Category: methods

The sewing circle helps its members to grow, both as a group and individually. They become strong women! The sewing circle welcomes women born overseas who find themselves far from the labour market. Creativity and community combined with skills-enhancing activities create strong women who can take their first steps into the world of work.

ABF FyrBoDal

Trollhättan, Sweden

 

Purpose of the method

ABF FyrBoDal’s intention in starting the sewing circle is to establish a creative platform that brings women together in a community and strengthens their skills in a secure environment. For many of these women, the road to employment is long. The aim of the sewing circle is to act as a first step along that road for those who participate.

Background

Sweden is home to many women born overseas who find themselves far from the labour market. They lack training and work experience relevant to the Swedish workplace and their Swedish language skills and social context may be holding them back. Many are also unaware of their rights.

Given the need to strengthen the position of these women with regard to future studies and employment, ABF FyrBoDal started a sewing circle in collaboration with the Swedish Public Employment Service. Participants are assigned to activities such as on-the-job training, providing them with an opportunity to attend a workplace at which they can develop the skills that will bring them closer to the labour market.

Members of the sewing circle are in need of language training, as well as knowledge of Swedish society, the Swedish workplace and their rights. The reason for choosing a sewing circle as the vehicle for the project is that many of the participants come from Somalia, where needlework is largely a male occupation; thus making the sewing circle a starting point for a dialogue on gender equality.

Description of method

Our activities are above all intended to create a sense of security and trust. Each participant should be able to see their own developmental needs and opportunities, ABF FyrBoDal operates from a meeting place in Trollhättan where participants meet ABF members and have the opportunity to become involved in other activities conducted by ABF on the premises.

A leader with knowledge of sewing and society forms groups consisting of between five and ten women, the majority of whom come from Somalia.

The leader of the circle, someone skilled in sewing and design, begins with practical activities; for example, participants learn how a sewing machine works, after which each of them decides what they would like to sew. During the practical introduction, we discuss the rules that apply to the sewing circle: times of attendance, what to do if you fall ill, break and lunch times, etc. The leader forms an impression of each of the participants, while they get to know one another. This is an important element of the introduction during which each participant’s needs, desire and abilities are assessed. By revealing each individual, a sense of engagement and involvement is created.

The participants naturally practice Swedish on a daily basis as they talk and sew, helping one another to understand the language. These daily conversations provide the participants with knowledge of Swedish society, the labour market and human rights. By working together creatively and maintaining an everyday dialogue regarding many of the things they need to know, the participants pick up knowledge in a natural way; a necessity if they are to be active citizens and become resources on the labour market.

The circle leader has worked closely with the University of Gothenburg in order to strengthen the group and increase knowledge of Swedish society and women’s rights. Participants have been on study visits to the university, while lecturers and researchers from the university have visited the sewing circle in Trollhättan to lecture on women’s rights and discuss the women’s own views and experiences of the subject.

Participants have also taken part in various cultural events in Trollhättan at which they have shown their work.

Results

In addition to increasing their knowledge of the Swedish language, society and labour market and women’s rights, almost all participants have become more proactive. The most striking aspect has been the women’s increased self-confidence and self-esteem. With the help of the circle leader, who has assisted them in contacting public authorities on various matters, several participants have also tackled and resolved personal problems.

During activities, the participants have created the exhibition Livstrådar (Life Threads) featuring clothes they have sewn and biographical texts. After opening in Trollhättan, Livstrådar has also visited Åmal and Lysekil. The intention is for the exhibition to be shown in other municipalities within ABF FyrBoDal’s catchment area.

The sense of community and positivity created in one of the sewing circle’s first groups led its members to dub themselves the “Strong Women”. These women want to create better conditions for other foreign-born women and so have founded the Strong Women Association; an association that develops and learns in order to become a robust organisation in the long term. The Strong Women Association is now a member organisation of ABF FyrBoDal.

Study materials

• Kvinnors rättigheter (Women’s Rights) in easy-to-read Swedish.
• Medborgarboken (The Citizen’s Handbook), ABF Södra Småland.
• Information videos on various professions available on the Swedish Public Employment Service’s website under SFI literature.
• Från idé till förening (From Concept to Association), folder from ABF FyrBoDal that simply explains how to start an association.

Partners

• School of Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg, Gender and Development in Practice in Gothenburg.
• Swedish Public Employment Service, Trollhättan.
• The Integration Forum Against Racism in Trollhättan.

Resources and funding

• Arranger grant from the Swedish Public Employment Service

Contact

If you have any questions about the method, please contact ABF FyrBoDal.

Links

• Women’s Voices: Civil society and immigrant women’s rights https://gadipblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/report-womens-voices.pdf
• The Europe we want Feminist approaches, gender, migration and democracy. https://gadipblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/theeuropewewant-feministapproaches-migration.pdf
• Women in diaspora: How do they meet and how they approched to society. https://gadipblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/women-in-diaspora-how-do-they-meet-and-how-are-they-approached-in-society.pdf
• Collaborativ learning for women’s empowerment https://gadipblog.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/collaborative-learning-for-womens-empowerment.pdf
• gadip.se

Foreign-born women with a low level of education are given the opportunity to study. They learn Swedish and about what they need to do to get a job. By studying, they also become role models for their children.

