CONTEXT: The Europe 2020 goals for a more inclusive Europe with higher social integration and community cohesion are more important than ever in light of increasing societal tension, linked to the economic crisis, immigration & refugee crisis and increasing multi-ethnicity communities etc. INCLUDE ME recognises that by educating migrants and refugees as well as HE providers, community activists and workers, in mediation skills we can play a substantial, positive role in changing social dynamics. OBJECTIVES & ACTIVITIES: The Project aims to empower learners, activists and migrants to become peer-to-peer mediators in their communities and their wider area through: - undertaking EU wide research to identify the skills, opportunities and best practices on social mediation across Europe and publishing a Good Practice Guide of the findings - developing a set of Open Education Resources IO2 to deliver mediation skills training to learners and volunteers in creative, dynamic ways; allowing them to maximise inclusion through mediation. - producing the Include ME MOOC which will engage high number of volunteers, migrants and stakeholders, allowing them to learn in flexible and adaptive new ways. PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS: INCLUDE ME will involve Participants from a number of different target Groups: Higher Education providers, HE educators, Community leaders and activists, local community development NGO and migrant support groups will participate in the research and compilation of our Good Practice Guide. Teachers, trainers and adult/community educators will use our Inclusion Through Mediation OERs to deliver innovative teaching and training to individuals interested in using mediation to resolve community tensions. HE & Adult educators, community activists, refugees/migrants and community support workers will use our MOOC to build their conflict resolution, mediation and social inclusion skills and understanding. RESULTS: Output 1: INCLUSION THROUGH MEDIATION Good Practice Guide (UBSF) will introduce the concept of conflict and tension resolution via mediation to stakeholders (HEI providers, educators, community leaders and activists, local support groups) and outline it’s capacity to integrate refugee and other disadvantaged persons into the wider community. Output 2: Inclusion Through Mediation Open Education Resources will encourage teachers, trainers and adult/community educators to use a systematic approach to integrate mediation education into their organization’s continued learning curriculum. As a direct result of the development of this IO and during the project, 12 educators will be upskilled in mediation, they will then go on to train and empower 32 learners, community volunteers in mediation and communication skills as part of the pilot testing. Output 3: INCLUDE ME Massive Open Online Course will be a user-friendly and basic platform (to allow for those with minimal digital competence), it will provide a place for learning as well as peer connection and networking. The MOOC will be piloted tested by 64 users during the lifetime of the project, and this number will increase to hundreds after the project has ended. IMPACT: Through using the INCLUDE ME resources, hundreds of individuals will be the empowered to view conflict resolution as an individual task which we can all take responsibility for. Users will gain vital knowledge, skills and self-esteem, which will be useful for their personal life and career development. Socially excluded groups and their representatives (community leaders and activists), who face diversity and challenges, will be provided with new tools and techniques to encourage understanding and build open communication, thereby enable communities to increase social inclusion and community cohesion in the longer term.
The IncludeMe project had clear objectives, namely to empower learners, activists and migrants to become peer-to-peer mediators in their communities and the wider area. During the project time, we identified the skills, opportunities and best practices by which learners, activists and migrants can be empowered to become peer-to-peer mediators in their communities and their wider area. We conducted EU-wide research to identify good practices in intercultural mediation across Europe, which resulted in the first output - the IncludeMe Good Practice Guide. We developed the IncludeMe Open Education Resources, the second output of the project, to deliver these skills to learners and volunteers in creative and dynamic ways; allowing them to maximise inclusion through the use of mediation. In addition, we developed and produced the IncludeMe MOOC; aiming to maximise scalability by engaging high numbers of relevant stakeholders, volunteers, learners and migrants, and allowing them to learn in flexible and adaptive new ways.
In 2021, the UNHCR stated that there were 89.3 million people who were forcibly displaced as a result of conflicts, violence and human rights violations. In light of increasing societal tension, linked to the economic crisis, immigration and refugee crisis and increasing multi-ethnicity communities, the Europe 2020 goals for a more inclusive Europe with higher social integration are more important than ever. However, not enough attention has been paid to the local patterns of distress being experienced and the long-term health impact and psychosocial consequences of the various forms of violence against individuals, communities, or specific ethnic groups. Mediation is a tool which is underutilised by many countries, communities and wider education, the reason being a lack of understanding and education surrounding this topic. The Inclusion Through Mediation project aimed to empower learners, activists and migrants to become peer-to-peer mediators in their communities and the wider area. We identified the skills, opportunities and best practices by which learners, activists and migrants can be empowered to become peer-to-peer mediations in their communities and developed OER to deliver these skills to learners and volunteers.