The initial research phase of the Citizen of the World project has been implemented between October 2020 and January 2021. Goal was to identify those areas in which migrants need better support from the professionals who work with them fostering their autonomy matching them with information gaps that the professionals themselves state.
The COTW State of the Art report gathers and discusses the results from this field research on migrants’ needs conducted in Sweden, Italy, Iceland and the Czech Republic. In order to better understand, which topics and knowledge gaps the COTW International Handbook for Professionals should address, partners interviewed a total of 42 migrants and 42 professionals working with them on the challenges, hurdles and needs they encounter in the thrive for active citizenship.
The period in which the interviews were conducted was one strongly influenced by the social distancing measures dure to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is why the activities mostly took place online. However, they seemed to be a good instrument to make people feel heard as participants seemed to have e strong need to talk and discuss challenges, not only strictly related to project, but also to the situation caused by the pandemic. A lack of digital skills, due to missing access to digital devices, also relating to difficulties in the access of distance learning offers as well as a general feeling of isolation from peers and the local community were identified as key challenges in this period. A further point is the situation of the labour market in Sicily in general, which has worsened with the pandemic and thus more and more people find themselves without suitable work offers.
Now the project partners are working on the creation of the IHP – International Handbook for Professionals working to empower migrants. The main topics addressed will be the creation of connections with local communities or building bridges of understanding, the digital skill enhancement of the target group as well as tools and strategies to foster employability and labour market inclusion. A further chapter will be dedicated to best practices in the field of the identified topics that have already been proven to be successful strategies in the partner countries.
The full report can be found here: https://cesie.org/en/resources/cotw-state-of-the-art-report/ .
In a further step, the Handbook contents will be adapted for an e-learning platform, which will be freely accessible to everybody around the world.
About the project
COTW – Citizen of the world is a two-year project funded by the Erasmus+ programme, KA2: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices – Strategic Partnerships for adult education.
Partners
The partnership unites 3 European organizations:
- Coordinator: Vetlanda kommun (Sweden)
- Centrum demokratického vzdělávání, z. ú. (Czech Republic)
- CESIE (Italy).
For further information
Please contact Paula Luise Goltzsche.
