ME1 – EU skills profile
The first multiplier event was held in Thessaloniki, Greece, on the 7.th of May 2019.
The aim for the event was:
• To learn from refugees and their supporting organisations
• To present some of the work done so far in 9-Conversations
• To have feedback of what we are doing
• To establish contact for further collaboration
The target group of the event was:
• Greek authorities
• Support organisations for Migrant / refugees
• Refugees and migrants
• The project team
The event was divided into three main parts:
A) Migrant Entrepreneurship cases and politics
B) A round table discussion of the migrant situation in Greece
C) A workshop on EU skills profile for third country nationals and our project tools
Migrant Entrepreneurship cases and politics
The event logo.
The picture at the bottom of the event logo shows an authentic flow of refugees in 2015 hoping for a better life in EU.
The event was hosted by professor Demosthenes Stamatis, the partner representative, at the International Hellenic University.
Professor Panagiotis Tzionas, Rector of ATEI opened the event.
The event had many participants, taking part in the discussions and in the workshop.
Mr Nikos Rangos, Regional Coordinator for Northen Greece and Epirus of the Hellenic Ministry for Migration Policy gave us a good overview of the Greek situation, and how the authorities plan to support migrants and refugees both on a short term and long term basis. Approximately 10% of the incoming refugees are expected to settle in Greece while the large majority of them are waiting for an opportunity to go to other EU countries.
Thorleif Hjeltnes, the project manager, gave a short introduction on the aims and the tasks of the
9-conversation project, and the role of the event as a communication channel.
Maria Topalidou gave an overview of all kinds of services offered by Albatros refuge supporting organisation, like housing, nutrition, clothing and emergency needs.
Yulie Tzirou from Lesvos Solidarity-PIKPA, gave us an example of refugees entrepreneurship and how they have turned the life jackets into different products for sale, like bags and clothes.
OMENS, represented by Stefanos Kamperis, is an organisation active in the city Kilkis and the north region of Greece. The area of Kilkis is closed to the Northen border of Greece where a great number of migrants were blocked trying to go further into EU. OMNES organizes all types of support for migrants in the area and have also developed online tools and databases to be able to allocate and connect the right resources to the different type of needs, based on age, sex, interests, etc among the refugees.
Local Television
A presentation of the event, the role of our EU project and the work done by different organisations in helping refugees and migrants in the Greek society, as well as future relevant initiatives of the International Hellenic University were on the agenda of ERT3 the public TV Chanel of Thessaloniki.
Integrating of migrants / refugees into the labour market – round table discussion
Round table discussion.
Demostenes Stamatis moderated the discussion. Anne Fox represented the project and shared her experiences from the Danish situation. Nikos Rangos focussed on the Greek efforts to have a long term strategy in helping the refugees to be fully integrated into the society. Stephen Catling representing the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) with more 173 member presented the European as well as a broader picture of the migrant situation. At last Stefanos Kamperis from OMNES, shared real experiences from the situation in northern Greece since 2015. More than 10 people from the audience also took part in the discussion presenting their views and experiences, regarding social inclusion of refugees and migrants and their integration to the labour market.
Workshop for migrants
Anne Fox gave an introduction to the tools developed so far in the project, including the design of the forthcoming Entrepreneurship app. How to use the EU Skills Profile Tool for Third Country Nationals together with the tools developed in the project were also presented.
In the workshop, refugees and their helpers could have hands on experience on the EU Skills Profile Tool for Third Country Nationals.
After the workshop, all participants of the Event were invited for mingling and to a nice dinner.