ABF Örebro County

Örebro, Sweden

 

Purpose of the method

The aim is to welcome foreign-born women, strengthen their position in relation to the labour market and improve their understanding of Swedish society.

Background

The initiative for this activity initially came from associations on the Vivalla Estate in Örebro. ABF Örebro County has a wide contact network on the estate, both among residents and associations. There was a desire for ABF to assist women to start their own businesses, given that many women were trapped in long-term unemployment. Most of them had lived in Sweden for a long time, anything from three to thirty years. The majority had been here for at least a decade. ABF was requested to set up a resource centre on the estate, which became the Trappan Resource Centre.

The idea developed into a three-year project aimed at welcoming women from many cultures and strengthening their position on the labour market. The project received support from the European Social Fund (ESF).

Description of method

The Swedish Public Employment Service refers women to the Trappan Resource Centre as an activity within their job and development guarantee. Many of the participants have a low level of education, or none whatsoever, from their previous homelands.

Participants arrive throughout the year and the project is run in two-week periods, each with its own theme. When the theme is social studies, the content is pitched at upper-secondary level, although teaching methods are at primary school level. This is because the participants have difficulty processing long texts. They also have lessons on the Swedish language with a licensed Swedish-language teacher and all teaching in the classroom is conducted in Swedish. Social studies courses are led by the project manager and two staff members, one an Arabic speaker and one Somali.

Intensive literacy courses are also held at the Trappan Resource Centre, with participants working in small groups using an ABC book designed for primary school pupils. This course is led by a retired teacher. Participants attend the centre for between six months and a year. After six months, an evaluation is conducted together with the Swedish Public Employment Service and the participant to assess whether the participant: is developing through the activity; is ready enter the labour market; should move on to adult education; or should continue at Trappan.

Almost all of those who arrive at the Trappan Resource Centre have failed Swedish for Immigrants (SFI). The project manager meets all prospective participants in person before they are registered at Trappan in order to explain how the resource centre works, what ABF can do for them and what they can expect if they join the project.

When the participants begin their first course they are given a few days to settle in, after which they have an individual discussion. Each participant has a contact person with whom they will have an individual discussion once a month. One important element of the program is to provide knowledge and understanding of the job-seeking process. The themed course Labour Market and Jobs offers participants knowledge of this process, including how to right a CV and cover letter. If necessary, participants are also helped to create an email address.

It is important to be clear with regard to the job-seeking process, given that many participants have an erroneous image of, for example, the Swedish Public Employment Service, which some believe both searches for jobs on behalf of the unemployed and decides who gets jobs. There are also many who do not understand job advertisements and participants are therefore provided with knowledge of various professions and what is required in order to get a job.

In order to ensure that the participants get as much practice as possible at speaking Swedish, volunteers visit the centre for a couple of hours each week to converse with the participants in Swedish. These volunteers include pensioners, students and members of ABF’s study circles. Information regarding the project was emailed to circle leaders who passed the information on to their own participants. Some people have even contacted the project manager to offer their assistance after hearing that ABF had opened the Trappan Resource Centre. Örebro University also contacted ABF to offer support from student teachers. The project has also used Facebook to disseminate knowledge of the project.

To bring them closer to the labour market, participants are sent on workplace visits or work placements to companies, organisations and municipalities. This can be anything from learning how to commute to and from work and how to present oneself to training at companies who need additional staff and where future employment is a possibility. Project employees are extremely active in contacting prospective employers and the Trappen Resource Centre has approximately 100 companies and organisations that accept trainees with varying degrees of frequency. The women in the project are also able to use the facilities at the Friskis & Svettis gym to improve their health and increase their physical strength while participating in a social context.

Results

Sixty people have participated in the project. Their language skills have improved as has their self-confidence. Above all, they have discovered that they can learn new things. Once teaching is conducted at a pace that suits them, they become aware of how their learning process works. They learn in the same way as children in Swedish primary and middle schools. Many of the women have previously attended courses at which the pace of teaching has been too fast, something that has created a sense that they are somehow stupid and unable to understand anything. Trappan Resource Centre engenders a sense of pride when they realize that they are capable of learning. They have an aha moment when they crack the learning code.

The participants’ increased self-confidence and sense of belonging also impacts on relationships at home. They become role models for their children; many of them had never considered that there were leisure activities that allow mothers to take their schooling seriously. This demonstrates the importance of going to school to children, and that they should take their own schooling seriously.

Study materials

The project develops its own study materials to suit the needs of participants. These can be PowerPoint presentations with images or reading and listening exercises. Use is also made of sites containing video material; for example, the Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company (UR) website.

Collaboration

• The Swedish Public Employment Service
• Örebro Municipality
• Kulturföreningen Afrikas Horn (Horn of Africa Cultural Association)
• ÖrebroBostäder AB
• Örebro University
• Friskis & Svettis

The Trappen Resource Centre also collaborates with a large number of organisations, associations, companies and Örebro Municipality to provide work placements.

Resources and funding

Grants from the European Social Fund and co-financing from the Swedish Public Employment Service and ABF Örebro County.

Contact

If you have any questions about the method, please contact ABF Örebro County.

