Heritage in Dialogue - Towards sustainable inclusion of migrant women

<< Background >>The inclusion of people facing access barriers or having fewer opportunities in education, training and youth work is a key priority of the Commission’s initiative towards a European Education Area as well as of the EU Youth Strategy and of the European Youth Goals. Issues that refugee women face and which may complicate the process of integration can include low skills/qualifications, cultural characteristics, level of education, role in the family, late or no integration (language learning, social integration), living in closed residential areas. The motivation behind the project was to create what we, as social agents, consider promising non-formal education methods in working with youth migrants and which has the potential to be used further by migrant women themselves in working with other migrant women and also for the participating organizations as a tool in working with youth. The project output is an E-Toolbox, a set of hands-on practical activities which can be used to open and encourage communication and discussion related to our common heritage. We plan to present a follow up project which would focus on the personal stories of the families as well as introduce new cultural mediation techniques. << Objectives >>Objectives of the project are to:increase empathy and cultural understanding between migrant women and local communities from 3 different countries.Increase accessibility to cultural heritage through understanding, dialogue and engagement.Empower migrant women and give visibility to issues they face and to more active participation in the community.Reduce stereotypes and prejudice in terms of culture and customs by looking for shared values.Create opportunities for mutual understanding, intercultural dialogue, solidarity, civic participation.Develop didactical material to be used by social agents as well as migrant women to replicate the methodology.Improve the quality of the work and practices of the organizations involved. << Implementation >>Activities included 3 focus groups with migrant women, one in each of the participating countries; a desk research on already existing open source material related to the topic of migration and heritage; a Transnational project meeting to establish the framework for the local activities as well as the E Toolkit; local workshops in each of the participating countries; development of the E Toolkit; a focus group with youth workers to give feedback on the E toolkit; dissemination events to promote the project results. Local Activities consisted of open dialogue sessions about interculturality, cultural diversity, heritage interpretation and migrant women social inclusion. The upcycling eco-social workshops inspired by local heritage have the aim of developing opensource didactical material, the intellectual outcome of the project, the E-Toolbox for public use in work with migrant groups at risk of exclusion.<< Results >>Results:- Partnership between 4 european organizations and a network of youth organizations and other entities working with migrant women.- More than 30 young women who have participated in the local activities and gained knowledge related to social inclusion and heritage interpretation.- 3 staff members per organization who have shared experience and gained knowledge related to social inclusion and heritage interpretation.- Open source didactical material for youth workers - Better understanding of the obstacles faced by migrant women and the cultural sensitivity necessary when working with refugeesOutput:E Toolbox open source available in 2 languages and on 3 different websites. (https://viajealasostenibilidad.org/heritage-in-dialogue/, https://www.crpc.rs/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/E-Toolbox-HID.pdf, http://aktywnekobiety.org.pl/publikacja-na-temat-projektu-o-migrantkach-dla-pracownikow-mlodziezowych/ )