„Second Generation of European Migrants”
Partnerstwa strategiczne w edukacji dorosłych
Why this project?
According to statistics, migration to EU countries has increased rapidly in the last two decades. The so-called second and 1.5 generation of migrants occupy a specific position in the group of newcomers. The project aims to equip these two generations of migrants with the required skills and competences to function as intercultural workers, to connect their own community with local people and to thus contribute to the better integration of future newcomers.
The 2GEM project will focus on two generations of newcomers. The term “1.5 generation” refers to migrants who came to a new country before or during their early adolescence. This generation represents a very specific group, because they bring customs from their home country, but at the same time they adapt to the new country and so, they grow up on the border between two cultures.
People from the “second generation” of migrants therefore differ in many ways from the rest of their community, such as them having been born in a new country. Unlike their parents, they often consider the country in which they were born to be their home. The second generation of migrants is also fully integrated into society – they speak the language of the host country fluently and they spend most of their time in the local environment (schools, friendship groups, etc.).
Both of these groups occupy a unique position in the migrant community. Their position on the border between two cultures can cause conflicts between the generations, but it can also bring a unique opportunity with great potential. The 2GEM project has seized the opportunity to realise this potential and seeks to help 1.5 and second-generation migrants acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to function as intercultural workers and thus contribute to the better integration of newcomers and first-generation migrants.
Aim
The main GOAL OF THE PROJECT is to equip the 1.5 and second-generation migrants with skills, competences, and knowledge necessary to act as intercultural workers within their communities by building on their unique cultural assets. As such, they will be able to serve as a link between the migrant community and local people, thereby contributing to better integration of the newcomers, and the first-generation migrants. The opportunity to educate this target group for intercultural work aptly responds to increasing demand for qualified intercultural workers who would help migrant communities in their local context.
Target groups
The project is addressed to the following KEY TARGET GROUPS:
- 5 and second generation migrants;
- professional trainers, social workers, teachers and volunteers working with migrants;
- institutions and associations working with migrant integration, job counsellors, policy makers and authorities responsible for social integration.
The term 1.5 generation refers to “people who immigrate to the new country before or during their early teens”. The members of this generation represent a very specific group, as they bring with them characteristics from their homeland, but continue their assimilation in the new country.
On the other hand, a member of the second generation is “a person who was born […] in a country that at least one of their parents previously entered as a migrant”. Unlike their parents, the second-generation migrants are usually already fully integrated into the majority society.
As these individuals have an inimitable set of competencies arising from their migrant background, they may work as bridge builders with majority society, a task which cannot be done satisfactorily by the first-generation immigrants due to their linguistic and cultural barriers.
Results
The authors of the project will be gradually working on several outputs. They will compile a detailed overview of available information on the issue of 1.5 and second-generation migrants and intercultural work. Next, they will create guides for trainers and teachers on how to run a course for intercultural workers. With the help of this guide, teachers will learn how to transfer knowledge effectively. An important output will be the training program for intercultural workers of migrant origin from 1.5 and second generations. This program will provide them with both theoretical and practical skills needed for the job, as well as opportunities for further vocational training.
“All project outputs will be available on the web platform in the form of a freely accessible innovative online course, which will be full of interactive videos, presentations or webinars. It will be available to everyone, and therefore also to various non-profit organisations and social workers,”
Innovation
With its innovative and international approach the project is expected to have positive impact on all its target groups, enabling 1.5 and second generation migrant individuals become the perfect accelerators for changes within the migrant communities and, as a result, within the whole society, in relation to migrant integration. The project will also provide trainers, social workers and volunteers working with migrants with an innovative set of resources that will enrich their working strategies and will expand their knowledge of 1.5 and second generation migrants’ unique cultural assets.
Added value
The partnership of the six countries: Finland, Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Italy, benefits from the geographical spread across Europe as well as from the diversity of the individual organisations. Thanks to diverse specialisations, education systems as well as cultures and contexts in general, the 2GEM project can bring both a unique national perspective and an interconnected European perspective.
Multiplier Events and other activities
In each partner country, multiplier events disseminating the developed results will be organized to which
we warmly invite you!
The project final conference is planned to take place in Finland in 2022.
Partnership
The partnership is composed of organisations from six EU countries :
Coordinator:
- AAR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION(ASDA) RY (Finland)
Partners:
- Pelican Language School (Czech Republic),
- Promozione Internazionale Sicilia-Mondo (Italy),
- The Mosaic Art And Sound Ltd (UK),
- European Center for Quality (Bulgaria),
- Foundation for the Development of International and Educational Activity – FRAME (Poland).
Project duration
November 2020 – October 2022
WWW: www.2gem.eu
FB: www.facebook.com/2GEMproject/
Contact:
More information about the project:
Marta Kędzia – project manager, mkedzia@euframe.eu and
dr Adam Gogacz, PhD – expert in multiculturalism, adam@gogacz.eu
The project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
