Τhis project is designed from Youth Workers, working in 5 NGOs in 6 different European Cities. All of them have experience in working with displaced people and individuals with fewer opportunities (incl. refugees/migrants/unemployed/NEETs/young people), enabling their skills’ empowerment. The purpose of this project is to enable the exchange of good-case practices between these NGOs and promote solidarity through voluntary actions and awareness events. The partners focus in the field of education and social inclusion, what’s more using technological tools (either using formal or non-formal practices), and innovative approaches. At once, they decided they want to interact with like-minded professionals and enhance the programs & services, in order to to match two main needs and contexts: the demand for digital skills in the EU labor market and the need of vulnerable to have equal access to opportunities in education and employment. In this way they will be able to give back their community and get included. The idea was created from the approval and successful steps of the MIGRACODE in Spain (Project ID: 2018-3-ES02-KA205-012299) (realization of 1 coding cohort, after SHA’s capacity building activity) and the willingness of more NGOs, to replicate its scope in their local communities, by starting a new Coding School (OCC Greece/MODE Foundation) or amending the running one (SHA/OCC ES/Borders None/Konnexio). The expansion of MIGRACODE network will enable the implementation of good-case practices that will be generated through Project’s Activities and enhancement of the educational programs provided for refugees, migrants, unemployed people, in 6 European Countries in the beginning and in more, in the future. In the project’s activities, training and employment agencies, certification authorities, VET providers (associate partners of the consortium) will contribute in accelerating labour market integration of youth, by sharing good-case practices and ideas. In order to boost this exchange of knowledge, we have planned transnational meetings, in order to track the progress of the projects and outputs’ realization and ensure the equal participation and contribution of all partners. We have designed 4 short-term training events, that will cover different but important aspects of social integration and IT Industry: Gender Equality, Employability & Hiring Processes Standardization, Increase of Graduation Rate through the coding curricula and Nurture of Entrepreneurial Traits). 12 Youth Workers will participate in each activity, 2 from each partner (DIRECT BENEFICIARIES) and 800 beneficiaries (refugees/asylum seekers/migrants, aged 18-50 that have work permit in EU) will be engaged in these activities in their local communities, by participating in the amended educational programs (INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES) The objectives of the project are: - To promote quality youth work as a way to assist vulnerable people to regain their confidence, and enforce its practices in order to serve more beneficiaries - To better understand the needs of refugees and align IT innovative educational programs upon them, in order to develop their skills and indeed help them - To standardize and automate the graduation rate and recruitment process of students, upon their graduation from the coding classes. - To enhance the employability of students by: 1) Aligning the digital skills curricula taught, with EU IT Certifications Standards (ex. ECDL), 2) Nurture the sense of initiative and entrepreneurial traits among them, 3) Creating a strategy for Career Days and Networking events with students and tech recruiters - To implement non-formal education practices, when teaching them hard & soft skills - To boost gender equality among employees in tech companies - To create open source curricula and portfolio of IT Projects, that can be used by all EU Countries - To strengthen the community and network of the organizations of the consortium, by engaging stakeholders, such as companies, foundation, local authorities and European Partners - To ensure sustainability and dissemination of project results, the Strategic Partnership foresees conferences al local, national and European level, as well as designs jointly a follow-up strategy to expand the teaching and employability model across Europe - To empower 10 local NGOs in the next 5 years to open up a coding schools for migrants themselves , following the example of the partners, already running it Moreover, through this project, the skills of the youth workers and educational leaders participating in the activities, will be developed and new professional competences will be acquired, that are needed in the competitive job market. In disseminating projects’ results we will engage local and international media, tech companies and NGOs in not only 6 EU Cities but across EU, by sharing the good-case practices produced, through reports/handbooks and open-source platforms.
The general set objectives of the project were: The exchange of good case practices between the partner NGOs. The implementation of good case practices in supporting and accelerating labour insertion and social inclusion of the beneficiaries. To support and promote the development of youth workers on acquiring skills, knowledge, and experience assisting vulnerable groups To improve social inclusion by opening new opportunities for unaccompanied minors, refugees, asylum seekers, unemployed, women, to develop their skills and design their career paths To better understand the needs of refugees and align IT innovative educational programs with them The specific objectives set were: → To enhance the employability of the students/beneficiaries by : Αligning digital skills curricula taught with EU IT Certifications Standards to enable graduates to prove their skills and help them secure a job opportunity Nurture the sense of initiative / entrepreneurial skills Create a Strategy for Career Days/Networking events with students and tech recruiters Create an open-source program of employability skills training to be delivered to the beneficiaries → To develop and implement non-formal educational practices that can be implemented in the course provided for the beneficiaries to better understand the material taught. → To promote/boost gender equality in the IT sector and enable labour insertion for migrant women in tech industry → Strengthen the Migracode consortium and the collaboration with stakeholders (companies, foundations, local authorities, etc.) to make the hiring process of the graduates more efficient.
The consortium applied for this project aiming to address two main needs. The first one was the development and expansion of digital skills in the EU labour market, through carrying out specialised technical courses. The second was the need to support the employability and inclusion of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers, by providing free-of-charge courses, encouraging them to develop skill sets and facilitate their insertion into the workforce. The collaborating institutions also aimed to exchange knowledge, experience and know hows by collaborating on this project and exchanging best practices.