Project Overview
International migration has influenced the public policy agenda across Europe over recent decades.
According to the 2016 Eurostat statistics
20.7 million
People with non-EU citizenship are residing in the European Union
16 million
EU citizens living outside their country of origin in a different Member State
These numbers account for a very multicultural and diverse Europe bringing into its wakes various issues around the cultural identity of European nations.
Despite these efforts, cultural differences – inflated by populist movements –appear as a threat to the viability of the European integration project as discrimination and racism are still a growing reality in Europe.
Cultural intelligence is an essential aspect of our professional and community lives today in Europe. Developing cultural intelligence helps societies to be more inclusive and gain cultural diversity, especially in our current context, where we see an increase in the migration of people throughout Europe, across cultural divides.
In order to do so, it is important to be familiar with the cultural intelligence dialectic and to harness the soft skills needed to foster such effective interactions. These 21st-century skills will be especially pivotal to the societal and economic success of Gen Z learners. Youth workers agree that soft skills are still insufficiently harnessed and stimulated by the current education system and as they are the ones at the front line of education, they need to be supported and trained to comprehend and diffuse these skills. In this respect, the CIDizen project represents a significant innovation in the field of youth work and youth development in each of the participating countries.
The CIDizen project will harness the pervasiveness of digital technologies to deliver key training on the topic of cultural intelligence to learners on the margins of provision. Online learning can enhance educational outcomes by enabling access to additional learning resources and supporting disadvantaged learners, such as those from low socioeconomic backgrounds; those living with a disability; or those living in remote areas where mainstream institution based provision is absent. The online Digital Breakout resources not only empowers learners to make choices about their own cultural bias and to question how they react to diversity in our society, it also provides front-line youth workers with a cost-effective solution to the delivery of high-value training.
The project proposes a mutually beneficial arrangement affording the seniors target group an opportunity to remain active contributors to society while addressing the ongoing migrant integration objectives of Member States.
