25
Ongoing projects
Digital Welcome
period : October 2017-June 2019 source of funding : Asylum , Migration and Integration Fund - European Commission coordinator : ALL DIGITAL website : http :// digitalwelcome . eu
In October 2017 ALL DIGITAL started a new exciting project called “ The WELCOME Programme ”. We will work with newcomers – asylum seekers and refugees , through creative IT workshops which are designed to unlock their potential and foster their inclusion in European countries . The partners in the project are five ALL DIGITAL network members from Belgium , Germany , Italy , and Spain , plus the Greek organisation IASIS , which has a number of centres for psychological support and education for asylum seekers and refugees in Athens ( in Greek , IASIS means “ recovery , health restoration ”).
The project kick-off meeting took place in Brussels on 10 - 11th October . The project full title is “ The WELCOME Programme ”, because we will develop and pilot an innovative training programme consisting of creative IT modules . In this training , we will train young newcomers as IT mentors . They will then work as volunteers and organise IT workshops for their peers and for local people . Thus , they will share their skills and show their potential to serve the community , volunteering not in the usual activities such as cooking or cleaning , but as IT mentors , which requires higher technical skills .
As part of the programme , the young mentors will produce digital stories to reflect on the programme experience .
They will share them with their peers to motivate them to volunteer or participate in educational , social and cultural activities , as well as to raise awareness of the need to make activities more inclusive for third country nationals .
We will test the programme twice during the project and update it after each round . The final programme will take into account the lessons learned , and we hope that many organisations who want to work with refugees and asylum seekers will use it . Updates are being shared on social media # digitalwelcome and the project website digitalwelcome . eu ( coming soon !). Why “ digital welcome ”? Because the digital component is our added value and contribution to the integration landscape and what distinguishes our approach from other initiatives on welcoming newcomers .