Video testimonies of migrants and refugees to illustrate each Life-Skills training area:
3) Output 2: Competence Self-Assessment (CSA) framework for adult educators to evaluate their progress in delivering training to migrants and refugees, specifically addressing the key challenges on i) Life Competence: the need to know how to navigate everyday life; ii) Autonomy Competence: the need to be independent and interdependent physically, spiritually and emotionally; iii) Relatedness competence: the need to belong meaningfully to a community.
4) Output 3: Social Micro-Indicators (SMIs) for inclusion and economic engagement – Adult educators’-designed indicators of social cohesion and integration of migrants and refugees at micro-social level, using the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX.eu) and indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals as benchmarks. This enables a scan of the degree to which integration initiatives are working according to location.

Number-profile of participating organisations;
4 organisations providing services to migrants and refugees: Initiatives of Change UK, charity, provides training in trust-building; Progestión Association, Spain, provides wide variety of services; Kista Folkhögskola, Sweden, community college providing courses; Migrant Research Centre, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Turkey, undertakes research and provides courses and other services.

Description of undertaken main activities;
O1: Curriculum for Adult Educators of migrants and refugees; O2: Competence Self-Assessment (CSA) framework (hard-copy and digital) for Adult Educators; O3: Social Micro-Indicators (SMIs) tool (hard-copy and digital) for assessment of effectiveness of training on social cohesion and economic integration.

Results and impact attained:
1) Holistic Educational Resources comprising innovative tools for adult educators working with migrants and refugees
2) All educational resources are available in 7 languages: English, Arabic, Somali, Spanish, Swedish, Tigrinya, Turkish, and in Braille in English
3) Interactive Tools to enable adult educators to assess both their training of migrants and refugees, and their contribution towards inclusion and economic engagement
4) International organizations working in the field of migration have shown interest in using the resources in their educational programmes
5) Local authorities have shown interest in using the SMIs to assess the effectiveness of their policies for social cohesion and inclusion of migrants and refugees
6) The Resources give adult educators and migrants and refugees an opportunity to build training modules together that respond to their needs and desire to work to meet them.

Longer-term benefits:
This educational model enables migrants and refugees to create their own solutions to the challenges they face within their communities, with the host communities and in their countries of origin.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 352357 Eur

Project Coordinator

The Oxford Group & Country: UK

Project Partners

• HASAN KALYONCU UNIVERSITESI
• ANKARA SOSYAL BILIMLER UNIVERSITESI
• ASOCIACIÓN PARA LA PROMOCIÓN Y GESTIÓN DE SERVICIOS SOCIALES GENERALES Y ESPECIALIZADOS (PROGESTIÓN)
• Kista folkhögskolas förening