Transparent qualifications for boosting the quality of services addressed to asylum seekers and refugees Erasmus Project

Project Title

Transparent qualifications for boosting the quality of services addressed to asylum seekers and refugees

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 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality Assurance; Migrants’ issues; Recognition, transparency, certification

Project Summary

Nowadays, a great number of services and organisations for the protection of Asylum Seekers and Refugees (ASRs) are active in reception centres across Europe. The profession of “ASR operator” has much to offer in these services, not only providing help with the practicalities but also inclusive responses to the complex needs of ASRs. However, in most EU countries there are not any formal recognition of the ASR operators’ skills and competences and there are not any specific registries/accredited boards or quality professional labels, although their capacities are largely contributing to the success of the protection system for ASRs.
With activities implemented in four EU countries, that is Italy, Greece, Spain and Sweden, QUASER aimed at providing a shared intervention model and the related tools to assure the transparency and recognition of the qualifications of ASR operators, to facilitate their employability and mobility and to improve the quality of services provided in reception centres.
The QUASER project tackled these issues. The project partners at first identified the typical work processes implemented in reception centres asking directly to approximately 100 ASR operators about their work conditions, typical processes and activities. Then, they developed a full set of qualifications prototypes for the three main professional profiles which were identified in the four partner countries; these profiles are the ASR Reception Officer, the Professional and the Coordinator. The qualifications prototypes were designed embedding ECVET’s approach and solutions, so to make them easily transferable to other sectors, or EU countries. Finally, the QUASER partners developed an integrated set of tools that facilitate the identification of ASR operators’ prior non-formal and informal learning and help speed up the matching process between existing knowledge, skills, competences (KSCs) and the original QUASER Professional Qualification Prototypes. Also, a specific training programme was designed to provide consistent learning resources to fill possible knowledge gaps.
The entire set of results was validated in 20 pilot sites in the partner countries, involving 55 pilot users. Their feedback, together with the suggestions and inputs collected from other stakeholders involved in local as well as in transnational multiplier events, were used to fine-tune the results and draft the recommendations to support the further development of common qualifications for ASR operators. All project results are available on the website: http://www.quaser-asr.eu.
The project was coordinated by the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” (I), with specific academic competence in desk and field research, action-research, about the topics of inclusive education, adult learning, distance learning (among others), and expertise in the coordination of transnational projects. The other beneficiaries were Finance & Banking, Associazione per lo Sviluppo Organizzativo e delle Risorse Umane (I), CITTALIA – Centro Europeo di Studi e Ricerche per i Comuni e le Città – Fondazione di Ricerche dell’ANCI (I), DIMITRA Education & Consulting S.A. (EL), Reception and Identification Service, Greek Ministry of Migration Policy (EL), Inercia Digital S.L. (ES), Folkuniversitetet Stiftelsen Kursverksamheten Vid Uppsalauniversitet (SE). With remarkable experiences in different fields, ranging from Quality assurance in training, to inclusive learning measures, to elearning, to networking at local level and and at international scale, these organisations were strongly committed to mobilise their complementary competences and know-how to achieve the planned results.
In particular, QUASER generated a positive impact on reception centres and ASR operators in terms of:
– Awareness: the ability to accurately assess one’s potential and abilities and adapt them to changes in the context. At the end of the project, the beneficiaries succeeded in making their abilities transparent, linking them to the constantly evolving social and professional, regulatory and economic environment.
– Improvement of working conditions: the self-assessment and self-positioning processes allowed operators to better manage, even by adapting them, the methods and the
professional approaches, for the benefit of the ASRs in the reception facilities.
– Enhancement of relationships: involved operators were able to expand their social capital and develop new opportunities for self-empowerment through the enhancement
of the identified competences and the reports activated during the project.
– Innovation: the involved operators were able to experiment different solutions with respect to their life and/or work path, trying to intercept new training or professional opportunities.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 412306 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA TORVERGATA & Country: IT

Project Partners

• STIFTELSEN KURSVERKSAMHETEN VID U-AUNIVERSITET
• RECEPTION AND IDENTIFICATION SERVICE
• Finance & Banking, Associazione per lo Sviluppo Organizzativo e delle Risorse Umane
• CITTALIA-CENTRO EUROPEO DI STUDI ERICERCHE PER I COMUNI E LE CITTA-FONDAZIONE DI RICERCHE DELL’ ANCI
• DIMITRA EKPAIDITIKI SIMVILITIKI AE
• INERCIA DIGITAL SL