The project is a strategic partnership aimed at promoting up-skilling and re-skilling of adult migrants (18 to 35 years) facing social exclusion with basic craftsmanship skills in EU countries through an innovative educational format integrating transversal and entrepreneurial skills and an e-commerce platform to sell their traditional hand-crafted ethnic products.

An analysis for the EU-28 population aged 25-54 shows that in 2017 just over one third (35.4 %) of non-EU-born migrants had successfully completed at most a lower secondary level of education. These results show a clear need for education, lifelong learning and upskilling for adult migrants (Eurostat, 2018).

As explained by Eurostat (2015), the working age of the migrant population (15 to 64 years) is 78% of the total and migrants in the EU are mostly in the 18 to 35 age range. Therefore, it could be an impacting workforce with a high employability potential. Obsolete working skills are one of the most important causes of social exclusion. NGOs already working with migrants will be at the core of the partnership and will engage the target group in project activities.

Objectives/Goals

1. Promote the re-skilling or up-skilling of migrants’ basic, transversal and entrepreneurial competencies through a new upskilling path to give them the capacity to valorise their handicraft skills;
2. Valorise skills and competencies of crafts migrants in the e-commerce field;
3. Build capacity of self-entrepreneurship for a sustainable and independent life;
4. Promote social inclusion of migrants in EU countries by empowering them to enter the job market through newly acquired competencies.

Target group

The general audience of migrants with obsolete skills and the social workers in the field of migrants’ integration, mostly at the local level of participating organizations, and the staff working in the field of migrants’ inclusion;

Expected results

The project envisages to produce the following main results:
• A tested and validated educational format to teach basic, transversal and entrepreneurial skills specifically applied to the field of craftsmanship;
• An e-commerce platform specifically dedicated to the selling of ethnic handicraft products to be used by crafts migrants that should be fully operative by the end of the project. Generated income will grant the sustainability of this project output.

Disclaimer: This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained here.