ABF FyrBoDal went knocking on doors to actively find foreign-born women and invite them to a meeting place on their housing estate. Activities and conversation became a way to break the isolation so many women were living in. The meeting place also offered activities for the women’s children.

ABF FyrBoDal

Billingsfors, Sweden

 

Purpose of the method

The activity aimed to engage and strengthen foreign-born women living in isolation on the housing estate. By actively searching for these women and inviting them to a local women-only meeting place, ABF FyrBoDal created an opportunity for them to meet other women. In conversation and activities, the women were encouraged to play an active part in the community and inspired to study and work.

Background

Today, many foreign-born women spend an inordinate amount of time in the home while their children go to school and their husbands go out to work or some other occupation. These women lack any social context and find themselves in a situation where they lack the motivation to seek contact with others and take steps towards studies or employment. To get to grips with this situation, the Swedish Government has allocated funds to strengthen women who find themselves far from the labour market. These funds are distributed to study associations throughout Sweden via the Swedish National Council of Adult Education. This is how ABF obtains the funding to conduct its operations.

ABF FyrBoDal had been active on the Baståsen Estate in Billingsfors during a previous project and was aware of the social problems such as addiction and mental illness that characterize the estate. That project was intended to develop the outdoor environment on the Baståsen Estate and was built on engaging residents in the positive development of the area. This had provided ABF with a visible profile on the estate over an extended period and a reputation as a positive force. Based on this experience, and in the knowledge that the Baståsen Estate is home to many foreign-born women, ABF chose to focus on that particular group.

Description of method

ABF employed two hourly-paid women on the project, one from a Swedish and one from a Lebanese background. Their mission was to seek out and contact foreign-born women and invite them to a local meeting place in Baståsen. They also planned activities together with ABF’s coordinator of operations in Billingsfors.

One of those who had worked on the previous project on the estate also took part in the initial phase of the initiative. She was well-known to most of the residents and widely trusted. Another important factor in reaching these women was that one of those going door to door spoke Arabic, a language widely spoken in the neighbourhood.

A poster was designed welcoming the women to a local meeting place and giving information about the activity. The two women also knocked on doors and invited the women they met to inspirational meetings. It was initially intended to conduct both morning and afternoon meetings; however, as many of the women attended SFI, it was decided in dialogue with the women to meet on Monday evenings.

The initial meetings were largely a matter of building trust within the group. The question of which activities should be pursued was decided in consultation with the women; among other things, they settled on knitting, Swedish-language studies, information on health and welfare in Sweden, how schools function and waste recycling. There was also a good deal of discussion about foodstuffs and the conditions we have in Sweden compared to the countries from which the women came. The women were also informed about work placements by the municipality’s integration coordinator.

Many of the women found it difficult to attend the meetings as they had nobody to look after their children. It was therefore decided to include activities for younger children. As the children’s activities proved so popular, children were even taking their mothers to the meeting place.

Results

The women were provided with a social context in which to meet other women from the neighbourhood. They were able to discuss their lives and receive a sympathetic hearing from women in the same situation. They were given their own arena in which to develop and grow, both individually and as a group.

The skills-enhancing activities strengthened the women, improving their self-confidence and awareness of social issues and their command of the Swedish language. These were activities that paved their way towards studies and employment.

Experiences

A meeting place for women on a housing estate with many newly arrived migrants strengthened and inspired the women who attended. It would have been desirable to make the meeting place permanent and open at least twice a week, possibly with sewing machines so that the women could pursue practical pastimes at the same time as discussing everyday issues. The most important thing about the meeting place was that children had their own activities on the premises. This motivated both women and children to attend.

Leaders with language skills – for example, Arabic or Somali – are an asset for this type of activity. Even if one strives to speak Swedish while at the meeting place, there is a good deal that needs to be explained in the participants’ native languages.

One problem encountered at the meeting place was that women were easily drawn to those with whom they shared a language. One must work actively to ensure that the women meet across language barriers.

It is important to discuss how the project is to be run from the outset. A SWOT analysis should preferably be performed as this will prove useful when problems do arise. A working group consisting of representatives of associations, participants and project staff can prove to be a useful working method for implementing these kinds of activities.

Study materials

The project primarily uses various websites to obtain knowledge in various fields.

Collaboration

The Culture and Recreation Department of Bengtsfors Municipality contributed premises.

Resources and funding

The initiative was financed by the Swedish government through funds distributed to study associations via the Swedish National Council of Adult Education.

Contact

If you have any questions about the method, please contact ABF FyrBoDal.

Close to Boden town centre, locals, newly arrived immigrants and asylum seekers farm together. A mixture of African and native Swedish crops are grown on the allotments. The long-term aim is to start a cooperative social enterprise to supply organic products to schools and residential care homes.

ABF Norr

Boden, Sweden

 

Purpose of the method

The aim is to develop a method whereby cultivation to meet household needs provides a platform for development activities that empower participants and, in the long-term, even increase their degree of self-sufficiency.

By implementing the method, it is ABF Norr’s intention to create positive development in terms of integrating migrants into the community. The desire is to create a sustainable, scalable solution that can be spread to the rest of Sweden – real sustainable integration. The long-term objective is to establish a social enterprise.

