"Inclusion of immigrants is essential to Europe's growth and prosperity. Across Europe, immigrants consistently have lower rates of employment and lower participation in local democracy. Those immigrants who are employed are often ""under-employed"". This is detrimental not only to the immigrant and their family but to the community at large that does not manage to exploit the potential of each resident.Our project is built upon the same principle outlined in the European Partnership for integration which recognizes that successful labour market integration requires a multi-stakeholder approach. We have therefore involved chambers of commerce, companies and worker and public services with the project partners, which are education and training providers. Far too many integration initiatives place the burden (and consequently, the blame) on the immigrant. Our project involves the local community on a par with immigrants as mutual partners in inclusion. Language is often looked upon as the key to succesful integration of immigrants. The partners of this project agree, but also strongly believe that integration is not just the responsibility of the immigrant, but also of the host community. The goal of this project is to accelerate language learning through the involvement of the local community, reducing barriers to communication and promoting integration through positive meetings between hosts and immigrants. We envisage turning our communities into active arenas for language learning with the aid of a web-based tool. Imagine our communities as a game board, with shops /offices/ etc as ""properties"" such as in ""Monopoly."" Each ""property"" will contain its own tasks and assignments, and the proprietors will be ""players"" who interact with immigrants (language learners). Language learners will receive tasks and assignments and will have to visit the ""properties"" and have successful interactions in order to progress in the ""game."" For example, in the ""community"" of Kristiansand, the ""player"" language learner will enter the ""property"" of Majas hair salon with a ""task"" like asking what is the most popular haircut and how much does it cost, and speak to the ""proprietor/player"" cashier who will provide an answer. This learner relays the answer to the teacher via the mobile device to advance in the game.Tasks will be formulated based upon the sharing of best practice among the project partners, who all have extensive experience in teaching languages to adults. These tasks will be gathered in a database which can be translated, extended and adapted to suit the contexts of any community. The gaming platform will be neutral and will also be adaptable to new communities. The web-based game will be tested in one community first, and thereafter adapted and replicated in each of the 3 other partners' communities. Continuous feedback throughout the course of the project will serve to improve the quality of the project so that a final version can be published for communities throughout Europe to use as a basis for their own innovative integration and language learning projects. The execution of the project can be divided into seven phases: 1) Establishment of a solid foundation; 2)Production of a beta version of a digital tool; 3) Testing; 4) Replication 5) Evaluation, assessment and adjustment; 6) Dissemination and multiplier events; 7) Consolidation of knowledge and plan for sustainability and scalability.We expect to be able to measure the following impact through quantitative and qualitative indicators:- a higher success rate on civic integration and citizenship tests- higher participation in civic society- increased language proficiency - immigrant's perception of an easier transition to education or the labour market- increased employment among immigrants - improved attitudes toward immigrants in the local community- number of users of the tool- length of use of the tool - satisfaction with the toolThe number of participants using the tool in the course of the project could be as high as 5000, but the participation in activities outlined in the project should be approximately 400. The number of users of the tool once the project is completed is virtually limitless.We aim to lower the threshold of communicating in a new language so that immigrants will feel at home in their new communities sooner, have positive experiences with local residents, and ultimately gain the language skills and practice needed to enter the labour market. Members of host communities will experience positive encounters with immigrants, gain a greater degree of empathy and be less inclined to discriminate against immigrants. We believe that repeated positive encounters between host communities and immigrants will contribute to lower incidents of conflict while increasing the host community's attractiveness. Ultimately, the project will contribute to higher employment rates for immigrants and more harmonic communities."

