The EU postal sector accounts for €91 billion or 0.72% of EU GDP (letter post alone accounts for €44 billion or 0.34 percent of the GDP, and the number of letters was 82 billion). Postal services play a key role in an effective and dynamic EU Single Market and they are of crucial importance to businesses and EU citizens alike. The European Commission works on improving the quality of delivery and access to postal services, and aims to complete a well-functioning Single Market for postal services. However, the postal sector is currently in a period of profound change. Technological developments, challenges to the traditional economic model, liberalization, new customer expectations and significant shifts in consumption patterns are all factors that are pushing Posts to re-invent themselves. Both employers and trade unions have recognized an increased requirement for flexibility and efficiency of the workforce. However, both sides have also recalled that efficiency should also be closely interlinked with quality of service and customer orientation based on the employees’ know-how. Indeed employees are an essential part of the unique selling opportunities that postal operators have and contribute to build trust in the contact with customers. The adaptation of skills and competences can be considered as an essential answer to manage the changes in and challenges for the sector. It is also true that EU is facing a considerable migration crisis which results in a considerable increase of third country nationals and refugees living in EU member states. All member states are struggling for their integration. More effective integration of migrants can make an important contribution to the target identified by the EU 2020 Strategy to reduce by 20 million the number of people in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion. In order to constitute a genuine instrument for the integration into society in which they live, long-term residents should enjoy equality of treatment with citizens of the Member State in a wide range of economic and social matters. Additionally, as the Commission pointed out in its Communication of 7 April 2016, “national economic and social policies will need to cater for the recent inflow of immigrants and refugees”, to provide for their immediate needs and their active participation into society. Immigrants and newly-arrived refugees face problems, including cultural and language barriers and risks of stigmatisation in education and other social activities that do prevent them from a more active participation in host societies. Within this context, it becomes critical to establish initiatives that increase social inclusion and improve the quality of delivery and access to postal services. To achieve that, our proposed project aims to provide a solution establishing a multicultural environment within the post offices and design a joint curricula, aiming at training post employees to deliver services within this multicultural environment. In any sense, immigrants in a foreign country find it difficult to live with diversity, to transact and to do business with “unknown” people in unfamiliar environments. This misunderstanding usually exists within local citizens and is generated by the lack of knowledge of the “other”. In view of this fact, Cultural Mediators as professionals will be trained to facilitate relations between local and foreign citizens and to promote reciprocal knowledge and comprehension have the ability to promote social and working inclusion aimed at favouring a positive relationship between persons of different cultural backgrounds. Our training programme is going to include soft skills and language skills and target indirectly immigrants that will learn about the post services. This results to social and professional development of our target group, embracing migrants and refugees into our societies, through social integration. The objectives of the project are summarized below: 1)Combating discrimination and stereotypes through “people to people” provision of postal service centered on a better acknowledgment of the richness of multicultural identity in Europe; 2)Foster social inclusion by organizing an environment where immigrants will feel “welcomed” and can have access to several services 3) Improve the quality of services provided to immigrants. 4)Enhance Transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications related to the postal sector. There are four main target groups that are going to be addressed: 1. Post office employees current and future 2. Local and rural societies, where social inclusion is going to be enhanced 3. Public administration and organizations that are delivering services to migrants, since they are going to be provided cost effectively within a controlled environment. 4. Immigrants population
The EU postal sector accounts for €91 billion or 0.72% of EU GDP (letter post alone accounts for €44 billion or 0.34 percent of the GDP, and the number of letters was 82 billion). Postal services play a key role in an effective and dynamic EU Single Market and they are of crucial importance to businesses and EU citizens alike. The European Commission works on improving the quality of delivery and access to postal services, and aims to complete a well-functioning Single Market for postal services. In this context the project ‘Cultural mediators in the Postal Sector” (CULMED) has achieved in piloting activities that have benefit and merit for both post organizations and third country nationals interacting with post organizations. CULMED aimed principally in matching the rising demands of post sector organizations to adapt to the rapid socio-economic and technological changes, together with the societal needs of accommodating and facilitating social inclusion of a large number of immigrants and refugees through better informed and designed public services. In this framework, all project Intellectual Outputs and outcomes have conduced in the establishment of a coherent body of knowledge and skills for post employees, immigrants and key stakeholders from both public and private sector that may support both the active social inclusion of third country nationals and increase the capacity of post organizations for informed interventions on the application of their services. The adaptation of skills and competences can be considered as an essential answer to manage the organizational changes and challenges coming from the external environment for the postal sector and in this field an essential effort has been made in the midst of the pandemic to deliver quality training to participant post employees in all program countries. Cultural Mediators as professionals has been trained so as to facilitate relations between local and foreign citizens and to promote reciprocal knowledge and comprehension, favoring a positive relationship between persons of different cultural backgrounds. The project training programs has included soft skills and language skills and targeted both post professionals and indirectly immigrants that will be able to get informed about the post services within a new culture and environment within post organizations and from better informed services. Among the main achieved project objectives are: 1) The promotion of social inclusion by facilitating active participation of third country nationals in host societies, through improved access to post services and interaction with post organizations; 2) The provision of specialised training to post employees, so at to be able to deliver quality services in a multicultural social environment; 3) Improvement of the quality of services provided to immigrants; 4) Enhancement of the transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications related to the postal sector; 5) The identification of new skills and the development of key competences for post employees, when providing services to third country nationals.