Ethnic diversity management and migrants’ integration in the labour force constitutes a major challenge for the EU. The increasing flow of TCNs (immigrants and refugees), which is rising due the recent refugee crisis, together with internal migration of EU citizens continues at a rapid pace. The resulting ethnic inequalities among a diverse workforce in the EU implies an immediate action. Considering that ethnic diversity is a complex issue to deal with, the role of social partners is deemed critical. Both trade unionists and employers’ organisations need to acquire specific skills and knowledge and be aware on inequalities, discrimination and inclusion process in order to meet their organizational needs and contribution towards handling ethnic diversity and promoting migrants’ integration at workplace level. Social partners need also to acquire conflict resolution skills, knowledge of the relevant legislation, and of good practices and policies. Against the above background, the principle objective of the project is to improve the skills, knowledge and competences of social partners in addressing ethnic diversity in EU SMEs. To this direction, other objectives of the project refer to the enhancement of the quality and relevance of learning, the strengthening of migrants' key competences to integrate into the labour market and society and the exchange of best practices.To achieve these goals, the project brings together a partnership network consisting of eight organisations from five EU countries: Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece and Italy. Despite the different realities of migrants’ integration in each country and the complexity of social dialogue in regards to SMEs, a closer look reveals that the participant countries are found - if not in the same - in very similar situation to the reception of migrants. Considering the synthesis of the network, built based on their field of expertise, the project allows the interdisciplinary approach to the problem. Specifically, the partnership involves research and academic institutions (INEK-PEO, the University of Milan), migrants organisations (KISA, IRIV), social partners (INE/GSEE, IME/GSEVEE) and VET centres (ENAIP, VIFIN) that have long experience in national and community action, research activities, tripartite social dialogue and policy interventions. In the above context, the project partners have been selected by their experience and capacity but also due to their position in relation to the inflow of immigrants. Cyprus, Greece and Italy, are traditionally immigrants' reception countries currently encountered huge inflow of immigrants due to the recent refugee crisis. The capacities of the front-line countries need to be strengthened in terms of diversity and conflict management. Therefore, the knowledge of experienced countries in the field of ethnic diversity and conflict resolution is considered of great importance to the project’s objectives.The nature of the main activities of the project are research base and training activities. The ultimate purpose of the research activities was the provision of contextual framework directed to an improved understanding of ethnic diversity in SMEs of the participant countries; this framework was a source for the designing of the training and educative materials of the project. In this way, the findings of the research activities had an essential role to the formation of the core outputs the project. In relation to the training activities developed in the frame of the project, they contextually correspond to the different - and sometimes conflicting - interests and needs of the various target groups including: training for social partners, development of training material and other educational tools for both social partners and migrants. The main results/outputs emerged from the activities of MigrAID are: a) A comparative research report on migrants’ integration and ethnic diversity in SMEs in the respective countries, b) a training manual directed to migrant populations, c) a VET programme for social partners, d) a training curriculum for social partners, e) an ethnic diversity guide for SMEs, f) an Educational on-line Platform and g) a Conflict Resolution Simulator.

"One of the most significant changes in the last decade is the increasing proportion of migrant women; today they constitute half of the international migrant population. EU statistics show that the employment rate, education and professional qualification level of migrant women is systematically lower than that of native women, and for this reason they are at greater risk of social exclusion. The following characteristics typical of this target group such as: gender, non-EU origin, lack of linguistic skills and other skills can become disadvantages in their lives. Moreover, many of them also come from cultures where it is customary for women to stay home, take care of household chores and children. These women are practically ""invisible"" in economic, social, learning and other daily activities within their local communities.The EXPA project - ""from EXCLUSION to PArticipation"" was aimed at migrant women, aged between 20 and 60, with fewer opportunities, but who wish to practice and further develop their craftsmanship skills, making them become real businesses by improving their possibilities for work and social integration. With the EXPA project we started training courses, offering the possibility to a large number of women to participate in the various cultural and social activities, starting also the pathways of entrepreneurship, meeting and discussing with people outside the straight family circle. To the women who took part in the training courses within our project we tried to give a sustainable and lasting answer to their needs and from the results obtained we can say that it will be an effective tool for their integration into the social and economic life of the host community .Six partners from 6 different EU Member States (Italy, Iceland, France, Cyprus, Lithuania and the Netherlands), different organizations (NGOs involved in the welcoming of migrants, training centers and adult learning organizations) have took part in the project activities and allowed their staff to share good practices, discuss problems, explore needs, acquire knowledge, develop and compare learning solutions for migrant women. The partnership involved institutions that complemented each other in terms of skills and competences, as well as common visions and strategies for the development of lifelong learning opportunities and greater inclusion of migrant women. The project included partners from countries with different percentages and social status of migrant women and so it was very interesting to be able to compare the different methods and approaches used for immigrant women in different countries.In the initial phase of the project we did an in-depth research investigating the situation and needs of migrant women living in the 6 countries involved, paying particular attention to the strategies and tools developed in these countries to foster the social and economic integration of this vulnerable group of recipients. By comparing the results we have developed the EXPA training model, which was conceived as a set of capacitive workshops to activate and improve the employability of migrant women through craftsmanship and creativity. The training model developed below was tested with a pilot training course and subsequently evaluated and adapted to the needs of our target group, planning new activities to promote the personal, social and professional development of the participants. The final result is a training model with which to our target group we can provide transversal and basic skills, appropriate counseling, allowing trainers to work in an intercultural learning environment using informal methods. After pilot implementations the partners prepared the material to be included in the EXPA manual (e-book) by creating guidelines for trainers, including detailed descriptions of good practices, teaching materials, tools and detailed training activities for the preparation and implementation of learning activities for unemployed, poorly qualified and educated migrant women in the craft sector. We believe that our handbook will enable professionals engaged in providing non-formal learning for migrant women to expand their creativity, motivate them and increase the quality of their work by being better equipped with multicultural skills and innovative learning tools at transnational level."

