Family education and empowerment as a way to social inclusion in Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Family education and empowerment as a way to social inclusion in 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 adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Migrants’ issues; Access for disadvantaged

Project Summary

The implemented project “FAMILY+” must be divided into the 2 phases before and during the Covid19 pandemic. This marked a decisive caesura for the course of the project. Parallel to the total lockdown of family education and (pre-)school institutions, project activities largely came to a standstill. Particularly painful was the cancellation of the 3rd TPM in Oslo, which had already been meticulously prepared by the Norwegian project partners, as well as the postponement or eventual cancellation of the LTTA in Brussels, initially planned for June 2020 and then scheduled for the fall.
The project had started promisingly in autumn 2018 with the motivated project partners* from the regions of Västra Götaland, Oslo and Baden-Württemberg (B.-W.). In several Skype conferences before the kick-off event in Stuttgart, the participants had already exchanged information about their respective practical interests and possible program points. The key terms listed in the project application were also discussed, with the following categories in particular being strongly weighted by the project partners*: Empowerment, intercultural opening, cooperation with other institutions, gender equality.
At the first TPM with 14 Scandinavian guests in Stuttgart, an effective mixture of project presentations, practical visits and excursions to city districts as well as professional discourse among the participants and with municipal and regional cooperation partners and networks came to fruition, which was also the guiding principle for the second TPM in Gothenburg.
Already before the kick-off event, the project FAMILY+ was presented by the two regional project partners at a meeting of the Network Family Education with atending members from all over B.-W. and with online connection of one Swedish and one Norwegian project partner.
During the three-day TPM in Stuttgart, the best practice presentations of the two hosts were supplemented by on-site visits with excursions in the respective districts in order to gain insights into the socio-spatial context and framework conditions of the educational offers. Other institutions were introduced, such as the Welcome Center or various family centers, which have a connection to the selected practical examples. In addition, the Department for Integration Policy presented the “Stuttgart Pact for Integration” (Bündnis für Integration).
The highlight of the TPM was the concluding conference “places, skills and resources for families – international exchange of good practice” at the Mütterzentrum Süd with other local and regional educational actors. The numerous guests were able to engage in professional discourse on the international best practices presented by all the participants at topic tables and in workshops. A cross-sectional topic across the individual fields of practice was the accessibility of and educational work with migrant families.
At the 2nd TPM in Gothenburg, the 18 guests from Oslo and B.-W. came into professional exchange with numerous experts from integration practice as well as with responsible persons from municipal / regional policy areas and institutions. The varied field excursions led to 4 different districts, 3 of them suburbs at a considerable distance from the city. During the visits to various institutions in the field of family education, informative and stimulating insights into their work and organizational forms were given, and contacts with the target group could be established on site. A focus of these visits and discussions was again and again the cooperation, but also the independence of governmental and non-governmental or civil society actors. In the end, the project “Doula and Cultural Interpreter” and the “Support Group Network” by and for refugees made a great impression.
Although the 3rd TPM in Oslo had to be cancelled at short notice due to the pandemic, a series of interviews on the project topic with the project partners who had traveled to Oslo could be conducted and published on Spotify under TODCast- The Oslo Desk – a series well worth listening to.

The final event of the project took place on November 19, 2020 as an international online conference with all participating project partners* on the current topic “Impact of the Corona Pandemic on Family Education”. Moderated by the Oslo journalist Ka Man Mak, various workshops were held to report on and discuss negative and positive changes, e.g. with regard to the accessibility of the target group and possibilities of media use, and another best practice example “Youth Ambassadors” in Oslo was presented.
In conclusion, it can be said that despite the pandemic-related limitations of the project, there was a fruitful and successful exchange among the project partners involved, which will continue to have an impact on the fields of work of the respective institutions.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 71596,58 Eur

Project Coordinator

LANDESHAUPTSTADT STUTTGART & Country: DE

Project Partners

• forum SKILL
• Mütterforum Baden-Württemberg e.V.
• OSLO KOMMUNE BYDEL 11 STOVNER
• Oslo Voksenopplæring Rosenhof
• Föreningen Kvinnocenter i Bergsjön