Background

A dialogue between an ABF Norr activities leader and a contact at the company Nordmark resulted in the development and realisation of the concept of urban farming on Nordmark’s land. Farming activities have been run and developed for three growing seasons and there are now six hectares of land under cultivation close to Boden town centre. A development project is now underway with the municipality and county administrative board to investigate the possibility of starting a cooperative to supply organic, socially cultivated products to local facilities such as schools and residential care homes.

Description of method

Locals, newly arrived immigrants and asylum seekers cultivate crops side-by-side. ABF disseminates information via its networks and associations to anyone who might be interested in growing crops in Gammelbyn. Current project participants talk about their experience of cultivation and thereby recruit more urban farmers.

All gardening implements, tools and other aids are available to be used by all growers and everyone harvests and benefits from their own crop.

Particularly active participants have been appointed as on-site leaders, with their own keys to tool sheds and other materials stores.

The farming groups take various forms; some consist solely of men and some only women, while a number of groups are mixed. There have even been groups in which an entire family has worked together to produce crops. Each group (study circle) receives information on cultivation and applicable rules of conduct.

Participants gain knowledge in joint study circles and individually depending on their particular needs. Among other activities, a gardening consultant from the county administrative board holds study circles on cultivation for leaders and other key individuals.

As far as possible, ABF maintains communication with participants in Swedish in order to strengthen their conversational language skills.

Through urban farming, ABF works to create meetings between participants from a wide range of different cultures. The activities are not solely aimed at integration into Swedish society but also at bringing together the various cultures involved in urban farming in the district.

ABF also holds study circles focused on the development of a social enterprise that can promote individual development and self-sufficiency, while at the same time helping to fullfil Boden Municipality’s stated aim of serving locally grown organic food.

Results

There is a great deal of interest in urban farming, with both newly arrived migrants and locals applying to the project.

Participating growers have enjoyed excellent cooperation across cultural boundaries in jointly cultivating crops. Seeds from African countries have been interspersed with traditional Swedish crops. Different methods with their origins in various countries have come together on the allotments and the desire to cultivate has created an exciting agricultural landscape.

The identities of key individuals have crystallized over the course of the project and these have proved important to ensuring that the allotments function as the green development platform for both locals and migrants that they were always intended to be.

Experiences

This is a very positive activity that has developed into an active meeting place with good conditions for developing into a cooperative.

Given the experience gained from the day-to-day cultivation activities, ABF is aware of the importance of creating a common and clear infrastructure/organisation so that participants understand their responsibilities. Everyone must be clear about their role and take responsibility for maintaining the land, buildings, etc.

One less successful aspect over the course of the year was the weather, which is of course an important parameter for cultivation. The groundwater level was high and the snow was slow to melt, meaning that cultivation got underway a month behind schedule. 

Study materials

Study circles were based on YouTube and the participants own knowledge. Many participants brought extensive knowledge of cultivation with them into the project. 

Collaboration

• Nordmark AB contributes land, as well as assisting in ploughing the fields used for cultivation.
• Boden Municipality and ABF maintain an ongoing dialogue regarding the development of the project.
• The County Administrative Board of Norrbotten and ABF maintain an ongoing dialogue regarding the development of the project. A gardening consultant supports participants with advice and training courses on cultivation.
• The local Eritrean Association is very active in developing the allotments.

Resources and funding

• Boden Municipality and the County Administrative Board of Norrbotten have approved grants of SEK 100,000 each. They are keen for ABF to study whether it would be financially viable develop a social enterprise.
• All activities are conducted within the scope of various adult education arrangements.
• Circle leaders are paid the appropriate wage.

Contact

If you have any questions about the method, please contact ABF Norr.

People relate parts of their life stories to one another – thus becoming living books. Those who listen will begin to question stereotypes and preconceptions, challenging their own prejudices. Together, the living books become a living library.

ABCittà scs & COOS Marche Co-op

Lombardy, Marche, Trento, Sardinia, Lazio, Apulia – Italy

 

Purpose of the method

To counter prejudices through intercultural animation tools.

Background

COOS Marche is a social cooperative. Among other things, they work to support newly arrived immigrants to establish themselves in Marche and to ease social integration. In order to create meetings between new arrivals and locals, they work with the Living Library concept in collaboration with ABCittà in Milan.

The ABCittà Living Library (ALL) is a specific model inspired by the Danish Human Library. Instead of books, you can borrow living, breathing people who will relate parts of their own life story for the listener. The idea is to challenge stereotypes and prejudices. The Human Library started in Denmark in the early 2000s and the method is now used in over 80 countries. The Human Library is comprised of human books.

In Italy, the idea has been further developed into precise, scientifically grounded 3D:

1. The Intercultural Dimension (type of prejudice).
2. The Participatory Dimension (development of the implementation process).
3. The Functional Dimension ( definition of specific local goals and operational choices).

Description of method

Each incarnation of the ALL includes a preparatory phase, of the human books, and a realisation phase, of the human library. Both phases are developed in on site to increase the effect of awareness of the identified topic.

In the initial phase, a local project group is established and activated, tasked with defining the specific problem or issue to be addressed, with an emphasis on which path to choose. The first phase also involves the preparation of the local prejudice map, thereby identifying potential human books. Five practice sessions are then organized with the prospective human books.

In the second phase, the space in which the ALL is to be implemented is identified, planned, created and organized. Consideration is also given to designing, implementing and communicating the event. This phase concludes with an evaluation.