"At present, school education in the law and basic rights that would allow young people to lead their lives equally in modern European societies is almost non-existent. However, research supports that when people are given the basic legal knowledge to deal with everyday situations not only they stand a better chance in society, but also avoid consuming public services unnecessarily (IARS, 2010). The question of what make us legally capable becomes particularly timely in the current financial climate where more and more young people are struggling to cope, and the demand for legal advice is ever increasing. For young people, a legal problem – let that be crime or debt related, domestic violence or employment – will have a bigger impact. Starting out in life presents young people with enormous new challenges. Marginalised youth are even less likely to receive help or want to engage with the system and what is available to the mainstream population. However, communicating law related information through formal education or training to marginalised youth and those servicing them is not an easy task. International projects (e.g. Street Law, PLENET, Youth Empowerment Project) have shown that to achieve basic legal literacy among the public, including young people, it must be carried out organically and in a user-led fashion. Therefore, in Europe, a gap is identified in the field of training, education and youth that could be filled through the free dissemination of a youth-led programme for service providers and young people with the aim of increasing their legal capability. The Abused no More (AnM) project will help to bridge this gap by focusing on increasing legal capacity in the areas of gender-based discrimination, exclusion and abuse against some of the most marginalised youth groups and in particular those who tend to be disadvantaged due to their gender and cultural differences (e.g. immigrants, refugees, descendants from immigrant families) and other social obstacles e.g. sexual orientation and ethnicity.Inspired and motivated by the priorities of the EU Youth Strategy, the AnM project will bring together young people and professionals to establish a cross-sector, transnational Strategic Partnership in order to design and implement innovative practices and come up with a set of reference documents (online & in print) that will: (a) empower marginalised youth (b) increase the capacity of service providers, notably in the areas of integration, equity and inclusion, gender-based abuse and discrimination.Focusing on the Europe 2020 Strategy, AnM aims to foster, migrant integration, social equity and inclusion through a two-tier approach i.e. by empowering and involving directly marginalised youth in its delivery, while at the same time increasing the capacity of organisations servicing them. In line with the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty to ""encourage the participation of young people in democratic life in Europe"", through non-formal learning activities and the development of an evidence-based training programme, AnM will promote innovation, exchange of experience and know-how between different types of organisations providing services to youth with fewer opportunities.AnM will be carried out in key EU locations (UK, Poland, Italy, Romania and Cyprus), building on the learning of partners' projects. It will:1. Map and analyse key concepts in the areas of marginalised young people' legal literacy, focusing on gender-based discrimination and exclusion2. Identify relevant innovative educational and training practices in the participating countries and produce a free report3. Organise seminars with partners to exchange learning and to perform cross-training activities4. Design a free, user-led, face-to-face training package and pilot them in the participating countries5. Involve young people directly in the design and piloting of the programme engaging at least 20 young volunteers in each country6. Design and deliver an elearning course reaching at least 1000 organisations and individuals across Europe7. Set up and facilitate a wider network (database) in order to disseminate its practical results, exchange further best practices and ideas and ensure multiple effect and sustainability.8. Publish a book (online and in print) bringing together its 3 year learning and practical results, launch it at an international conference and disseminate internationally. The project will not only help the employability and social inclusion of the young people directly involved, but also bring positive and long-lasting effects on the participating organisations. Moreover, through the transfer and implementation at national and European levels of its innovative practices and training programme we expect to help bring about EU-wide institutional and cultural change, improve services provided to marginalised youth experiencing exclusion and discrimination, while fostering social equity and inclusion."

The influx of people seeking protection in Europe over the past year presents one of the greatest challenges ever faced by this continent. Political instability and conflict in the EU’s neighbouring countries are driving this mass movement of people.From 2015 onwards, with the arrival of thousands of Syrians, Iraqis and Eritrean refugees through the Mediterranean and Turkey, new priorities have emerged, particularly in terms of their socio-economic integration, which employment is a core part. This is a strategic area that supports refugee’s self-reliance and empowerment. Yet, data from across the EU suggests that persons benefitting from international protection still face countless difficulties to find jobs, given their reduce language knowledge and, in the majority of cases, low qualifications.The project “Living more sustainable lives: circular solutions for refugee integration in Europe” is aimed to support the socio-economic integration of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe through the acquisition of competences in upcycling techniques.Using the process of converting old or discarded materials into something useful, beautiful and of higher value, will contribute for the refugees’ integration, as well as promote innovative economic models, essential to meet the target of 70% recycling for 2030 and the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, identified by the European Commission as relevant for the circular economy, namely number 12 “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”.Furthermore the project aims to foster the professionalization of refugees and migrants, in particular women, creating new job and business opportunities in areas such as food, fashion and design, while contributing to the development of a Circular Economy (CE) oriented to refugees and migrants in Europe.Life as a refugee is, perhaps, a first experience of circularity and collaborative economy. Many times, we see refugees and migrants, who lost everything, develop certain skills such as learning crafts, building objects and subsisting through the exchange of services, recycling and reuse of products, that is, what we know today as a Circular Economy. In addition, it is important to understand that many refugees have previous experience, in the country of nationality or host countries, with informal economy and experience in working with crafts, woods and other materials that they can access easily in these countries. The current project wishes to redirect these competences and bring opportunities for refugees to boost their self-confidence, entrepreneurial mind-set and creativity.Through a strategic partnership, the creation of an NFE curricula on circular economy for refugees and migrants will be design and tested in 5 European countries, reaching some 100 refugees and migrants.The project aspire that refugees have the opportunity to rebuild their lives in Europe, hopefully more sustainable lives.