Website: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects/search/details/2019-1-UK01-KA202-061396
Start date 01-10-2019
End date 31-03-2022
Budget: 242.519,00 €
Coordinator: Restorative Justice for All International Institute cic
Partner: ICSE & CO (IT) , KINONIKES SINETERISTIKES DRASTIRIOTITESEFPATHON OMADON (EL) , CSI CENTER FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION LTD (CY) , FUNDACION ALTIUS ESPANA (ES)
Background
According to EUROSTAT, in the EU, the unemployment rate for refugees & migrants is two times more than the number of jobless national citizens. Many EU tools and policies are still not widely used, mostly due to gaps in a holistic approach, which would include skills identification, labour mapping, accreditation and employability skills training to refugees and migrants. At the same time, there is a growing perception that migrants and refugees move to new countries to gain benefits and rights they do not deserve. Their basic human right to dignity and respect is often violated.
We applied to Erasmus to carry out the Restoring Respect Project (RRP) so that we can bring together a cross-sector, strategic partnership of 5 familiar and not so familiar with Erasmus organisations to support innovation in the VET field by creating, piloting and disseminating an interactive platform and a mobile phone application tailored to the needs and realities of migrant and refugee communities in the participating project countries (the UK, Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Italy) and across Europe. Through a user-led methodology and using the values of restorative justice, RRP addressed the need for certified ecourse, toolkit and new evidences.
Objectives
The ultimate objective of RRP was to address the employment gap between established and migrant communities, while restoring the respect in migrant populations who are often viewed and treated as unqualified and unable to contribute to their host country.
For example, we intended that the RRP interactive platform and mob application will act as an early intervention programme for refugees and migrants, independently of their location. The RRP app would also provide crucial information and contacts for available social and legal counselling. More importantly b implementing the project we waned to not only assist migrants and refugees to gain recognition of their qualifications and thus enhance their employability and integration, but also help to address the bias and misconceptions about them. Research in the participating countries and across Europe suggests that when it comes to migrants and refugees, there is a public belief that they are unqualified and/or have moved to gain “benefits” that they do not deserve. We believe that RRP will gradually enhance their social inclusion and help prevent the vicious circle of misconceptions.
Implementation
In summary the following activities were implemented by all partners:
1. Project Management & Coordination (leader: RJ4ALL)
2. Quality Assurance of Outputs (leader: RJ4ALL)
3. Project Implementation Evaluation (leader: CSI)
4. Three TPMeetings (hosts: ICSE, EDRA, CSI)
5. Several Project Web-Conferencing (leader: RJ4ALL)
6. Dissemination, multiplication, sustainability (leader: ICSE)
7. Multiplier Events – Local Workshops (hosts: ICSE, EDRA, CSI)
8. Multiplier Events – International Conference (RJ4ALL)
9. Hosting of the project website and platform (leader RJ4All)
10. IO1: Development of the Refugees and Migrants Labour Skills Ecosystem and Mapping Methodological Framework (eBook) (leader EDRA)
11. IO2: Curriculum and VET Toolbox of Key Skills Acquisition Resources (leader CSI)
12. IO3: Multifunctional and Interactive Platform – Open educational & training e-resource (leader RJ4All)
13. IO4: Skills Assessment, Validation and Recognition Tools (leader FAFV)
Furthermore, RJ4All certified all courses so that participants can receive Continuous Professional Development certifications. We piloted the courses and mobile application while also carrying out research and evaluation with regards to their impact and effectiveness.
Results
– Four Intellectual outputs which included: 2 e-books, 2 Tollkits, 1 e-course and 1 mobile application.
– CPD Certification of the ecourse.
– Several management documents including but not limited to:
• Project Management Toolkit & a Sustainability Plan/ Sustainability Record
• Memorandum of Understanding and Code of Contact.
• Quality Assurance & Evaluation Plan.
• 1 User Scrutiny Panel
• 3 Evaluation Reports including feedback from the User Scrutiny Panel
• Dissemination and Dissemination Log including of social media posts
• 3 TPMs and several online Meetings.
Several communication results including but not limited to:
• Dedicated project website https://restoringrespect.info/ as well as a dedicated project page https://www.rj4all.info/RRP
• Development of the project’s identity/ logo.
• Distribution of at least 1000 project leaflets
• RRP communicated to 20,000 organizations and experts
• 4 Press Releases and 4 Newsletters
• Multipliers in all participating countries
• Several Social Media accounts and posts as well as 2 promotional videos
