The VOLUME project is addressing volunteers who care about unaccompanied minors as a primary target group. The overall objective is to provide them with key competences that are needed to care about unaccompanied minors in an appropriate way. To reach this objective, the project will develop a training platform with training modules for volunteers, covering relevant topics like i.e. reception and housing, education and training, health and wellbeing, family reunification and legal framework. The training platform might as well be used by professionals seeking non-formal training opportunities in this field of activity. The final content and structure of the training modules and the curriculum will be basing on the outcomes of a need analysis conducted in the project prior to the content development. The modular structure of the training platform will enable learners and educators to individually choose from topics relevant to their respective activities. Learners will be able to assess and validate their learning outcomes with open digital badges. Moreover, apart from delivering self-directed non-formal learning opportunities for the primary target groups, the project is as well addressing educators who are implementing training courses for volunteers (and professionals seeking for non-formal training) seeking for appropriate training material that can be combined with face-to-face seminars and on-line workshops. To meet their demands, the project is going to develop and disseminate a blended learning curriculum that can be combined with the VOLUME training modules. The number of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the EU increased dramatically reaching a total of 100.000 minors in 2015. With a high number of unaccompanied minors waiting in entry states like Greece for being distributed to other EU countries, or entering the EU in the upcoming periods due to many unsolved conflicts throughout the world, the issue will be remaining on the agenda of both political and societal level in Europe and its member states. In most EU countries receiving refugees and migrants, volunteers play a significant role in the support of unaccompanied minors. They act as legal guardians, accompany minors in their school education or initial vocatineeded onal training, host minors in their homes or look after their health and safety. Volunteers often form a specific role in the lives of unaccompanied minors who are mostly missing relatives, belonging to the few adults that are able to find an individual personal access to them. Within this special role there are numerous i.e. social, psychological, or educational skills to be me the volunteers. Other than professional staff they are not entitled for further training in most cases, so that they have to look for educational opportunities themselves. This clearly expresses the demand for individual training opportunities for volunteers supporting unaccompanied minors. There is a demand as well for for professionals working in related areas, seeking for non-formal training opportunities that can be combined with their daily work obligations. According to European studies, a common challenge reported in the fields of caring about unaccompanied minors is the lack of specialised and trained staff. Target groups of the project include volunteers caring about unaccompanied minors, volunteer coordinators, professionals in this field of activity seeking for non-formal training, and staff and decision makers in adult education and other educational and social sectors. The medium to long-term impact of the project on teaching staff will be to strengthen their methodological skills and abilities. The impact on the participating organisations will be to have better trained staff in an area of competence which is a key issue to providing educational quality at a very broad term. An impact in the participating organisations at medium to long term will be achieved by strengthening the methodological skills through the application of training platform and the blended learning curriculum. This will be due within the participating organisations where staff will be strengthened in their professional development, and externally for trainers working in other relationships with volunteers and/or professionals in the field. Participants in the project will gain a new platform for the development of individual competences as regards working with their beneficiary groups at short term, and being enabled to apply and further develop further knowledge at medium and long term. The project is bringing together partners from five European countries experienced in migration and integration issues including the care for unaccompanied minors. The VOLUME project outputs will be available on the training platform as open educational resources (OER) in all partner languages (English, German, Italian and Greek). Local multiplier events and a short-term staff training will support the dissemination.
The overall aim of the VOLUME project was to improve the situation on unaccompanied minors through better trained volunteers, professionals, teachers and trainers, and other people involved into the work with unaccompanied minors. This has been achieved by providing volunteers with an open, accessible and variable learning opportunity on the VOLUME training platform (www.volumeproject.eu), where they can improve their skills needed for the work with unaccompanied minors. Additionally, the learning opportunities addresses other target groups, such as professionals in the field, who seek for non-formal training opportunities. Another achievement of the project was to enable teachers and trainers to improve their teaching skills and opportunities for the work with volunteer and/or professional staff, specifically in blended learning environments. Finally, we contributed to a better common understanding of the needs and requirements of unaccompanied minors, both for externals and for the organisations and staff involved into the project themselves.
In most EU countries receiving refugees and migrants, volunteers play a significant role in the support of unaccompanied minors. They act as legal guardians, accompany minors in their school education or initial vocational training, host minors in their homes or look after their health and safety. Volunteers often form a specific role in the lives of unaccompanied minors who are mostly missing relatives, belonging to the few adults that are able to find an individual personal access to them. Within this special role there are numerous i.e. social, psychological, or educational skills to be met by the volunteers. Other than professional staff they are not entitled for further training in most cases, so that they have to look for educational opportunities themselves. This clearly expresses the demand for individual training opportunities for volunteers supporting unaccompanied minors. According to European studies, a common challenge reported in the fields of caring about unaccompanied minors is the lack of specialised and trained staff. There is a demand as well for for professionals working in related areas, seeking for nonformal training opportunities that can be combined with their daily work obligations.