Training Opportunities for Migrants in the Agrifood Sector

The agri-food sector is the largest manufacturing sector in the EU, both in terms of turnover and number of active companies. The sector is characterized by cross-cultural diversity, where differ...

The GENERAL OBJECTIVE of the TOMAS project was to promote social inclusion and intercultural integration in the agrifood sector, by raising awareness and upskilling agrifood workers of different nationalities on EU common values, civic engagement, and intercultural skills, via adapted vocational education and training resources. The project's SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES were to: -Enable a transnational and cross-sectoral cooperation framework between VET, youth, trade unions, and agrifood stakeholders to foster strategic partnerships and the creation of bridges between social, educational/training, and economic partners; -Promote a better understanding of the needs/gaps related to intercultural relations in the agri-food sector, so as to better adapt VET resources to the needs of agri-food workers of different nationalities, as well as to those of the labor market, towards increased intercultural skills and social inclusion in the agri-food sector; -Develop innovative training resources that combine key approaches from non-formal education, youth work, and VET, in view to train and upskill agri-food workers of different nationalities in a way that boosts their intercultural capacity and awareness of EU values.

A1. KICK-OFF MEETING allowed to enhance the synergies, mutual knowledge, and team building within the project partnership, plan joint implementation and management strategies and create the foundations for efficient, structured, and sustainable cooperation. It was also the occasion to launch preparatory discussions and awareness-raising on the themes of intervention, including a working session with local groups of migrants and agrifood stakeholders, which allowed needs/gaps/expectations to emerge. A2. WORKSHOP allowed participating organizations to combine their expertise, discuss, exchange ideas, share best practices, and brainstorm on how to promote more effective social inclusion, intercultural skills, and EU values-awareness among agrifood workers of different origins via the development of an e-learning VET course. A3. PROJECT RESULT – E-learning course for migrant workers of the agrifood sector: 'TOMAS'. The course targeted workers of the agrifood sector of different origins, especially non-EU migrant workers, to enable them to develop stronger intercultural skills and understand EU common values. It also addressed linguistic, intercultural, and socio-cultural complexities linked to the agrifood sector. A4. INTERNATIONAL MULTIPLIER EVENT (final conference in Italy) allowed all project partners to cooperate for the EU dissemination of the project results and outputs, by mobilizing a large number and variety of stakeholders, target groups, and project participants at local, national and international level. The event took the form of an international conference which, via the presentation of the Project Output, was a key occasion to promote the international dissemination and wider use of the e-learning course co-created. A5. LOCAL MULTIPLIER EVENTS, organized in each partner’s country, allowed all project partners to promote the local/national dissemination of the project results and outputs, by mobilizing a variety of sector stakeholders. Local multiplier events mainly targeted other potential 'multipliers' and 'users' of the Project Result, who are likely to be interested in being 'trained' to use and exploit the full potential of the e-learning course to be applied to their own target groups of learners. Thus, these events included 'train the trainers' sessions as a form of dissemination of the Project Result. A6. CLOSING MEETING was dedicated to set a shared strategy, work plan, and methodology to evaluate the projects' overall results and impacts, as well as to define structured sustainability, dissemination, and follow-up strategy.

The main Project Result (cf. A3) was the co-development of an E-LEARNING COURSE for agrifood workers of different nationalities, with a focus on non-EU migrant workers of the agrifood sectors, aimed at enabling them to enhance their intercultural skills, as well as to better understand EU common values. Overall,the project resulted in a 'solidarity pact' that defines the reciprocal duties of reception, solidarity, linguistic, cultural, and professional training in the perspective of integration, on the one hand, and respect for the laws and institutions of the receiving country, on the other, together with the willingness to contribute, through work and active citizenship, to the welfare of both the target groups and the receiving community.