<< Background >>While the idea and benefits of the STEAM curriculum are spreading around the world, it still does not impact each demographic in the same way. It is still the case that those are coming from ethnic minorities are consistently underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. For example, in the fields of computer engineering and computer science, there is a substantial disparity between minorities and their counterparts. Of the 5 million employed workers in the computing field, minorities only account for about 30% of employees (A Guide forMinorities in STEM: Increasing Workplace Diversity, March, 2020). At the same time, STEAM practitioners agree that that the manner by which science is taught at the level of primary schools influences students’ (including those with ethnic minority background) perceptions and attitudes towards science, and their uptake of STEAM subjects and careers later on (STEM in Primary School, Scientix 2019, EU). The MISSION:STEAM project identifies and creates opportunities for children (age 6-12) coming with a minority background to be engaged with STEAM activities and further follow the STEAM pathways through education and trainings from the early ages of life (primary school). Researches show (e.g. Olsson, M., & Martiny, S. E. (2018), Steinke, J. (2017) women and men form gender roles in childhood, largely based on their exposure to media and popular culture.According to STEAM in primary education (Scientix, 2019) three key strategies were proposed to tackle the most challenging aspects of delivering effective STEAM teaching in primary classrooms, including work with children with an ethnic minority background.[1] The need for high quality teacher training to support primary school teachers in bringing innovation to their STEAM teaching. PROJECT SOLUTION: MISSION:STEAM (M:S) will tackle the limited availability of STEAM training (LTT) for primary school teachers and educators working with children with ethnic background. Partnership involving schools, STEAM centres & institutions in the development of Digi resources will develop an educational platform and ensure more teacher resources are provided, in both content and pedagogical knowledge. [2] The need to offer primary school students with ethnic background access to high quality learning resources and materials to guide them through STEAM education and pursue the career in STEAM field. PROJECT SOLUTION: The project will develop guidelines for implementation of STEAM activities with ethnic minorities students (age 6-12) in addition to providing the resources to both students and teachers. The project will encourage the collaboration between teachers and scientists to ensure that the resources developed are scientifically accurate and reflect the teachers’ and students' pedagogical needs. M:S resources will be developed around principles of openness and with consideration for the teachers’ need to adapt and localise educational content in work with primary school students with ethnic background.[3] The need to create a so-called “STEAM culture” based on a shared understanding among key education stakeholders of the role STEAM education can play in preparing pupils with ethnic background for the future. PROJECT SOLUTION: M:S will develop a shared meaning to mobilize the support of all education stakeholders (incl. mentors with ethnic background) in order to consolidate a “STEAM culture” – in other words, to create a general climate favourable to improving STEAM education in ethnic minority groups, particularly in primary school field (age 6-12)<< Objectives >>GENERAL AIM The MISSION:STEAM aims to increase and sustain the interest in STEAM subjects among children coming from ethnic minorities to, later on, follow the STEAM pathway. This will be achieved by creating a specific STEAM curriculum in the native languages of ethnic minorities involved in this project. Education in a minority’s mother tongue, combined with quality teaching of the official language, is more cost-effective in the long term; reduces dropout rates; leads to noticeably better academic results; improves levels of literacy and fluency in both themother tongue and the official or majority language; and leads to greater family and community involvement.OBJECTIVES 1)To develop hands-on learning approaches towards involvement of minority youth in STEAM pathways.2) To increase and sustain the interest of STEAM of those young people coming from ethnic minorities by involving them into interactive online activities.TARGET GROUP 1) Young people coming with ethnic minority background (Age 6-12)2) Parents of those young people3) National minority schools in project countries 4) Educators/Teachers<< Implementation >>In order to achieve project AIM and Objectives, the consortium will implement the following activities:1. Development of intellectual outputs2. Transnational meetings3. Multiplier events4. Dissemination events (inc. online)5. Online activities6. Learning teaching activities<< Results >>As main results within the project 3 outputs will be produced:- O1 - MISSION:STEAM Hanbook and Curriculum (incl. Pedagogical Model, Lesson plans, Worksheets). The handbook will be produced in 8 different languages: Lithuanian, Portuguese, Polish, Ukrainian, Italian, Spanish, Russian - for those coming with an ethnic minority background. And the common version in English.- O2 - MISSION:STEAM Science on the Sofa weekends (incl 18 live-stream online lessons in 8 different languages: Lithuanian, Portuguese, Polish, Ukranian, Italian, Spanish, Russian guidelines how to make science lessons, description of the importance of mentor's role in STEAM with same ethnic background). - O3 - MISSION:STEAM Community learning platform (incl. 18 edited online lessons in 7 different languages: Lithuanian, Portuguese, Polish, Ukrainian, Italian, Spanish, English; Lesson Plans and Worksheets for download, Pedagogical Model). Their development processes will be supported by European training activities (LTT) for 12 STEAM Educators that will provide helpful inputs to partners for the work they will have to carry on the national level in the validation of what proposed at the European level. The outputs will also be widely disseminated through multiplier events (described in dissemination), two in each of the partner countries. Other than these important elements will be achieved: - Project website incl information about the project and partners, Pedagogical model, incl a link to MISSION: STEAM Platform. It will also have information for educators and parents. - 1 Pilot testing report of O3 - 4 Newsletters/Pressreleases on project progress and results achieved - 12 short videos with STEAM experts-mentors (with ethnic minority background) to promote STEAM education and engage young people from those communities.Expected softer results of developing and implementing these outputs are: - Increased capacity to work in European contexts and to participate/manage European Union funded project, furthermore, create a network of organisations that could work beyond the lifecycle of the project itself; - Enlarge the opportunity for children/youth to raise their interest in STEAM education and follow STEAM career pathway. As consequence get aware of what are the needs and expectations of enterprises and to enter the world of work (in STEAM professions) as an active participant and achieve as much independence as possible; - Favour the acquisition of soft and entrepreneurial skills by young people trying to support those who wish to make their innovative STEAM ideas become a reality by increasing their skills and proximity to market.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
The goal of the project is to provide language teachers and multicultural educators with new educational tools in order to promote local/national cultures and languages. The project partners believe that knowledge of the native language and culture is an essential element of good integration and successful entry of the immigrants into the labour market, so we are constantly looking for new, creative, innovative tools to make language learning more interesting and efficient. As a result, the consortium decided to develop a Language and Culture Escape Box which will be used for teaching Dutch, Norwegian, Polish and Italian as a second language. The tool will also serve to promote the local cultures, religions and traditions.
