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Description
Since 2015, the number of migrants in the Podlaskie voivodship has been growing steadily, while they play a negligible role in community and cultural life, and their relationships with Poles are often superficial. One major problem is also discrimination of foreigners, while at the same time more than 80% of migrants say that they wish to stay in Poland. The project addresses the need to form an inclusive, pluralist local community that is open to migrants, and to empower the migrant community, including children (mainly in the Podlaskie voivodship). The measures taken in the project will be aimed at both foreigners and the host community. A series of training sessions in the Intercultural School for Leaders will be held for 12 migrant community leaders. They will develop their skills in community life activation and be provided with professional support in activities for the good of their communities. In addition, research will be conducted involving consultation with children who have experienced being refugees. The research will be in the form of an educational project, in which children will be able to give their views on how they function in school. Following the research, recommendations will be made on how to plan educational activities. A team of experts will be formed for education of children with migration experience in Białystok. The team will be set up to make changes to local documents on educating children who have experienced migration. A report on the research and recommendations will be submitted to people responsible for local education policy, such as the city mayor and education authority. The project will also include the Intercultural Education School, in which the participants will be educators working in a culturally diverse environment or who see their future in such an environment. In the Intercultural Education School, 20 people will improve their intercultural education activity skills.
Summary of project results
The project responds to the need to build an inclusive local community in Podlasie, open to migrants, and to strengthen migrant communities. Since 2015, the number of migrants has been steadily increasing in Podlaskie Voivodeship, but their participation in social and cultural life is insignificant, and contacts with Polish people are often superficial. Migrant and refugee communities are not taken into account in the activities and policies of local authorities. Discrimination is also a significant problem, if only in the housing market or in the workplace. In addition to the large migration from Belarus and Ukraine, there are people from Chechnya living in Podlasie. The latter group, however, is in the most difficult situation, and there have even been hate attacks in the past. A particularly vulnerable group are children, who face difficulties due to poor language skills, cultural differences, school backlogs and unstable living situations, among others.
The project organized an Intercultural Leadership School for 12 leaders of migrant communities, who then implemented 12 initiatives for their communities. A survey was also conducted among children with refugee experience on how they function in school. The result was a report and recommendations for designing educational activities to strengthen the potential of students from migrant backgrounds. The research report and recommendations went to institutions responsible for local educational policy. The analysis of the report and recommendations was handled by an expert team established for this purpose. The project also included an Intercultural Education School for 20 educators from Podlasie working in culturally diverse environments. These individuals developed scenarios for educational activities and, based on them, implemented various initiatives aimed at children, youth and adults.
People from migrant communities developed their leadership and animation competencies and put them into practice, implementing activities for their communities. Also, professionals in intercultural education improved their skills in implementing intercultural education activities and developing the potential of children with migration experience. The resulting analysis of the situation of refugee children in the education system, and the accompanying recommendations are likely to become the basis for designing educational activities in Podlasie.