| OPEN SECTION | |
 |
Main Page |
 |
General Information |
 |
Events |
 |
Reports |
 |
Research & Resources |
|
Projects |
|
Information Letters |
 |
Partner Activities |
 |
Countries |
 |
Institutions |
 |
Persons |
Main report
The Interim Report is divided into the following parts: Part 1: Confirmation of project data Part 2: Description of project activities, products and results Part 3: Declaration of Expenditure in € Go to the attached file to have a closer look. The text below is taken from the Interim Report, Part 2:Description of Project Activities, Section 2B: Overall Description of the Project Organistional Approach And Structure The MIR Com 3 is a network of institutions. A number of persons are affiliated to each institution. The MIR Com 3 is also a network of networks with a formal structure of national working groups lead by a national coordinator. At the moment there are eight such groups all organised in a fairly similar fashion and of a fairly similar size. All groups are composed of institutions representing defined types of institutions that are meant to balance and to be complementary in their work, got e.g.: The detailed composition of such a group will vary somewhat from country to country. The formal partnership is defined by this structure of national coordinators and working groups of 4-8 partner institutions. There are signed agreements between the overall coordinator (Beneficiary) and each national coordinator, and between each national coordinator and each partner institution in each working group (this is also contrasigned by the overall coordinator). The financial support from the Beneficiary is channeled through each national working group, not directly to each individual partner. The working group will distribute responsibility of work packages between partner institutions within the group. The working group in each country will expand by recruiting member institutions and inviting them to take part in activities (conferences, seminars, exhibitions) both within their own country and within the network as a whole. It is understood and accepted throughout the network that the national working groups should be strong enough to find own sources of income through sponsorhips generated by own applications in addition to the funding they receive through the MIR Com 3 network. This is already taking place. The Steering Committee is understood as the Beneficiary + the national coordinators meeting twice a year. These meetings take place during the annual conference (April-May) and the annual course for teachers (October). There is also a more informal partnership defined by the structure of cross-national project groups lead by project coordinators. These projects are composed of schools, teacher training, experts on migration etc from different national working groups. These project groups will also recruit institutions from outside the partnership (member institutions). Projects grow from ideas raised at the autumn course for teachers, at the spring annual conference, or though other activities taken within the network. Project ideas are entered into the project base (see Projects in the main menu). Methodology, Tools And Techonlogy To Be Used The MIR network has established two physical meeting places for people belonging to the network to present their work: The actual number of conferences and courses makes it certain that most of the participating working groups will be the organizer of one such event and will therefore have the opportunity of presenting their working group,associates and migration issues that are most relevant in their own country. This was the case when the Northern Irish national coordinator organized course for teachers medio October 2002. It became very clear for participants of the course and coordinators in the MIR network that the situation in Northern Ireland not only influences the situation for the people having lived there for a long time (catholics, protestants etc) but also for people that have arrived in the country in recent years from Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe. Similarly, the course for teachers organized by the Swedish national coordinator clearly demonstrated that the situation for migrants is greatly affected by the the size of a city (Malmö being a large city – Omagh in N-Irland being a small city) and the political climate of the host country (Sweden having a record of being a fairly liberal country where migration and integration is concerned). It is to be expected that the situation in Germany (hosting next year’s course for teachers in 2004) will show still more particularities within the more general European context of migration and asylum policies in the same way. The annual conference and the corresponding MIR contact seminar are somewhat larger settings although not lasting as long as a one week course for teachers. Next year’s conference in Girona (Spain) will expand on some of the issues raised at the first conference in Lisbon (May 2003). Between these main events the working groups and project groups have been given tools to continue their work supported by the internet. Project ideas raised can be followed up under the menu option Projects. Local activities like seminars and exhibitions are made transparent to other partner groups in the network and beyond under menu option Partner Activities. The national coordinators have the opportunity of holding their group together by the dissemination of Information Letters within their group of partners and members (at the moment up to 10-15 in the larger groups). This information is also transparent to others by the demand that at least a summary of the letter should be in English (the full letter can be in their own language). The overall coordinator can similarly reach the whole network by use of Information Letters open to all. By making full use of the opportunity to present local activities of partner or member institutions on the internet, or by introducing the individual teacher/person by filling in personal profiles, it will also be easier for people working within the MIR network to reach others beyond the network. It should be mentioned that the 1st MIR annual conference had visitors from two Com 2 networks: ECOLE and BARFIE. Similarly, that people from MIR took part in the ACODDEN 2nd annual conference in Italy. Products, Results and Their Dissemination The work of the MIR network has been presented by national coordinators at various conferences or seminars. In this respect two PowerPoint presentations have been made. They can be downloaded here from the project´s website. Transversal Issues The issue of migration and intercultural relations involves some of the most important transversal issues raised by the Commission. In addition it has been discussed how best to reach out to women/mothers in the migrant communities, and to engage in work with handicapped people from migrant groups. In several countries one will find the poorest among the migrants. The Portuguese group has for some time launched initiatives in reaching poor children and their mothers by investing in mobile play-centres. Such initiatives were exhibited during the 1st annual conference in Lisbon in May 2003. Evaluation The Croatian group takes part in network activites financed outside Socrates. The coordinating institution of this group also acts as external evaluator of the MIR network activites. Until now this work has been funded independently but it will be suggested that this groups activities should be part of the budget. Separate evaluation activities have been undertaken during the main activites (annual confeence, course, seminar). Feedback On The Project and Changes The structure and aims/objectives from the Application have been retained. The way the network is organized seems to function well. Still, it has taken time to settle the local groups into well balanced working partnerships and to find out who should be a partner/member. In the Application is was signaled that one more country/group should be included, and this was taken into consideration when the budget was set up. The overall coordinator has approached the Turkish National Socrates Agency which has expressed interest in supporting (both practically and financially) the setting up of a Turkish group. Since Turkey is still not formally eligible there still needs to be done some work on this. There is, however, great interest in the network in involving Turkey. |
|||||||
 |
