The courses aim to contribute to the social inclusion of refugees and migrants, as well as develop their digital skills and encourage critical and interpretive thinking.
The STEAMigPOWER project, of which the Solidarity Foundation of the University of Barcelona is a partner, has carried out a training of trainers and a partnership meeting, between November 22 and 24, 2023, in Cyprus.
The training of trainers has focused on the two introductory courses of the project: the one on social inclusion, by Cati Jerez from the UB Solidarity Foundation, and the one on digital storytelling, facilitated by Elizabeth Tzialla from SEAL Cyprus, which are part of the STEAMigPOWER introductory Blended Intensive Program. The objectives of the training of trainers have been the understanding on the courses content and teaching strategies; the acquisition and development of skills to prepare training materials and courses, and the training to provide on-site support for course activities.
The trained people, members of the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) partners of the project —Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi (Turkey), Università degli Studi di Perugia (Italy), Universidade do Minho (Portugal) and UB Solidarity Foundation—, will now start a training process for facilitators and co-facilitators of these courses, which UB Solidarity Foundation and SEAL Cyprus will offer online during 2024 in these same institutions.
The STEAMigPOWER introductory Blended Intensive Program aims to contribute to social inclusion and engagement of refugees and migrants in their host community (not only at the local level, but also at the national and European levels), and to develop their digital skills, while fostering their critical and interpretive thinking and enhancing their learning experience. Therefore, in addition to the training of trainers, the project provides the partner university institutions with guidelines for delivering the courses successfully and a guide for digital storytelling.
The STEAMigPOWER introductory courses will take place in all HEIs at the same time, so that joint activities will be organized and communication between the participants will be encouraged. The associated partners of the project will also participate, being invited to offer activities on civic integration and social inclusion, once the online session has ended.
For course development, the STEAMigPOWER project takes into account the report it published in July 2023, “Final Report on the strategies and methodologies for the STEAMigPOWER Intensive Programs“, which explores inclusive STEAM education for refugees and vulnerable groups across Europe and analyzes the latest initiatives and courses that European HEIs have designed for these groups.
This news is related to the following SDG of 2030 Agenda:
