Erasmus +: BLEND IN - Language, Cultural and Social Orientation for Young Refugees
(KA2 - Strategic Partnerships for youth)
BLEND IN aims to prepare and empower young refugees and migrants seeking a better life in a developed and safe community. The ultimate objective of the project is to facilitate the young refugees’ smooth integration in the countries of resettlement, prevent their social exclusion, inform on their rights and promote their autonomy, active citizenship and participation in social life and labour market.
In order to assist young refugees settle into a new community, country and society and move towards independence and self-sufficiency, and at the same time enhance the role and efficiency of refugee integration workers, the BLEND IN project will develop a comprehensive orientation toolkit, packaged in a mobile application for Android devices, orienting newly resettled young refugees and migrants into the national social, cultural and economic realities of the receiving countries. The orientation toolkit that will be developed will include basic topics in Arabic, Pashto and English such as basic language use, living and housing conditions, access to mainstream services such as health and education, access to employment, community services, keeping and sharing your cultural identity, national laws, and their rights and responsibilities.
The project will be implemented by a transnational multidisciplinary consortium of partners from Italy, Greece, Malta, Cyprus and the United Kingdom.
- Definition of common methodology for needs analysis
- Data collection through 1. Desk research and literature review on best and promising practices, guidelines, recommendations and policy papers on refugees’ orientation, 2. Focus groups/ implementing country, 1 with 10 ethnic community representatives and 1 with 10 operators. The emerging themes from the desk research and literature review will be further explored via the organisation of focus groups with operators and representatives from ethnic communities and 3. Online survey questionnaires among min. 30 operators/partner country to verify and further explore the identified challenges on refugee orientation process)
- Review of good practice and identification of content and methodology elements
- Elaboration of different kinds of reports
- Elaboration of a transnational report
- Specification of the orientation material outline, outcomes and objectives and didactic methodology. This includes the exact modules and units that will be elaborated, the language learning methodology and content structure
- Development and update of the course material.
- Conduct and assess with developed tools the Face-to-face training workshops
- Development of the orientation mobile application under the requirements specification and technical infrastructure, application testing application update and release
- Development of the Refugee Orientation Handbook for Operators
- Organisation and implementation of Pilot workshops
- A national exploitation event will be organized by EEO Group with the aim to raise awareness on the project and mobile app
capitalization on the project results