Necessary competences:

• Pedagogical training for intercultural and social animation to facilitate complex processes.
• Group leadership.
• Handling relationships with various territorial socio-pedagogical languages and social communication.

Results

The primary target group is the readers of the human books, who will be strongly affected emotionally, challenging prejudices and perceptions of stereotypical appearances. Memories are brought to life and become stories. Preconceptions are reevaluated.

Those who are suited to the role of human book are in the secondary target group.  They will process their own experiences, redefine their identity, overcome shyness or other obstacles to human relationships. Specific competences may be required for this work.

A tertiary target group is the remaining citizens who, even at a distance, observe the preparations, planning and public events. This arouses curiosity, unanswered questions and doubt, but also discussion on specific topics.

Experiences

There are over forty different narrative paths within the ABCittà Living Library. All stories can be found online at www.bibliotecavivente.org and on Facebook.

Study materials

• Maggi U., Meardi P., Zanelli C. (a cura di), Biblioteca Vivente. Narrazioni fuori e dentro il carcere, Altreconomia edizioni, Milano, 2016.
• Maggi U, Dodi E. in Annacontini G. e Rodríguez-Illera J. L. (a cura di) La manovra del Gambero, Mimesis, Sesto San Giovanni, 2019.
• Il modello di Biblioteca Vivente messo a punto da ABCittà è citata come buona prassi della Relazione finale della Commissione “Jo Cox” sull’intolleranza, la xenofobia, il razzismo e i fenomeni di odio della Camera dei Deputati, 2017. http://website-pace.net/documents/19879/3373777/20170825-JoCoxCommission-IT.pdf

Collaboration

All networks are defined through bilateral agreements between ABCittà and local authorities in the various Italian regions. The COOS Marche cooperative has entered into an agreement with ABCittà to use the method in the Marche region.

Resources and funding

Each ABCittà Living Library is financed separately, either through public or private funding, depending on the type of client wishing to utilize the method.

Contact

If you have any questions about the method, please contact COOS Marche.

Song as a tool for learning Swedish: in the Integration Choir, people meet around a shared interest. The future of the choir became a motivation!

ABF Östergötland

Norrköping, Sweden

 

Purpose of the method

The Integration Choir was intended to strengthen newly arrived immigrants by helping them to learn Swedish. Through the choir, ABF Östergötland also hoped to create joy and reduce stress and concern as the participants focused on an activity they found enjoyable.

Background

Norrköping accepted a great many asylum seekers, as refugees streamed into Sweden during autumn 2015 and spring 2016. Faced with so many seeking asylum, Norrköping Municipality established an integration fund from which civil society could seek financing for various projects to promote integration.

ABF Östergötland applied for and received a grant from the fund, after which it started a number of activities including study circles on cooking, sewing, woodwork, dance, guitar, piano, drumming/percussion, painting and parenting – and the Integration Choir. ABF’s intention was to offer all migrants the opportunity to accelerate their integration and increase their wellbeing based on their own interests.

The Integration Choir was started because so many newly arrived migrants were musical and enjoyed singing, making a choir an appropriate activity to satisfy both their musical interests and desire to meet native Swedes and practice the Swedish they had learnt in ABF’s Swedish-language circles. The leaders of ABF’s Swedish-language circles were positive about the activity, having noted the difficulty that many migrants experience in pronouncing the language’s long and short vowels.

The choir was free to participants. The choirmaster’s fees were paid by the Norrköping Municipality Integration Fund and ABF.

Description of method

ABF’s activity leaders, who also performed in the Integration Choir, disseminated information about it via both word of mouth and social media. Both migrants and native Swedes were invited to an initial meeting in spring 2016. No demands were placed on the participants’ singing ability; everyone who wanted to take part was made welcome.

The choir met once a week to rehearse Swedish songs chosen by the choirmaster based on what she felt would suit the group. Each meeting began with listening to the songs chosen by the choirmaster, after which the group studied the meaning of each song’s lyrics and how the words were pronounced. Participants were given the homework of listening to songs on Spotify in preparation for the next meeting. It was common when meeting choir members in other contexts to find them humming or listening to songs from the choir’s repertoire.

The choir maintained a steady membership of 15 people, with some leaving and others joining over the course of the project. 50% of them came from a Swedish background.

Several of the migrants had a background in playing various percussion instruments, resulting in new interpretations of the Swedish songs.

After a couple of months preparation, the Integration Choir performed its first concert. This was very exciting for the participants. During the two and a half years of the choir’s existence, it performed for an audience on 35 occasions, largely in Norrköping itself but also around the Östergötland region. Each term concluded with a restaurant visit financed from the fees received by the choir for some of their performances.

Results

Attendance was very high at choir rehearsals. The ability of participants to express themselves in Swedish improved and ABF cemented close links with many of them. There was a family atmosphere among the group and the joy of participants was noticeable. The many performances strengthened the group; had the activity been confined to rehearsals, it is unlikely that it would have been as successful. The excitement of performing together on stage, with everyone giving their very best, reinforced the sense of community. Even though it were not a professional choir, everyone involved wanted to show that it was a good one!

