This Partnership Project wants to improve the work amongst refugees/immigrants in the different partnership countries with the aim to get a faster, efficient and rational integration process. Many immigrants has by natural cause low skills in language in their new countries. To make it possible for them to faster step into the educational system and the labor market they must improve their basic language skills and also the knowledge about their new countries cultural and civic system.The organizations in this project have similar problem. We need to be more efficient in the integration work with immigrants and one way forward is to compare how we work and take the best of each other. The word immigrants pertain here both newly arrived refugees and immigrants which of different reasons not have been integrated despite several years in their new country and in many cases have fallen in to passivity. The project partners works in different contexts and have different skills amongst the staff so each partners have their own pieces to a jigsaw puzzle. We can use our collective knowledge to improve the integration work. The project will also build up a, for every country specific, "first step information" to the newly arrived immigrants given by their own fellow countrymen to avoid misunderstandings in the information flow. That information will also contain different kind of informal and formal learning and give tools to further education. It is important that municipalities and organizations establish a trustworthy contact and dialogue with the immigrants so link persons, i.e. staff who can speak the immigrant’s language and have knowledge of their cultural background is very important for this kind of work.Many of the immigrants suffer from different trauma due to war and family tragedies and organization and municipalities need more staff with knowledge in these issues and we can find this kind of education competence inside this project. It has in recent year been increased problems with young adults suffering from psychological instability and living without future dreams in multicultural areas in the cities. The project partners want to improve the way to meet these individuals in an adequate way and find ways to make them to full citizens in the society. Immigrants has of course diverse backgrounds and the big flow of refugees inside Europe is another reason for a European cooperation. If one project partner has worked with refugees with a specific origin in an particularly way can the others take part of that. The way of work with the target group will contain adult learning, informal adult learning, courses containing civic information, health issues, parenting and family learning, guidance towards the labor market but also opportunities to work training. The importance of active citizenship as part of lifelong learning is being increasingly recognized in education and training so the work with the target group should also be done in the neighborhoods where the social life is ongoing.The project is focused on problems affecting both individuals and families, to motivate them to overcome the challenges which life throws at them. It is also important that differences and similarities is used in the integration work and that the migrants own culture and values is fully respected. In this partnership each partner organization will analyze the understanding and practice of the Active European Citizenship among the target group.This partnership brings together organizations of various scope from diverse European regions and it evolves around the idea that each participating institutions needs of having direct access to knowledge of other European cultures in a true-to-life environment enabling them to promote the European values, involving both staff and learners.The projects objective is to create a more efficient integration process through:- Provide basic skills and language courses to immigrants and simultaneously give civic information to make them prepared for further studies and job.- Educate new instructors and improve the competence amongst earlier educated staff. - Reach and start trustful communication with immigrant in their neighborhoods with assistance of link persons.- Identify, build relations and include people who is suffering from war trauma and mental instability, also them who are not in studies, in labor market or in active social life.- Involve more volunteers and NGOs in the work.
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.