In the years to come, migration into Europe will continue, and it will remain one of the main political, social and educational issues. Immigrants actively contribute to the economic, social and cultural development of European societies. Their successful integration into society in the host country is the key to maximising the opportunities of legal migration and making the most of the contributions that immigration can make to EU development. Education and training are among the most powerful tools for integration and access to them should be ensured as soon as possible. At the same time, we can observe a growing alienation between the official and highly ethical policy and big parts of the European population. The welcome culture from summer 2015 has made place for growing rejection and populism and xenophobia have increased. Therefore, only a strategy that acknowledges migration as an opportunity and integrates a value-based approach will prevent the internal disillusionment of citizens with the European project. The fact that Palermo will be the Italian Capital of Culture 2018 serves as focal point for this Strategic Partnership. The D-CULT project will contribute a constructive approach to migration in Europe. It will develop an innovative model for cultural integration of adult immigrants by bringing them to “re-build” European cultural heritage using digital communication techniques and tools. Our overall objective is to facilitate the cultural integration of new European citizens, i.e. refugees and immigrants and to increase their understanding of European history and culture and, at the same time, their communication and IT competences. The specific objectives are to develop, among others, • the modular D-CULT Toolkit for new European citizens which encourages, motivates and teaches how to collect or produce cultural objects related to the history and culture of their new living environment in digital formats (text, picture, video etc.) and to exhibit them in a Virtual Museum. The contents will be available in the languages of the partnership with additional explanations in Arabic and Pashtun in printed form, on the Internet and as mobile applications; • the D-CULT Curriculum for adult education trainers with indications about the didactic design and operation of such measures; • the D-CULT Virtual Museum, which provides the IT infrastructure and IT platform to accept and exhibit the objectives that have been produced by the “artists”, i.e. the new European citizens in their cultural integration action. The Virtual Museum will support their better understanding of our European past, reduce cultural clashes and support them to understand and accept our European values; • the D-CULT Handbook which will summarize and describe the findings of the first implementations of this new social and cultural integration action in five different European states, and shows how to transfer the D-CULT Concept into other environments. This Handbook is intended to have positive impact on the integration activities in all other European countries which are also affected by the current migration and refugee situation. Our project will have a positive impact on the public opinion about the potentials and limitations for integrating refugees and immigrants. It will contribute to reverse a process in European societies that has changed from overwhelming sympathy and active support to resentment, fear or xenophobia. Ultimately, the project can lead to de-escalation and to a substantially improved situation of immigrants and refugees because they will have • better understanding (and acceptance) of the history, culture and social and religious traditions of their new home country; • better understanding of European work culture and gender equality; • increased level of literacy, numeracy and IT competences; • better communication skills; and therefore increased chances for their social and professional integration and development. The target groups for our project are trainers in adult education, key actors for basic skills and language training and from refugee organisations and other organisations dealing with the administration and integration of refugees and immigrants. The ultimate beneficiaries are refugees and immigrants who need support in their social and cultural integration process in their new European home country. The project fits into the common underlying strategy of the partners insofar as the concept is in line with their overall research or educational activities and programmes. The transnational cooperation of partners, the majority of them working in social research and/or as vocational training providers, will enrich the quality of the results and will render them immediately applicable for exploitation.
In the years to come, migration into Europe will continue, and it will remain one of the main political, social and educational issues. Immigrants actively contribute to the economic, social and cultural development of European societies. Their successful integration into society in the host country is the key to maximising the opportunities of legal migration and making the most of the contributions that immigration can make to EU development. Education and training are among the most powerful tools for integration and access to them should be ensured as soon as possible. At the same time, we can observe a growing alienation between the official and highly ethical policy and big parts of the European population. The welcome culture from summer 2015 has made place for growing rejection and populism and xenophobia have increased. Therefore, only a strategy that acknowledges migration as an opportunity and integrates a value-based approach can prevent the internal disillusionment of citizens with the European project. The fact that Palermo has been the Italian Capital of Culture 2018 has served as focal point for this Strategic Partnership. The D-CULT project contributes a constructive approach to migration in Europe. It has developed an innovative model for cultural integration of adult immigrants by bringing them to “re-build” European cultural heritage using digital communication techniques and tools. D-CULT overall objective is to facilitate the cultural integration of new European citizens, i.e. refugees and immigrants and to increase their understanding of European history and culture and, at the same time, their communication and IT competences. Its specific objectives has been to develop, among others, • the modular D-CULT Toolkit for new European citizens which encourages, motivates and teaches how to collect or produce cultural objects related to the history and culture of their new living environment in digital formats (text, picture, video etc.) and to exhibit them in a Virtual Museum. The contents are currently available in the languages of the partnership (Italian, Spanish, German and Slovenian plus English) with additional explanations in Arabic and Pashto in printed form, on the Internet and adapted for mobile web browsers; • the D-CULT Curriculum for adult education trainers, with indications about the didactic design and operation of such measures; • the D-CULT Virtual Museum, which provides the IT infrastructure and IT platform to incorporate and exhibit the works that have been produced by the “artists”, i.e. the new European citizens in their cultural integration action. The Virtual Museum supports their better understanding of our European past, reduces cultural clashes and supports them to understand and accept our European values; • the D-CULT Handbook which summarises and describes the findings of the first implementations of this new social and cultural integration action in five different European countries, and shows how to transfer the D-CULT Concept into other environments. This Handbook is intended to have positive impact on the integration activities in all other European countries which are also affected by the current migration and refugee situation. The D-CULT project causes a positive impact on the public opinion about the potentials and limitations for integrating refugees and immigrants. It contributes to reverse a process in European societies that has changed from overwhelming sympathy and active support to resentment, fear or xenophobia. Ultimately, the project leads to de-escalation and to a substantially improved situation of immigrants and refugees because they will have a better understanding (and acceptance) of the history, culture and social and religious traditions of their new home country; a better understanding of European work culture and gender equality; an increased level of literacy, numeracy and IT competences; better communication skills; and therefore increased chances for their social and professional integration and development. Target groups for the D-CULT project are trainers in adult education, key actors for basic skills and language training and from refugee organisations and other organisations dealing with the administration and integration of refugees and immigrants. The ultimate beneficiaries are refugees and immigrants who need support in their social and cultural integration process in their new European home country. During the project development, more than 200 participants in five partner countries have been involved.