The project ‘Steps towards Active European Citizenship’ will be a dialogue of culture and education between partners in different countries particularly in relation to the integration of Russian speaking groups in the local communities of the European Union with the emphasis towards senior groups.
The objective of the project is to increase the accessibility and participation of adults in non-formal adult education and to create a positive learning culture for adults by recognising and responding to their wide ranging needs.
The project will aim to develop a range of effective tools for establishing and analysing the needs of adult learners. It is envisaged that more holistic programmes of education can be designed by taking into account the needs identified and through active participation of learners in all stages of the process. If these needs can be made explicit, adult learners can be supported more effectively in learning. The needs of all stakeholders will be considered (e.g. local community, institution, tutors, etc.) but the focus will be on adult learners. The development of tools will be supported by a continuing process of evaluation and review which will involve active participation of learners at every stage. To this end the partners will also share information on the structure with the main providers of adult education in the countries concerned and disseminate examples of good practice with regard to needs detection at the local, national and European level.
This project aims to facilitate access to the seminars and the acquisition of basic skills by the target groups to which the services of the 11 participating societies are addressed. The organisations are actively involved in social support.
The partnership is mostly between non-governmental organisations with similar aims. They all have projects that seek to integrate Russian speaking immigrants into local populations and to encourage an interest in the Russian language, cultural and historical activities amongst the indigenous population. There will be a particular emphasis towards assisting seniors in the immigrant groups where isolation and loneliness can be a particular problem. One of our partners is the Russian Newspaper ‘Chas’ published in Riga, Latvia. They will focus on the views from professional journalists and they will comment on specific tasks and publish materials and articles about the project.
The projects partners will exchange practical experience and learn from each other as to how they can enable these minority groups (immigrants from the ex-USSR) to retain their culture and identity, whilst fully integrating into the democratic structures of their new country. In order to achieve these aims we believe that transnational cooperation is essential and the transfer of intercultural knowledge will help us overcome stereotypes.
Each partner will focus on specific target groups relevant for its country, region or local dimension. The results achieved and any recommendations will be described in detail in the final report.