Youth Together for refugees Erasmus Project

Project Title

Youth Together for refugees

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 youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Social dialogue; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Integration of refugees

Project Summary

Starting from sharing best practices and knowledge in youth workers training and support, the project aimed at implement activities and actions to develop and test a practical toolkit for their training and daily work. Also, training a group of youth workers on specific topics, individuated and implemented with the scope of fill fundamental gaps in the way they are induced and how operate. This project was based on direct feedback development method, to shape and build the final support material. Therefore we collected evaluations and contributions, highlighting barriers and dynamics and write our material accordingly. Importantly, we relied on multi-disciplinary method using arts to propose practical and zero budget solutions to assist youth workers in their job.
Original Objectives and achieved results:
1) to share best practices between organizations in Europe dealing refugees/migrants within reception and refugee centres:
-the toolkit it’s a collection of best practices of educational activities that can be carried out in reception centers and other contexts.
-These were selected following the criteria of being cost effective and sustainable, easy to understand and explain regardless of language barriers, inter-age, inter-gender, safe and consistent with the target group and their backgrounds. More than 450 stakeholders were directly contacted by email and more were reached indirectly via socials.
-Youth workers, educators and teachers were asked to fill a questionnaire and to give us a feedback and best practice suggestions.
-Project managers also participated at best practices sharing events. Just to name a few: we met members of the UNHCR in Athens, sharing our best practices in terms of training activities during the public event on date 1652019, receiving encouraging feedback; we exchanged best practices with the Red Cross, Nantes Roma, Sanità di Frontiera and the Italian Chamber of Commerce, during the local capacity building workshop in Rome organized by CIAPE on the 13 of February 2019.
2) Each partner had the occasion to discuss, within their main stakeholder networks, which are the main barriers in developing activities for refugees integration. The great deal of knowledge of the partners’ organizations themselves, contributed particularly to the exchange of different points of view. This process was at the base of our method to individuate main topics and give answers within the production of our final material. We also advocated for refugees and asylum seekers rights via our social media channels. Our Facebook page was indeed fundamental to pass to the wider public information regarding hosting facilities and refugees camps in Europe. Particularly in occasion of the most relevant facts around the issue and during the global health emergency of Covid19 Pandemic.
3) Thanks to the great number of stakeholders receiving our news and toolkit draft version, we could dialogue with teachers and educators to discuss integration methods and social cohesive activities with educational institutes. We shared our results on the SALTO platform and with those schools and institutes which are already part of the consortium main network. We also organized several local events in each country to test the toolkit and disseminate the project results. Just to name a few: Spanish partner had the chance to open a dialogue with the Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones, Consejo de la Juventud de España, Secretaría Confederal de Juventud de Comisiones Obreras, presenting our methodologies and toolkit material. The UK partner involved outstanding Univertities and Charities such as King’s college London; Oxford Brookes, Cardinal Hume centre, British Red cross.
3) 25 participants could follow training activities and local events for the transnational training in Athens from the 13 to the 17 of May 2019.
They followed classes and activities on:
Challenges in receptionrecreational centres for young refugees and youth workers/volunteers: context assessment, analysis, group dynamics and conflict resolution;
Trauma and wellbeing in refugee population, focus on youth;
Art to develop a positive sense of the self, community and diversity (visual arts and theatre games);
Designing games and educational activities for young asylum seekers; Interlanguage learning and intercultural communication.
Several refugees could observe our training activities and participate at the final one day role game. They had the possibility to perform inclusive educational and recreational activities, re-think about their role in the hosting societies, address crucial and difficult topics in a safe environment.
SUMMARY OF MAIN ACTIVITIES:
– kickoff meeting, UK
-Transnational training in Athens
-Second TPM Italy
-Local workshops all countries
-Final TPM to evaluate the project and possible future activities, (initially Spain, then SKYPE)
-Publishing of the toolkit on the project’s website and platforms.
-Dissemination

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 48740 Eur

Project Coordinator

Itaka training & Country: IT

Project Partners

• FEDERACION ANDALUCIA ACOGE
• SOCIAL YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CIVIL NONPROFIT SOCIETY
• Kairos Europe Limited