Project works on course curriculum at meeting in Slovakia

From 20-21 October 2025, consortium of the ISI project met at the offices of Slovak partner organisation ASSR.

The main item on the agenda was the common basis for a course curriculum, that will later on be adapted at each national level to hold volunteer trainings for integration coaches, i.e. volunteers supporting the integration of Ukrainian refugees. The group had previously created a basic outline in an earlier meeting. The session in Slovakia was the first step in filling that outline with relevant content, especially for the central / or universal areas of knowledge and skills that all courses should ultimately cover. The local/national adaptations of the courses will later on include major components specifically on how refugee integration works in the respective country. Since integration policies and connected laws and regulations are largely national, this way was chosen to enable the partners, respectively their volunteers, to be local knowledge hubs for refugees seeking assistance.

Partners also discussed how to best engage relevant stakeholders on their respective local levels. Once a clear concept and timeline for volunteer-supported integration services is ready everywhere, stakeholders such as municipal decision-makers or organisations and institutions working in integration will be informed about the planned activities and brought on board. Outreach to the refugee target group is also planned.

The consortium will complete the central baseline curriculum in an upcoming desk-work-phase, before local adaptation and implementation of a first round of volunteer trainings will go ahead.