The members of the choir were strengthened by their participation in the project. They enjoyed personal development and increased self-confidence. Naturally, participation in the choir took place in conjunction with other parallel activities such as Swedish-language circles at ABF and language cafés; for example, ABF collaborates with Equal Rights For Integration and One Norrköping for All.

The Integration Choir also broadened the participants’ networks. Many of them are now members of other choirs in Norrköping, while some have even been hired to perform in various contexts, including local events Utomhusbio and Kulturafton. At these types of events they may also sing in their native language and play instruments typical of their homeland, thus disseminating the migrant culture and music.

Experiences

The Integration Choir has demonstrated that activities outside of pure study circles can both strengthen the participants’ Swedish-language skills and increase their wellbeing. The Integration Choir has also increased mutual understanding between newly arrived migrants and Swedes, both among choir members and those attending their concerts. 

Study materials

• Röda sångboken (The Red Songbook) and various other music books
• YouTube
• Spotify

Collaboration

• Norrköping Municipality
• Swedish National Pensioners’ Organisation (PRO)
• Hageby i samverkan (Hageby in Collaboration)
• Church of Sweden and several other organisations

Resources and funding

The Integration Choir was financed by Norrköping Municipality’s Integration Fund and ABF Östergötland. This funding covered the choirmaster’s fees for two hours a week for two and a half years, as well as materials costs for songbooks, binders, etc.

Contact

If you have any questions about the method, please contact ABF Östergötland.

ABF Finland in Helsinki and Tampere work with peer-support groups. These offer newly arrived migrants the opportunity to learn Finnish, seek employment or apply for a vocational training place. These activities are conducted in collaboration with adult education centers and higher education institutions.

Työväen Sivistysliittoo (TSL)/Workers Educational Association (WEA)

Helsinki and Tampere, Finland

 

Purpose of the method

The purpose of the project is to intensify job seeking, strengthen the participants’ knowledge of the Finnish language and of Finnish working life. It also aims to enable participants to realistically view their abilities and ambitions and encourage them to seek employment or further education.

Background

According to Finnish statistics, the level of employment for migrant women is only 40%. For women born in Finland, this figure is 70%. The Finnish public employment service is currently working under severe pressure, with a single employment officer being called on to support 400 clients. This leaves employment officers with very little time to interview job seekers regarding their skills and ambitions.

The lack of individual guidance particularly impacts on migrants with a low level of education – especially women. Catch up with work focuses on supporting long-term unemployed migrants who require extra help along the road to employment. The support groups assembled within the project help them to assess their skills and provide further information on working life in Finland, requirements on job seekers and how to find a job or further education.

The target groups are long-term unemployed migrants living in the Tampere and Helsinki areas who have been living in Finland for over three years. The activities are primarily aimed at women, as they experience higher levels of unemployment and have a greater need for support in finding their way in working life; however, men are also welcome.

Description of method

The participants are organized in peer-support groups that receive information and support from supervisors and one another; groups in which they meet as equals and learn together. All participants are interviewed prior to entering the project so that supervisors are aware of each participant’s needs and situation and can tailor the content of group activities accordingly. Participants also have the opportunity to have a personal mentor who can offer one-on-one advice.

Group supervisors, who themselves have an immigrant background, are trained to lead the peer-support groups. The groups focus on working life. Group supervisors are awarded an Open Badge on completing their training and another once they have practical experience of leading a peer-support group. The award of an Open Badge makes the group supervisor’s skills visible and reinforces their view of themselves as knowledgeable regarding Finnish working life and culture and group job seeking.

Each group meets on eight occasions, always at the same place. Visiting experts will sometimes address the groups: for example, regarding self-study of the Finnish language or contacting prospective employers.

In the groups, participants will learn about:

• Finnish working life;
• workplace culture;
• seeking work;
• job interviews;
• employee rights and obligations;
• the work of trade unions;
• studying Finnish under their own steam; and
• learning words and expressions specific to trades or professions.

Participants complete an evaluation form at their first and last meetings in which they can reflect over the knowledge they already possess and what the group needs in order to make progress. The supervisor of the peer-support group keeps a log detailing each group meeting, with information on the learning process, results and participants’ needs. This data is then used to plan the content and themes of future meetings.

The pedagogical method used in peer-support groups is intended to strengthen and activate participants. Participants have the opportunity to vote on the themes they would like to see addressed in the group. The goal is to create an egalitarian environment in which group supervisors and participants are of equal value and where participants can learn valuable lessons from one another.

Study materials

The study materials used in the project are tailored to suit the groups. The material will be published together with the handbook Catch up with work in January 2020.

Results

The learning outcomes for participants have been evaluated based on five questions in an initial and final evaluation completed by the participants themselves.

The questions were answered on a scale of 1-5, where 1 = Very bad and 5 = Very good.

1. How good do you think you are at applying for jobs?
2. How good do you think you are at writing a job application in Finnish?
3. How good do you think you are at coping with job interviews in Finnish?
4. How good is your awareness of different professions and work tasks in Finland?
5. How good do you think you are at understanding your rights as an employee in Finland?

