Institute of Research and Information on Volunteering
Institute of Research and Information on Volunteering
Migrapass - a portfolio and a companion for migrants Initiated by Autremonde and iriv under the "Lifelong learning" programme (call for proposal 2010), under the Leonardo da Vinci programme, the project is meant to identify, value and validate competences acquired by migrants to enhance their professional integration . Five countries have been associated : France, Austria, Bulgaria, Spain and United Kingdom. This is a transfer of innovation of former LdV project initiated and directed by Iriv (www.eEuropeassociations.net.) and the training for cultural mediators proposed by iriv (www.mediateur-interculturel.net) This project is supported by the European programme Leonardo da Vinci.
Since the Amsterdam treaty in 1997, migration has become a competence of the European Union. The programme "lifelong learning" refers to key competences such as knowledge, skills and appropriate professional behaviours. They are essential for each person in a knowledge society. Migrants have developed thanks to their mobility experience, a unique and special competence so-called as "meta-competence". Migrants suffer from a double discrimination on the labour market. A first direct one excludes migrants from certain employments or training for reasons presented as objective. A second indirect one is to dedicate foreign workers to low qualified employments with difficult working conditions. This segmentation of the labour market is very prejudicing. The Migrapass project is proposing a tool and method - a portfolio and a collaborative training - to allow migrants to express their experience, to value their competences to enter the labour market or to improve their professional career. It is based upon knowledge and competences acquired by migrants thanks to their professional (previous employments), social (voluntary involvements such as in association, trade unions or political parties) and personal (expatriation past) pathway. Valuing migrants' competences is a key issue to enhance their social and professional integration.
Migration has become a key issue in Europe where migrant population is one of the most important. The third annual report on Migration and Integration published in September 2007 (European Commission, COM, 2007, 512 final) underlines that nationals of third countries living in the European Union are 18.5 Million in 2006 which represents 3,8% of the total population (493 Million Europeans in 2006). In its second report on Integration published in 2007, the European Commission underlines that two processes are critical to improving immigrants' outcomes: the elimination of inequalities, and the acquisition of competences. These challenges are at the heart of integration policies in Europe. According to the Observatory on inequalities, unemployment concerns more foreign workers than nationals: in 2007, 25% of the unemployed workers are nationals of third countries; the proportion is of 8% for the EU nationals. An explanation is that foreign workers are most of the time less qualified than nationals (sometimes their diploma is not recognized). Nevertheless, they suffer from a double prejudice: direct (difficult access to the labour market especially the "hidden market") and indirect (employments proposed to migrants are less qualified). The key issue of the Migrapass is to allow migrants to use a tool and method to value their competences and enhance their social and professional integration on national labour markets.
The main goals of the Migrapass is to propose a portfolio together with a training including a collaborative approach to value their unique experience and so enhance their chance on the labour market. The portfolio will allow to identify and value professional experience acquire in their native country (often ignored in the host countries), their non formal and informal learning (such as a voluntary involvement for instance in migrants shelter) but also to value the unique competence linked to their expatriation past (leaving their native country, living and working in a foreign country). Their professional profile will be enriched by unique competences most required on a changing labour market where abilities to adapt and mobility are key assets in a professional career. The proposed training is focused on a collaborative approach corresponding to the special public of the migrants. The main goal of the collective work is to allow migrants to struggle against loneliness and exclusion linked to their status, inducing a self-discrimination (they refuse themselves professional perspectives). The Migrapass project is answering the European priority " Developing professional abilities according to the needs of the labour market - New competences for new employments" (LEO-Tralnno-4)
The expected results of the Migrapass are :
1) a portfolio for migrants to value their special competences ;
2) a training programme to enhance the use of the portfolio ;
3) an experimentation of the portfolio and the training to make concrete recommendations;
4) a weblog for the experimentation ;
5) a final publication for the dissemination of the results ;
6)a European network of experts on migration and professional integration of migrants ;
7) national networks of professionals working in the field of migration and with migrants ;
8) an Internet website , a Newsletter and a leaflet ;
9) a film with testimonies of the stakeholders involved in the Migrapass (migrants, volunteers, professionals)
1st of October 2010 - 30th of September 2012
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France Autremonde 30 rue de la Mare
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IRIV Conseil, coordinateur 11 rue de Saussure
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Autriche OikodromHeidi Dumreicher, directrice AT-1150 Vienne tél : + 43 1 98 42 351 fax : + 43 1 98 42 35 12 http://www.oikodrom.org
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Bulgarie New Bulgarian University Cermes Pr dr Anna Krasteva, directrice Montevideo 21 BG- Sofia 1618 tél : + 359887239568 fax : + 35928110602 http://www.nbu.bg
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Espagne Universitad de BurgosDr Monica Ibanez Hopital delRey s/n Burgos 09001 tél : + 34 67 97 02 878 fax: + 34 94 72 58 702 http://www.ubu.es
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Royaume-Uni University of Roehampton Pr Dr John Eade 80 Roehampton LaneUK- London SW 15 5SL tél : + 44 208 3923198 http://www.roehampton.ac.uk |