Educating Social Partners Towards Ethnic Diversity in SMEs Erasmus Project

Project Title

Educating Social Partners Towards Ethnic Diversity in SMEs

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 vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Migrants’ issues; Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship); New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Ethnic diversity management and migrants’ integration in the labour force constitutes a major challenge for the EU. The increasing flow of TCNs (immigrants and refugees), which is rising due the recent refugee crisis, together with internal migration of EU citizens continues at a rapid pace. The resulting ethnic inequalities among a diverse workforce in the EU implies an immediate action. Considering that ethnic diversity is a complex issue to deal with, the role of social partners is deemed critical. Both trade unionists and employers’ organisations need to acquire specific skills and knowledge and be aware on inequalities, discrimination and inclusion process in order to meet their organizational needs and contribution towards handling ethnic diversity and promoting migrants’ integration at workplace level. Social partners need also to acquire conflict resolution skills, knowledge of the relevant legislation, and of good practices and policies.

Against the above background, the principle objective of the project is to improve the skills, knowledge and competences of social partners in addressing ethnic diversity in EU SMEs. To this direction, other objectives of the project refer to the enhancement of the quality and relevance of learning, the strengthening of migrants’ key competences to integrate into the labour market and society and the exchange of best practices.To achieve these goals, the project brings together a partnership network consisting of eight organisations from five EU countries: Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece and Italy. Despite the different realities of migrants’ integration in each country and the complexity of social dialogue in regards to SMEs, a closer look reveals that the participant countries are found – if not in the same – in very similar situation to the reception of migrants. Considering the synthesis of the network, built based on their field of expertise, the project allows the interdisciplinary approach to the problem. Specifically, the partnership involves research and academic institutions (INEK-PEO, the University of Milan), migrants organisations (KISA, IRIV), social partners (INE/GSEE, IME/GSEVEE) and VET centres (ENAIP, VIFIN) that have long experience in national and community action, research activities, tripartite social dialogue and policy interventions. In the above context, the project partners have been selected by their experience and capacity but also due to their position in relation to the inflow of immigrants. Cyprus, Greece and Italy, are traditionally immigrants’ reception countries currently encountered huge inflow of immigrants due to the recent refugee crisis. The capacities of the front-line countries need to be strengthened in terms of diversity and conflict management. Therefore, the knowledge of experienced countries in the field of ethnic diversity and conflict resolution is considered of great importance to the project’s objectives.

The nature of the main activities of the project are research base and training activities. The ultimate purpose of the research activities was the provision of contextual framework directed to an improved understanding of ethnic diversity in SMEs of the participant countries; this framework was a source for the designing of the training and educative materials of the project. In this way, the findings of the research activities had an essential role to the formation of the core outputs the project. In relation to the training activities developed in the frame of the project, they contextually correspond to the different – and sometimes conflicting – interests and needs of the various target groups including: training for social partners, development of training material and other educational tools for both social partners and migrants. The main results/outputs emerged from the activities of MigrAID are: a) A comparative research report on migrants’ integration and ethnic diversity in SMEs in the respective countries, b) a training manual directed to migrant populations, c) a VET programme for social partners, d) a training curriculum for social partners, e) an ethnic diversity guide for SMEs, f) an Educational on-line Platform and g) a Conflict Resolution Simulator.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 361480 Eur

Project Coordinator

INSTITOUTO ERGASIAS KYPROU PAGKYPRIAS ERGATIKIS OMOSPONDIAS IDRYMA & Country: CY

Project Partners

• INSTITOUTO ERGASIAS
• INSTITUTE OF THE HELLENIC CONFEDERATION OF PROFESSIONALS CRAFTSMEN AND MERCHANTS AE
• KISA – ACTION FOR EQUALITY, SUPPORT, ANTIRACISM
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO
• ENAIP VENETO IMPRESA SOCIALE
• Videnscenter for Integration
• HALBA BENEDICTE