Based on the feedback from participants, they want to learn about:

• Finnish working life;
• the Finnish education system;
• how to find a job;
• trade unions;
• vocabulary for working life;
• how to integrate in working life;
• work culture, what are suitable topics for discussion;
• the Finnish language; and
• how to interview for jobs

The forthcoming report Catch up with work will present the results of the surveys conducted with participants. This will reveal how many participants have since entered employment or education/training and what significance their participation in a peer-support group has had; for example, some participants have realized that they need to strengthen their Finnish-language skills before they can take the next step in working life.

Collaboration

The WEA is the main coordinator of the project, which is a collaboration with the Silta-Valmennus Association, Tampere Adult Education Centre (TAKK), the Institute of Adult Education in Helsinki and Tampere University.

Resources and funding

The project is financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) and has also received funds from the Finnish Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors (JHL).

Experiences

It has proved extremely useful to learn about the needs of the target group if they are to take the next step into Finnish working life, the specific requirements that exist and the desire among participants to develop.

For many reasons, these individuals – who have had only a brief period in education, who have limited linguistic skills and who have lived closely with only their immediate families – have a long way to go before they are able to obtain gainful employment. Nevertheless, we have seen that through these peer-support groups they have been able to gain knowledge of their rights and possibilities, to bring them closer to working life. Their peers and group supervisors empowered them and provided them with ideas – two of the most important building blocks in this process.

Links

www.otetyohon.fi

https://www.emetransnational.net/emeproject/partners/tyovaen-sivistysliitto-tsl-worker-s/

https://emetransnational.blogspot.com/2019/08/peer-support-method-helps-immigrants-to_23.html

https://openbadgefactory.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB_2cR02fj4&t=31s

https://youtu.be/YB3NfnQkZQU

Contact

If you have any questions about the method, please contact TSL.

Theatre can give the unemployed the courage to act; an intensive four-day workshop provides participants with new tools. Telling their own stories brings participants one step closer to the labour market.

Cultural and Creative Industries – Consorzio Materahub, Italy

Matera, Italy

Purpose of the method

The purpose behind the theatre’s methods is to strengthen the soft skills of the unemployed in order to bring them closer to the labour market. The methods also reinforce self-belief, motivation and initiative.

Background

Fake It Till You Make It grew out of a project run by the Norrbotten Theatre in Sweden: Ung Scen Norr (Youth Stage North). There, theatre was used as a platform to promote the development of the skills required to seek employment, in a project financed by the European Social Fund (ESF).

The Norrbotten Theatre subsequently joined with the ReteTeatro41 network of regional theaters based in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. The network was seeking to exchange innovative methods for using theatre to strengthen the young, elderly and migrants in the labour market.

The Italian organisation Materahub had the opportunity to apply for funding from Erasmus+ to develop the exchange of methods and to establish these across Europe. They successfully did so, together with Inova and the regional public employment service in Madrid.

And so began Fake It Till You Make It: from a method developed by the Norrbotten Theatre in northern Sweden via a number of other methods and tools developed in other European countries.

Description of method

Fake It Till You Make It, which is based on the Spot On! method developed at the Norrbotten Theatre’s Ung Scen Norr, is a four-day workshop, normally conducted  in groups of 10 to 20 unemployed people between the ages of 16 and 60. The aim of the method is to use drama exercises and theatre to improve the participants chances of finding employment.

Drama and theatre can be very effective tools for creating personal development. They strengthen groups and create a safe space that encourages participants to find the courage to act, both alone and together with others. By working towards tangible, comprehensible and clear objectives, the working process can be kept short, intensive and effective.  This type of working process helps each participant to focus on their goals; there is no room for the inner pessimist to sow doubt among the participants over the four days of negotiating the process together.

The method:

• strengthens the group by supporting the individual;
• inspires the use of theatre as a working method;
• bases presentation or performance on individual personal stories;
• introduces other organisations or companies working in creative industries; and
• brings the individual one step closer to the labour market.

For those already close to the labour market, the method can provide increased self-esteem and satisfaction, as well as a gentle push to take the next step. For those who find themselves far from the labour market, it can be a small step towards improving their situation.

The method is structured as follows:

1. Participants are recruited.
2. Practical preparation.
3. Implementation (exercises, training tools and rules).
4. Performance and script.
5. Evaluation

Results

The method has been tested in Sweden, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. The participants were young people, the unemployed in general and unemployed women in particular. Participation in Spain was so high that the public employment service was forced to organize a second round of tests in order to provide places for all applicants. In Italy, the method was implemented together with T3 innovation Basilicata, a regional agency promoting the transfer of innovation.

The Fake It method works for those groups in need of developing soft skills that make them more employable. It also works for those who need to regain their self-confidence. Migrants are a group that can fully benefit from the method and another EU project is therefore under development. This is called Fem Talks and will use theatrical methods to strengthen the position of migrant women.

The regional public employment service in Madrid (APEM), which works to promote employability and support job seekers, is integrating the method into its operations.

Materahub and L’Albero in Italy have built a partnership with a local office focusing on work and vocational training. They will be raising the method to regional level through established networks.

Inova has integrated the method into its customized activities to promote skills development among the unemployed and other disadvantaged groups.

Study materials

www.fakeitmakeit.eu

Collaboration

Fake It Till You Make It has collaborated with the following organisations:

• Public employment services.
• Theatre networks.
• Development agencies.
• Public authorities responsible for the labour market and education.

