Mapping, assessing and validating competences of youth educators working with young migrants and refugees Erasmus Project

Project Title

Mapping, assessing and validating competences of youth educators working with young migrants and 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: Migrants’ issues; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Recognition (non-formal and informal learning/credits)

Project Summary

The European Union was and is still facing a relevant inflow of migrants/refugees and there were no good tools to check the quality of youth workers skills and qualifications in their work with migrants and refugees.

The VAL project wanted to improve the current situation by mapping the Competence profile of youth educators working with young migrants and refugees and developed a methodology for the assessment of their competence called expertise check-up, an e-course for assessors.

The project has improved the current situation by defining the competence profile of the youth worker working with young migrants/refugees, by developing a methodology for validation of its competence based on ECVET, a training for assessors.

The IOs produced by the project will be very helpful instruments to meet the needs of better education and social inclusion of young migrants/refugees. Thanks to the needs analysis done in the first phase of the project we recognized the different needs of different target groups. We mean we have given a good contribution to meet these needs:

1. The need for youth educators to assess and improve their level of competence and to have their role further recognized thanks to a European standard of competence.
2. The need for migrants and refugee youths to be advised by reliable youth educators, whose expertise has been assessed and complies with an optimum standard.
3. The need for organizations employing paid and volunteer youth educators to assess and improve their competence, minimizing pitfalls in service delivery due to the low level of expertise.
4. The need for decision-makers and funders to finance only initiatives carried out by competent youth educators and by organizations employing them, so as to increase the impact and the outcomes of the money spent.
5. The need of the European Commission and member states to protect the consumer by the establishment of codes of conduct and standard of service delivery in not regulated professions as that of youth workers.

The check-up was carried out thanks also to a web platform. The description of the Competence profile of the trainer working with migrants/refugees and the check-up is based on ECVET, and the map referenced with EQF.

The project consortium is composed of organizations working with young migrants/refugees based in Sweden, Greece, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

Approximately over 2500 youth educators and organizations were informed about the project, and over 150 youth educators were directly involved in it. A number of youth educators not directly involved in the project have taken part in the results via the Moodle platform.

Long-term benefits are better quality of European youth work with young migrants/refugees and improved recognition of skills of European youth educators.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 244590 Eur

Project Coordinator

FOLKUNIVERSITETET STIFTELSEN VID LUNDS UNIVERSITET & Country: SE

Project Partners

• AINTEK SYMVOULOI EPICHEIRISEON EFARMOGES YPSILIS TECHNOLOGIAS EKPAIDEFSI ANONYMI ETAIREIA
• VOLKSHOCHSCHULE IM LANDKREIS CHAM EV
• CORREA
• Creating Ground CIC