MIVA – Migrants’ Integration through Volunteering Activities was financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).
The MIVA consortium consisted of 7 organizations from 6 European countries: Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy, Poland and Finland.
– coordinators: Municipality of Piraeus (Greece), www.piraeus.gov.gr & www.destinationpiraeus.com
– Organization Earth (Greece) www.organizationearth.org
– Enoros Consulting Ltd (Cyprus) www.enoros.com.cy
– Indigo Cooperative (France) www.indigo.world
– PRISM Impresa Sociale s.r.l. (Italy) www.prismonline.eu
– Foundation for Somalia (Poland) www.fds.org.pl
– Aar Social Development Association (ASDA) Ry (Finland) www.asdary.com
The main objective of the MIVA project was to promote the implementation of interactive activities to increase the level of integration and participation of third-country nationals in the social and cultural life of the host community and in the voluntary sector, as well as to promote and support capacity building of local communities for effective integration activities with the target group through volunteering and cultural activities. As part of the project, a variety of intercultural and dissemination activities took place, the INDIGO online platform was used, capacity-building, culinary and sports workshops were organized, and the training material “Capacity building workshops for integration in society and work life” and the Cookbook “Eating Together” in several language versions. The cookbook contains over a dozen multicultural recipes, which were created thanks to the culinary workshops taking place as part of the project. These materials can be downloaded in an electronic version from the MIVA website.
In addition, the idea of the project was to address the issue of migrants’ integration by creating opportunities for volunteering, which in turn leads to their involvement in the professional life of the host community. Volunteering enables individuals to meet other people, contribute to a better understanding of everyday life in the country and improve skills, while increasing involvement and integration in the new environment. Migrant voluntary activities represent a significant value and show the special features of migrants’ participation in society. Relevant project components in line with its objectives were: the INDIGO application, the development of capacity-building programs and the introduction of intercultural activities that enhance the interaction between third-country nationals and residents in the host country.
Goals:
– Promote the development and implementation of innovative actions to increase third country nationals’ engagement in the volunteering sector, as active members of the local community;
– Foster knowledge and experience sharing, as well as implementing a capacity building programme focusing on third country nationals’ integration, stakeholders and local citizens from the targeted communities;
– Support the empowerment of refugees and increase their participation in local community life;
– Develop partnerships and cooperation among stakeholders and all actors involved in promoting integration at a community and transnational level.
Outputs:
– Deployment of INDIGO application and NGO platform in participating countries;
– Co-development of a cross-cultural activities programme aims to promote community cohesion and cultural awareness including:
– Organization of cookery courses and production of a booklet with multicultural recipes;
– Organization of Intercultural Festivals;
– Hosting Futsal/Football matches;
– Arranging Walking tours ‘’ Explore your city cultural paths’’ within the hosting city to familiarize with the local history and culture;
– Creation of the film documentaries including experiences from festivals, futsal/football matches and walking tours;
– Implementation of Capacity Building Workshops aimed at developing host communities’ intercultural competences.
Project target groups included third-country nationals, volunteers, trainers, representatives of all levels of government, migrant organizations and NGOs. The total number of people who benefited directly and indirectly from the project is estimated at around 50,000. participants.
The initiative was supported by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (HOME).
