Digital Tools for Inclusion of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants Erasmus Project

Project Title

Digital Tools for Inclusion of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants

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: Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal); New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Integration of refugees

Project Summary

Newly arrived migrants to the EU along with their families demonstrate a series of complicated needs during their inclusion process. The European Adult Education Providers (AEPs) still need to respond to a diverse range of learners from different ethnic, cultural, language or religious backgrounds. Inclusive education requires the participation of all stakeholders (teachers, parents, policy-makers, NGOs, etc.) to resolve policy, attitude, environmental and resource barriers that might exclude vulnerable learners within each unique situation.
Taking under consideration the above arguments, the Digital Inclusion project aimed to:
• Strengthen the cooperation and networking between AEPs, research centres and public bodies from countries most affected by the refugees’ crisis;
• Test and implement innovative practices in the field of education and training of specific target groups;
• Better prepare and deploy the education and training of professionals for equity, diversity and inclusion challenges in the learning environment;
• Promote the integration of refugees, asylum seekers and newly arrived migrants and raise awareness about the refugee crisis in Europe;
• Encourage the utilization of Open Educational Resource (OER) to give access to education and digital training tools to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
The project’s objectives have been achieved by implementing the planned activities transnationally, as the cross-border cooperation is a key factor towards the resolution of the refugee crisis at national and European level. Multi-disciplinary and inter-agency approach in various activities were adopted by emphasizing on inclusive education and training of migrants and refugees, in collaboration with experts from countries most affected by the crisis.
The consortium gathered together 8 organisations from 6 European countries, each of them with specific expertise in the Adult Education field. Transnational cooperation between public and private sector was formed to ensure sustainability of the project outputs.
The whole project duration was 24 months, calculated in order to implement correctly the planned action and achieve the project objectives. Main activities were the development of Intellectual Outputs, trainings, dissemination events, creation of cross-border cooperation Network, web portal and project social group.The partners involved directly in local trainings, using OER, 150 migrants, refugees and asylum seekers with a legal status in the 6 project countries. Key professionals in the AE field, such as: adult educators, social workers, mediators, coaches and career counselors were addressed by training material produced with free access in 6 European languages. Total of 139 participants assisted to the celebrated international multiplier event in Madrid, and total of 176 people attended local/regional/national multiplier events, implemented in the 6 partner countries in the final Project phase. The project website received approximately 13.000 visits until the end of August 2018, and the cross-border cooperation Network has been joined by 37 organisations – members from 8 countries for the same period. These outputs will continue to be in place for at least 5 years after the project end.
The methodological approach taken by Digital Inclusion was of common decision making procedure, adopting the initiative of regular exchange of information aiming to ensure that all consortium members were involved in the project’s progress, being aware of specific strengths of particular partners. The working methodology established an organic approach where the local and transnational activities were in constant exchange and nourished each other at various stages of the project, while the planned dissemination ensured its success and sustainability.
The results and outputs of the Digital Inclusion project have introduced innovative education and training methods according to the ET 2020 framework. The OER developed will provide training opportunities for refugees/migrants not only residing in the 6 partner countries, but also to those in other European regions, thanks to the dissemination strategy targeting AEPs from the 28 Member States in the following 5 years. Crucial innovative element was the overall assessment of the acquired skills by a test, which the learners from the target groups have to pass to obtain ECTS credits. The delivered certificate is valid for all European countries, as part of the life-long education, being essential for the migrants’ continuous professional development in the European Union.
Project’s added value on a long term process will be the reduction of low-skilled migrants by providing high quality digital training in different European territories. The Digital Inclusion Project was complementary to the efforts of the European Commission to undertake activities aimed at inclusion, combating radicalization and supporting migrants and refugees in their integration process.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 145372 Eur

Project Coordinator

CONSEJERIA DE POLITICAS SOCIALES Y FAMILIA COMUNIDAD DE MADRID & Country: ES

Project Partners

• EDEX – EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE CORPORATION LIMITED
• CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
• Hildburghäuser Bildungszentrum e. V.
• Sant’Andrea apostolo della carità
• Union of south-east region local authorities
• CENTRE FOR ADVANCEMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY LTD-CARDET
• ASOCIACIÓN CULTURAL DE AYUDA DE LA COMUNIDAD DE SAN EGIDIO DE ESPAÑA