The overall goal of MiGROW was to promote inclusion and diversity in the European society. Within the framework of our project, we focused on the area of education and training of young refugees. We viewed promotion of mental strength and self-efficacy as a crucial factor for happy and successful integration stories. The specific objectives of our project were: - to offer workshops on different topics to strengthen general self-efficacy - to develop an innovative training program on empowerment of young refugees - to create awareness on support and participation opportunities in the European Union - to establish an EU-wide network to support the holistic integration of young refugees Through the project our target group should learn how to care for their mental health and improve different key competences (social, entrepreneurial etc.) that contribute to active citizenship. This should further raise the quality of life and contribute to a holistic integration. All participating organisations already pursued the goal of empowerment of refugees and migrants in their countries with different approaches and projects. The cooperation should offer new opportunities to make their own services even more holistic.
The living and experiential space of young refugees is characterized by factors that potentially threaten mental well-being. Arriving in a new society, experiences of discrimination, identity development processes, uncertainty about their professional future, etc. - the mental challenges are manifold. Furthermore, young refugees usually lack information and know-how about non-formal learning opportunities such as offered by ERASMUS+, ESK and national support services for improved participation and active citizenship. Contrary to its relevance, the topic of mental strength (self-efficacy) is underrepresented in the wide range of services for the target group. Access to our training was associated with low barriers and offered opportunities for participation depending on individual readiness. Young refugees are often part of deficit-oriented societies in their host countries. In our project, we followed a resource-oriented approach to support the strengthening of the self-worth. Self-efficacy is to be regarded as a core element of mental health and thus essential for general life satisfaction. The general aim of all our activities was to train general self-efficacy, which subsequently means an increase or sustainable maintenance.