Cafe Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Cafe Europe

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; Migrants’ issues; Integration of refugees

Project Summary

Cafe Europe has the goal to build a strong, fertile social and business growing ground for youth which will provide social inclusiveness, help refuges and migrants build a stable network for themselves and to help them enter the market, and solve many socials problems related to the migration of youth.
The result of this project will be a low-key meeting place for social and commercial activity in every European country. Whilst the project partners in this project take care of finding the right place in the community where they can open up a cafe in (like a local school, library, meeting place etc) the target group can focus on developing their own skills. The Cafes will help youth migrants and refugees, but also native youngsters developing socials skills, learn the culture of the host country, expand their network and gain working experience. The cafe serves as a place for the target group to gain work experience, but also to provide a space to sell, for instance, second hand clothing, crafts, paintings etc., and therefore have a space to build their own portfolio and CV in order to reach up to employment in other areas. They will be encourages to take up projects together with native youngsters, like organising an event or a special weekend. Besides the business side of the meeting place, the cafe will focus on integration, learning the local language and customs, preparing the youth for education or work. A strong focus will lie on what the youth CAN do in stead of what they lack or can’t (yet) do.
Cafe Europe provides a safe place to gain working experience, learn the local language and customs for young migrants and refugees by working together with local youth (organisations). This can either be a first stepping stone to getting into school, finding a job or to start their own business. It is vital for young refugees and migrants to have such a place to develop themselves because statistically speaking, a large part of refugees and migrants never reach the line of becoming financially independent. Many of them remain dependent on benefits of the government for their entire life even though most of them would like more than to become financially independent and run their own lives. It is a shame that this is not the reality in
Europe yet but the project Cafe Europe wants to give the same opportunities to migrants and refugees that the native European people have. The same opportunities for everybody to become financially independent and to make the most of their own lives. This will give them a much stronger position in society and to find their own network that they can built on further. The participants of this project will be taught how to run projects themselves and also the entrepreneurial skills to further maximise their own talents, for example on how to sell their art, cooking etc. They will be encouraged to find out what their dreams are and to make a plan on how to make this come true. Everybody that has worked in the cafe will be asked to give something back to the community, for example help future youth migrants and refugees that enter the country through this cafe by becoming a volunteer later on. This will create a cycle of a revolving project that will continue long after the grant and the project period from Erasmus+ has ended. The grant from Erasmus+ will function as a catalyst, to help the project partners to initiate this great project for the youth migrants and refugees in Europe. The Cafe Europe in each country can function as a social enterprise on its own after the project period.

We will work together in project with 7 partners from The Netherlands, Greece, Czech Republic and Turkey. We will develop:
1. How to set up a Cafe Europe (handbook for anyone who would like to create a Cafe Europe)
2. How to support newcomers working in a Cafe Europe (handbook for youth workers and volunteers that coordinate the cafe and coach/mentor the newcomers/youth)
3. How to get most out of my Cafe Europe experience (training course for newcomers and native youth)
4. Online platform (for presenting the online training content course for newcomers and native youth, but also the handbook for the youth workers and volunteers and the handbook on how to set up a Cafe Europe)

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 361860 Eur

Project Coordinator

STICHTING INCUBATOR & Country: NL

Project Partners

• InBáze, z. s.
• OMILOS GIA TIN UNESCO PIREOS & NHSON
• AINTEK SYMVOULOI EPICHEIRISEON EFARMOGES YPSILIS TECHNOLOGIAS EKPAIDEFSI ANONYMI ETAIREIA
• Kocaeli Kulturel Gelisim ve Dayanisma Dernegi
• Guydolph Dijkstra
• Gysbert Bergsma