Newcomers in the kitchen Erasmus Project
General information for the Newcomers in the kitchen Erasmus Project
Project Title
Newcomers in the kitchen
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 2017
Project Topics
This project is related with these Project Topics: Migrants’ issues; Integration of refugees; Inclusion – equity
Project Summary
Context/background
In the last years, many people from the Middle East and North Africa came to Europe, to live and to work. They face serious problems. Also 2nd and 3d generation children have problems with their integration. Results are unemployment, bad education and criminality. The paradox is that among these groups, there are potential valuable workforces, where European population is aging and even shrinking.
Objectives
Main objective is to improve the integration of newcomers in the VET system and to prepare them for a better position in the Western society.
Other objectives are:
– To inform teachers and school managements about the NIK project, with the idea that NIK will become a regular part of the school program
– To make local/regional authorities more aware of the integration problem and the solution which NIK can offer and to let them put the topic “integration” on their agenda.
– To establish cooperation between the partners authorities and political makers, and also between the European countries (with the guidelines for creating a cross sectoral network)
– To develop the understanding for each other (culture, society) as it can be developed in the future (with all created IO material, such as e-learning material, guidelines for cooking events
for a Multiplier Event and the game.
Number and profile participants
We had the following groups of participants:
1. VET students and newcomers. They participated in the cooking events and used together the NIK game. The age from the VET students was between 17 and 20. Variation in age among the newcomers was bigger: between 14 and 30.
Number: 150-200
2. Teachers and school management: Directly involved teachers discussed the project with colleagues, the same for school management.
Number: 50
3. Local/regional authorities and organisations: 150-200
4. Other interested people were reached via 6 Newsletters and the website.
Newsletters: 250
Website www.newcomerkitchen.eu: more than 7000 unique visitors.
Activities
The project had 4 intellectual outputs:
IO 1: Manuals for setting up a network, for publications and for dissemination.
IO 2: Manual for making effective e-learning materials.
IO 3: Designing and implementing the NIK game
IO 4: Manual for organising cooking events.
All outputs were placed on the website and in the Dropbox.
Apart of the IOs, NIK had 4 TPMs. Due to COVID19, the last one was online.
Also 5 cooking events and 5 multiplier events were organised
Results an impact attained
The website gives a good impression of the results: All manuals from the IOs are uploaded. The same for the Newsletters and the recipes. If there is a connection between the impact and the number of unique visitors (7000) then we are optimistic. On school level, managements have decided to continue with the project and in some schools, it has become an integrated part of the school program.
Impact can be described as follows:
– Students, newcomers and teachers are enthusiastic about the materials and activities and trained in the use of it.
– School management looks for possibilities to integrate the project in the regular school program and to use it for promotion of the school, also for newcomers. National Multiplier Events were good moments to interest other schools.
– Support of the integration of Newcomers, by national/regional authorities which have put the “Integration”- topic on their agendas.
Potential longer-term benefits
The user-friendly structure of the game (no language, no complicated instruction) invites for further extension among VET schools, and active participation of Newcomers.
More qualified Newcomers will enter the labour market. But that will be really on the longer term.
EU Grant (Eur)
Funding of the project from EU: 271350 Eur
Project Coordinator
Stichting Clusius College & Country: NL
Project Partners
- Tartu Art School
- bildungsmarkt e.v.
- Associazione 2050
- Anders Ljungstedts Gymnasium
- ODENSE KOMMUNE
- Just Game IT B.V.
- Kuressaare Ametikool