10.1. Suggested strategies to promote the participation of Roma youth in Erasmus+ programmes
Promoting the participation of Roma youth in Erasmus+ programs require a combination of strategies focused on awareness-raising, inclusion and specific support for the needs of this community. Special mention must be made of the idiosyncrasies of the countries in which they are located.
First of all, for the defined strategies to be successful, we cannot consider it a population isolated from the rest. Therefore, to achieve their interest and participation in these programs, these actions do not only have to be directed at the Roma population. They have to be accompanied by their application also in the entities that are going to provide their support, accompaniment or co-participation and co-creation, it is about promoting coexistence and inclusion with them, and both are bidirectional. Additionally, these strategies offer opportunities for personal and professional development to all participants.
Awareness and dissemination strategies
Information and Awareness Campaigns:
- Carry out specific campaigns in Roma communities to inform about the benefits and opportunities of the Erasmus+ programs.
- Use local media and social networks to disseminate success stories of young Roma who have participated in Erasmus+.
- Invitations to participate in activities organized by the entities that participate in these programs.
- Distribution of publications.
Collaboration with Community Leaders and Organizations:
- Work together with Roma associations and leaders, as local agents, to build trust and disseminate relevant information.
- Carry out informative workshops in community centres, schools and in general in the spaces used by the Roma community.
- Create accessible and welcoming events for the Roma community, incorporating elements of Roma culture such as traditional music and food.
- Promote peer mentoring.
Inclusion and adaptation strategies
Cultural and Linguistic Adaptation:
- Create materials culturally relevant and easily understandable.
- Provide information materials and orientation sessions in the languages and dialects that the Roma community uses.
- Choose themes that ensure and guarantee their right to their identity, being able to value their culture, customs or language on equal terms with any other.
HR strategies
Training for Professionals and Volunteers:
- Orientation and training for community leaders, educators and youth workers in intercultural skills and raising awareness about the Roma community.
- Promote the development of specific training programs for Roma youth in skills that facilitate their participation in Erasmus+.
- Specific training in European values: equity, diversity, inclusion and human rights, beneficial for the inclusion of the Roma community.
- IT training to increase the quality and effectiveness of actions.
Roma Youth Leadership Promotion:
- Encourage and support the development of Roma youth leaders who can act as representatives and promoters of the Erasmus+ program in their community.
- Include the promotion of European Values with the use of materials and training that include how to participate in the Erasmus+ program.
- Strengthen knowledge of European values as a tool for social inclusion and personal development.
Support and accompaniment strategies
Support in Bureaucracy and Organization:
- Offer specialist advice and personalized assistance in completing forms and understanding application procedures.
- Support, accompaniment and mentoring strategies before, during and after their participation.
- Establish mentoring programs with young Roma people who have already participated in Erasmus+.
Financial and Logistical Support:
- Additional financing with scholarships and specific financial aid to cover additional expenses that may arise to facilitate access.
Collaboration strategies
Alliances with Other Entities and Institutions:
- Collaborate with schools, universities and non-governmental organizations that work with Roma youth.
- Promote joint projects and ensure that educational institutions actively support the participation of these young people.
Sustainability strategies
Monitoring and Impact Evaluation:
- Establish mechanisms for collecting data for impact evaluation.
- Impact studies, analysis of participation and good practices of Erasmus+ programs in Roma youth.
- Use of the results to improve and adapt inclusion strategies in real time.
10.2. Guidance for community leaders, educators and youth workers
The Erasmus+ Programme seeks to promote youth participation, reinforcement of the quality of informal and non-formal learning processes and development of quality youth work, guaranteeing its quality, which gives greater freedom to both technicians and participants leaving a vital space for creativity.
After the presentation of the suggested strategies to promote Roma participation, we list a few guiding tips for leaders, educators and youth workers.
- Social Community revitalization and its tools are a fundamental work base to encourage this group, and all others, to participate in this program.
- The strategies must be adapted to the work group; the entire Roma community does not have the same needs or interests.
- They are projects in which to participate on equal terms, they are not social intervention projects in themselves, with constant feedback between all the actors of the same project and between those of the other projects of the Erasmus+ community.
- It is necessary to keep in mind that it is difficult for Roma youth to be agents of change and social transformation in their community and to move internally between their tradition and externally with modernity, which is also in continuous change.
- Participation has to be based on and with their idiosyncrasy; participation in projects that do not respect or understand their specific culture and values cannot be required and would require them to abandon them.
- It is very useful to locate Roma leaders in institutions so that they support and encourage participation.
- Including families in the first steps of participation facilitates the path since in this way they are informed about the project and can facilitate the involvement of young people.
- Promote networking.
- Establish synergies and alliances with the Network of participation facilitators belonging to the Roma Secretariat Foundation (FSG).
It is the state group of Roma young people, who are responsible for supporting the FSG teams to energize participation activities. These activities are organized mainly within the framework of the State Program for the promotion of the participation of Roma citizens, especially the young population.
This group of young people act as local agents and have solid roots in their municipalities and skills to manage groups, which support the FSG teams in the development of this line by launching actions at the territorial and state level.