Resources and funding

European Partnership of the Erasmus + , the project Fake It Till You Make It (Norrbotten Theatre, Materahub, Compagnia teatrale L’Albero, APEM, Inova)

Contact

If you have any questions regarding the method, please contact Cultural and Creative Industries – Consorzio Materahub.

Unaccompanied young men and women were able to meet Swedish youths and eat dinner together. Their need to find Swedish friends, and to hear how Swedish youths think, was great. To meet is to integrate.

ABF Östergötland

Norrköping, Sweden

 

Purpose of the method

The aim of the project was to fullfil the wish of unaccompanied young people to make Swedish friends and to learn what their Swedish peers think about various relevant issues.

Background

The dinners for young women and men were activities included in the project Social Support for Unaccompanied Young Migrants. ABF Östergötland launched the project in Norrköping in autumn 2017. The mission was to support young unaccompanied refugees between the ages of 16 and 21 in order to strengthen their ability to establish themselves in society, by improving their language skills and increasing their contact with the majority community. This is important as these young people lose access to their professional support network on reaching 21 years of age. Once an unaccompanied minor reaches 18 years of age and has been granted a residence permit, they must move out of their HVB residential care home, whereupon they lose contact with both ‘their’ care home staff and the guardian appointed to represent their interests. The project was intended to act as a bridge between the HVB home and accommodation of their own. The project commenced with a questionnaire to identify needs and opportunities, ABF then interviewed both unaccompanied minors and the management and staff of HVB homes.

Norrköping Municipality applied and was granted something known as § 37a funding from the County Administrative Board of Östergötland. One of the reasons that Norrköping Municipality tasked ABF with managing the project was that the ABF project manager had previously worked with unaccompanied minors. ABF had also arranged four summer schools and an introductory course for newly arrived unaccompanied young people. This introduction course was held in ABF’s Swedish-language and social-studies circles as a preliminary activity prior to being accepted into the municipality’s language introduction course. ABF therefore had solid experience of working with the target group, as well as close contacts with the community of unaccompanied young migrants in Norrköping.

The Social Support for Unaccompanied Young Migrants project ran for three terms. During the first term, the focus was on reading homework, leisure activities, discussion groups, community information, study visits and lectures. The second term saw a broadening of activities to include writing CVs and cover letters and information on applying for summer jobs.

Prior to the third term, the topic had been raised that the newly arrived young migrants were keen to meet their Swedish peers, given that, even if they had plenty of friends, few of them were born in Sweden. They wanted to make Swedish friends and learn what Swedish youths thought about issues that affected them. It was out of this desire that the youth dinner groups began.

Description of method

The project manager contacted two local associations that ABF worked with in Norrköping: MÄN and Tjejjouren. Together with them, the design of the dinner meetings was created with an emphasis on creating a rewarding and safe environment. ABF also wanted to ensure a place for the discussion of humanistic values, gender equality, sex and cohabitation, rights and responsibilities and social norms. Based on the dialogue with the associations, it was decided that ABF should invite one group of young men and one of young women.

MÄN and Tjejjouren, who were now partners in the project, helped to recruit youths from a Swedish background via their networks.

The two groups met for three hours every other week during autumn 2018. Each group was composed of five unaccompanied young migrants and five Swedish youths.

It was also decided within the project that all dinner meetings would be free of charge to participants in order to ensure that lack of money did not deter the young people from attending.

Each dinner group had two leaders so that conversation could take place in smaller groups and to provide security for both participants and leaders. It was also important to have more than one leader in order to listen and respond to stories and ideas from participants, who are sometimes burdened by terrible experiences.

Every meeting commenced with dinner ordered from local restaurants by the group leader. During dinner, the young people addressed various themes, leading to many lively discussions in both groups.

Each group had a closed Facebook group in which the young people signed up and ordered food.

ABF conducted ongoing evaluations of needs and requirements for best supporting the young people.

Results

On the conclusion of the project, the participants were asked to submit their own written reflections. The responses were very positive. They found the experience extremely enjoyable and interesting. Many would have liked to see the project continue. The young people made new contacts and learned more about each other’s cultures and attitudes. Some participants felt that more activities would have increased the sense of community among the members of the group.

The projected ended in December 2018. It was a relatively expensive project given that food was provided free to the participants and two leaders took part in each dinner group.

Experiences

The dinners met a great need; the young people were keen to meet, talk and reflect with one another. In a society where information and impressions are constantly washing over us and we are under constant pressure to achieve, it is important to simply sit and socialize. This is especially important for unaccompanied young migrants who lack adult contacts and their families.

It is also important for Swedish youths to have the opportunity to meet young people from other countries and with different experiences in order to gain a greater understanding of others, thus reducing both racism and exclusion. In the final analysis, our commonalities outweigh our differences and meetings like these are vitally important to creating a better social climate.

Study materials

MÄN and Tjejjouren provided their own materials, including #Killsnack – Feministisk samtalsgrupp för män (#Guy talk: Feminist Discussion Groups for Men).

Collaboration

• County Administrative Board of Östergötland
• Norrköping Municipality
• MÄN
• Tjejjouren

Resources and funding

• 37a funding from the County Administrative Board of Östergötland via Norrköping Municipality.

Contact

If you have any questions about the method, please contact ABF Östergötland.