Integration through education and information Erasmus Project

Project Title

Integration through education and information

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: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Integration of refugees

Project Summary

The refugee situation in Europe was in focus in this project and the target group was immigrants and staff with different occupation’s working in the field. Newly arrived immigrants, but also those who of different reasons not have been integrated in the labor market and/or the society despite several years in their new country are both risk groups of falling into passivity and alienation if they not will be properly integrated in the society.
All participating organizations in the project are working with integration of immigrants, but in different contexts and ways, and exchange of knowledge and good practice will improve the work for all.
The objectives in the project was as follows:
– Providing basic skills and language courses to asylum seekers and immigrants and simultaneously give civic information to make them prepared for further studies and job.
– Recruiting and educating new instructors and improving the competences amongst earlier educated staff.
– Reaching and starting trustful communication with immigrants in their neighborhoods with assistance of link persons.
– Identifying, building relations and including people who are suffering from different traumas and mental instability.
– Involving more volunteers and NGOs in the work.
There were six participating organizations with Municipality of Linköping, Sweden, Department of Education, Section of Resource and Support coordinating the project. The Section works among other things with issues concerning adult learning, family learning, parenting and active citizenship for immigrants.
Landratsamt Enzkreis, Germany, is the district administration located in the city of Pforzheim and responsible for the refugees in the county. They cooperate with towns and villages in the region but also with social associations and volunteers’ organization engaged in support of immigrants. Rehabilitation Centre for Stress and Trauma (RCT), Zagreb, Croatia, is an organization whit expertise regarding psycho-trauma and reconciliation from the Balkan war with years of experience of project work. They have for more than 20 years worked with refugees and war affected persons and issues about mental health, but also with work concerning social inclusion and vocational skills education.
Omega – Transcultural Centre for mental for and physical health and integration – has long experience in the work with refugees and has a wide range of activities and expertise in the area.
Bilda Gårdshuset is an adult educational association which have worked for several years with immigrants in cooperation with the Municipality of Linköping. Gårdshuset´s role in the project was to show how they work, both theoretical and practical, with the target group.
Unione Val d’Enza is composed by eight Municipalities with a total amount of 62 000 inhabitants. The participants in the project have been social workers from the municipalities.
The project carried out four Learning/Teaching/Training Activities (LTT) for staff and three Transnational Project Meetings to manage the project.
The first LTT meeting in Pforzheim had a profile of learning to know each other in the project and a description of the German reception system. Second meeting was in Linköping with study visits, lectures and workshops. The study visits was in about how the municipalities Linköping and Söderköping works with refugees/immigrants and Bilda Gårdshuset showed what kind of activities the newly arrived is offered.
Third meeting was in Zagreb and had focus on trauma and the psychological aspect of war and fleeing. The participants visited an asylum camp and met the staff there.
Unione Val D Enza hosted the fourth and last meeting. Several study visits was on the agenda and also a realistic workshop how the life for a refugee can be. The participants had also the opportunity to meet refugees which narrated about their way from refugee to Italian citizen.
The difficulties with people affected by trauma have been a significant part of the project. Mainly through the LTT-week in Zagreb hosted by RCT. As a result of that work and the needs in Sweden arranged the Municipality of Linköping a conference in trauma for the region with 200 participants.
Based on the learning from Gårdshuset, Bilda, RCT developed Croatian language courses by combine language learning with learning of other skills as job search and interaction in various public institutions and important places in everyday life. Another result from the project was that a city in Unione Val D Enza started with Family Learning courses, inspired by the Family Learning work in Linköping.
Still existing after the project are e.g. psychological approaches to work with refugees, Family learning and new activity opportunities for asylum seekers which now are parts of daily work. The level of knowledge has increased in migrant related issues for the approximately 80 different persons from the participating organizations who has attended on the events.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 86825 Eur

Project Coordinator

Sektionen för resurs och stödverksamhet & Country: SE

Project Partners

• Studieförbundet Bilda sydöst
• UNIONE DEI COMUNI VAL D’ENZA
• Landratsamt Enzkreis
• REHABILITACIJSKI CENTAR ZA STRES ITRAUMU
• Omega- Transcultural Centre for mental and physical health and integration