SUPEER

SUPEER: Sustainable Integration through Peer-to-Peer Support

Project number: 2018-3-DK01-KA205-D196B9A5

As a language school, one of our main purposes is to train our students in the German (or foreign) language. But language learning doesn’t stop with grammar and listening exercises, it incorporates a broader reach of culture, understanding and social inclusion. In collaboration with five EU partners, we joined the Erasmus+ project, SUPEER: Sustainable Integration Through Peer-to-Peer Support.

SUPEER, led by our partner, Clavis, in Denmark is aimed at youth exchange. Our partnership finds that the bridging between minority and majority youth can provide an efficient counteraction to social isolation, otherness, rootlessness, poor well-being, lack of belonging, positive integration and active citizenship. Mutual intercultural learning and empowerment is possible amongst peer-to-peer exchange between both minoritz and majority youth.The peer-to-peer approach is seen as an untapped potential for sustainable integration and inclusion in European societies – with an increasing need of young forces.

Our primary target group and participants are:

-       -  The young participants from minority communities, including refugees o/ 18 years and minors, family.-united young migrants, descendants, for instance from urban ghettoes, parallel communities and no strong affiliation to the majority society.

25 persons in each partner country.

-       -  The young participants from majority communities, born, raised and socialized in majority society, with great engagement and sociale resources to be part of the SUPEER activities, engaged in education etc.

25 persons in each partner country.

Secondary target group:

-       -  Teachers, educators, integration workers, social workers and other professionals with a youth contact in their work within education, integration, social authorities etc.

-- Voluntary organisations offering youth activities and local events, relevant for the network programme.

-- Teachers, trainers and supervisors etc. From partner’s own organisations and

30-50 persons in total for all partner organisations.

-- Local politicians and decision-makers occupied with integration, education and youth policies etc.

30-36 persons in total for all partner organisations.

The objectives of the project are:

IO1: To conduct a review on recent research of good practices in terms of peer-to-peer learning, empowerment, co-creation, social capital, active citizenship.

IO2: To develop and implement an intercultural mentor programme for approx 25 young citizens from majority society. Including young descendants and migrants with a solid network, engagement and anchoring in local youth communities.

IO3: To develop and implement a network/peer-to-peer programme: ”SUPEER peer cocreation and empowerment”, including mentor/mentee matching and a common network and activity programme to intercultural exchange of experience, cultural events, learning workshops etc.

IO4: To develop an transnational peer-to-peer learning app: ”the SUPEER Lapp”, including learning programmes, notes on empowerment, active citizenship in practice etc.

The partners:

Clavis language & competence (Denmark)

UniT (Austria)

CESIE (Italy)

MAD for Europe (Spain)

EQuIP (UK)

SUPEER Kickoff Meeting

On April 8th and 9th, we traveled to Copenhagen for the Kick-Off Meeting for our new project, SUPEER: Sustainable Integration through Peer-to-Peer Support. Together with our partners from Denmark, the UK, Italy, Spain and Austria, we discussed the goals and expectations of this 30 month project. The project lead from Denmark, CLAVIS, ran a successful pilot version of this project. Their coordinator, Nana, gave us insights on the challenges and successes of the project.

In response, we shared our local contexts and considered how we will design and implement a peer-to-peer program in our cities. In July, we’ll meet our partners again in Palermo for a joint staff training to best prepare ourselves for running the program. We’re looking forward this collaboration and the positive impact it’ll have on our youth students and volunteers.

SUPEER Joint Staff Training in Palermo

From July 15th-17th, we had our first joint staff training for our SUPEER project. Our partner, CESIE from Italy, hosted the training at their office in beautiful Palermo. We had a productive and intensive three days together. Together, we discussed the core concepts of the SUPEER project to finalize intellectual output one. The core concepts will be presented in booklet form to present the topics of social capital, peer learning, empowerment, and citizenship and belonging. Led by our partners from Austria, we brainstormed what methodology and tools we can use to recruit participants and implement this project. We discussed the significance of peer learning and localizing this project for our participants‘ needs.

CESIE created our project website, where you can find out more about this project and our partnership: www.supeer.eu

Partner meeting in Graz

We had a great, productive meeting with our partners in Graz in early October 2019. The first day we worked on IO3, concerning the practical work and methodology. Each partner presented their methods and goals for the next steps in the project. Unit, our partner and the host organization in Graz, prepared team exercises to emphasize the most useful methodologies for the prephase and the working phase of IO3. Also crucial to the agenda, we developed a collaborative plan to disseminate the social media impact  of SUPEER. In conclusion, we made some final teams exercise regarding our expectations and worries about the project and we’re all looking forward to beginning the project recruitment!