PARTICIPANTS:
The project is targeted at students/learners and staff of the participating institutions as well as other stakeholders (language schools, multicultural centers, migrant institutions and other social partners). The project involves 12 language teachers and multicultural educators form partner institutions who will develop the tool and 32 adult learners (immigrants) who will take part in its testing. Other beneficiaries (other learner groups, participants of the multiplier events, other adult education providers) will be able to use the project results when available. ACTIVITIES:
The following activities are planned in the project:
1. Developing the Language and Culture Escape Box as a tool to promote language learning and cultural awareness.
2. Testing the tool with the local students and learners (migrants).
3. Organizing multiplier conferences in four countries to disseminate the project's intellectual output;.4. The usual project tasks: organization of transnational meetings, general management, monitoring of activities and evaluation of results, promotion and dissemination activities.METHODOLOGY:
All project activities and coherent and inter-related. The project work has been planned for 16 months, with main stages starting and ending with a partner meeting. During the preparation of this project proposal we have specified which institutions will be responsible for coordinating the individual activities, and we have established the communication channels between the partners. A strong emphasis is put on monitoring the progress of the project work, reporting and evaluation both at the project level, and in individual activities. The tasks include also promotion and dissemination activities to reach a wide target group and to ensure the sustainability of the project results. RESULTS AND IMPACT:
All project activities and results correspond to the priorities of the Erasmus+ programme and objectives of the Strategic Partnerships action. The project enhances cultural awareness and promotes integration of immigrants in local communities. It helps equip the language teachers and multicultural educators with new, creative and innovative educational tool. The Language and Culture Escape Box will integrated with the regular teaching activities of the participating institutions. The produced material will be open licensed and made available in the Internet for wider use.

"CONTEXT/BACKGROUND: The „What design thinking can do for migrants and refugees"" project was carried out by organizations from Poland, Lithuania, and Spain. The partnership is composed of two young non-governmental organizations and a university that acts an expert institution. The project is held between 1 December 2018 and 31 December 2019. OBJECTIVES: The project aimed at equipping youth workers with practical tips and tools for using Design Thinking to integrate migrants and refugees. PARTICIPANTS: Direct participants: youth workers from partner organizations (8 persons), Indirect participants: youth (25 persons), adults (5 persons), youth workers from other organizations (24 persons), migrants (8 persons), academic teachers (8 persons), other institutions dealing with migrant issues, local authorities, educational institutions, local communities (138 persons) ACTIVITIES/METHODOLOGY: (1) staff training on Design Thinking, (2) equipping 2 DT mini-labs, (3) activities addressed to youth in order to develop DT solutions as regards integration of migrants and refugees in local communities, (4) testing prototypes with migrants, (5) developing handbook „What Design Thinking can do for migrants and refugees”, (6) four dissemination events, (7) two transnational partner meetings, (8) project management - project administration, managing finance, monitoring activities, promotion, evaluation, dissemination. RESULTS: 8 Crash-course in Design Thinking certificates, 54 persons involved in elaborating scenarios, 8 migrants involved in testing, 138 participants of dissemination activities, 6 scenarios, 1 handbook (600 copies in 4 languages), 2 DT labs. Other results: acquiring knowledge and skills in using DT methods by youth workers, enhancing creativity and communication skills of youth taking part in local activities, positive changes declared by migrants as regards integration issues, developing institutional capacity and international scope of partner institutions; IMPACT: developing cooperation with NGOs, local authorities and other organizations taking part in dissemination activities, developing capacity, and international visibility of partner organizations, developing and implementing the „third mission” of UVigo through its cooperation with non-governmental organizations, developing a network of organizations dealing with migrant and refugees issues, disseminating innovative teaching methods, possible impact on creating immigration policies in partner countries, impact on reaching the objectives of European policies (e.g. Strategy 2020) as well as aims and priorities of Erasmus+ program. LONGER TERM RESULTS: The developed handbook ""What Design Thinking can do for integration of migrants and refugees"" is the first that applies DT to activities related to migrants. The handbook can be used by both management and entrepreneurship teachers, as an example of practical implementation of DT method, and by persons and institutions dealing with migrants who search for new methods for their activity. The book is open licensed. Youth workers are supposed to use the knowledge and skills acquired during training to run various educational and other statutory activities or to introduce changes in organization management."