Project Description

More than a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe in 2015, compared with just 280,000 the year before. The scale of the crisis continues, with more than 135,000 people arriving in the first two months of 2016.In order to respond effectively to the current refugee crisis, EU policies are constantly changing. Newly arrived migrants along with their families demonstrate a series of complicated needs during their inclusion process. One crucial element which will contribute to their social inclusion to the EU societies is their integration to the labour market.The Digital Inclusion project focuses on the priority of Inclusive education, training and youth. The European Adult Education Providers (AEPs) currently 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 proposal aims 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 OER to give access to education and digital training tools to migrants, refugees and asylum seekersThe project’s objectives could be achieved only by implementing the proposed activities transnationally, as the cross-border cooperation is a factor towards the resolution of the refugee crisis at national and European level.

Multi-disciplinary and inter-agency approach in various activities will be 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 brings together 8 organisations from 6 EU countries, each of them with specific expertise in the AE field. The transnational cooperation between public and private sector was formed to ensure sustainability of the project outputs. The whole project duration is 24 months, calculated in order to implement correctly the planned action and achieve the project objectives. Main activities will be the development of IOs, trainings, dissemination events, creation of cross-border cooperation Network, web portal and project social group.The partners will directly involve in local trainings, using OER, 150 newly arrived migrants, refugees and asylum seekers with a legal status in the EU.

Key professionals in the AE field, such as: adult educators, social workers, mediators, coaches and career counselors will be also addressed by training material produced with free access in 6 EU languages. Total of 125 direct beneficiaries will assist to international multiplier event. The methodological approach taken by Digital Inclusion to achieve the project’s objectives is one of common decision making procedure, adopting the initiative of regular exchange of information aiming to ensure that all consortium members are involved in the project’s progress, being aware of specific strengths of particular partners. The working methodology establishes an organic approach where the local and transnational activities are in constant interexchange and nourish each other at the various stages of the project, while dissemination ensures its success and sustainability.The results and outputs of the Digital Inclusion project will introduce 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 EU regions, thanks to the planned dissemination strategy targeting AEPs from the 28 MS. Crucial innovative element is the overall assessment of the acquired skills by exams test, which all trainees have to pass to obtain ECTS credits. The recognition of the delivered certificate will be valid for all EU countries, as part of the life-long education, being essential for the migrants’ continuous professional development in the EU.Project’s added value on a long term process is the reduction of low-skilled migrants by providing high quality digital training at different European territories.The proposal is complementary to the efforts of the European Commission to undertake activities aimed at inclusion, combating radicalization and supporting migrants and refugees according to the 2016 Call Programme Guide of Erasmus+.