CVEK

The project seeks to analyze social and cultural integration of third country nationals on the local level while using the method of case studies of three  selected localities. The methodolgy draws on anthropological research.

Apart from a detailed analysis of social and cultural integration of third country nationals the project puts emphasis on a viable practical application of the research findings on the local level. 

Based on the research findings the project team will be able to describe the status quo with respect to cultural and social integration of foreigners on the local level and will draft clear proposals of improvement.

Last but not least, the project foresees awareness raising and capacity building of local stakeholders enabling them to formulate their own solid strategies facilitating integration of foreigners in local communities.

As part of a continuous cooperation with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) CVEK conducts a research aimed at rights of LGBT people in Slovakia.

The main purpose of this research is to collect data that can contribute to understanding of how national (public) law and policy aimed at protecting, promoting and fulfilling the fundamental rights of LGBT persons is applied on the ground and how it could be further developed  in  a  sustainable  way. As part of the research a series of qualitative semi-structured interviews will be held with public authorities, which have a decision-making competence, and professionals (health care providers, teachers, headmasters, police chiefs, police staff) having hands-on experiences and views on the  practical functioning of LGBT policies.  Interviews will also focus on their views and experiences on initiatives that have been set up outside of a larger national framework (pilot projects, third sector cooperation, etc.).

This project is complementary to a quantitative on-line survey measuring the extent of discrimination, victimisation and hate crime as experienced by LGBT persons . The outcomes of both researches will allow identifying future priorities and possibilities of improvement of social policies and initiatives in the  area of rights of LGBT people.

The aim of the project is to support the ability of schools to implement inclusive education and create examples of best practices. To pursue this goal, the Center for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture will engage in cooperation with three elementary schools form different regions of Slovakia. The leading philosophy of the project is inclusive education which will ensure an equal opportunity for the success for each child as well as equal treatment for him/her as a school community member. Within the framework of the project, activities to support a better social environment in individual schools will also be paramount. In the end, one of the important takeaways from the project will be the Guideline book, outlining possibilities for utilizing elements of inclusive education in elementary schools. The project builds on our organization’s agenda dealing with researching, monitoring and analyzing, on the grounds of which we collect data and experiences regarding the education of children with different social, cultural and language backgrounds.

In 2012 CVEK co-organized 11th edition of the V4 Summer School in the Willa Decius in Cracow. The 11th edition of the Visegrad Summer School brought again together 50 young Czech, Hungarian, Polish, and Slovak students, as well as some students from other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The program consisted of lectures, panel debates and seminars on issues and challenges relevant to the Visegrad Group region, the European Union and beyond. School offered many opportunities to learn about each other and to start an international co-operation between the people and the countries.

The program of the eleventh edition of the Visegrad Summer School included debates on current political, cultural and social challenges in the regional, global and European perspective. Participants have had a chance to summarise transformation processes in V4 countries in various aspects, achievements of the Visegrad Group as well as strengths and weaknesses of the integration – both regional and European. The participants have been invited for study visit to Malopolska region, they also attended artistic events in Krakow and insight the culture of Poland.

The organizers provided: 
– educational program and materials
– special events
– accommodation and board

Participants covered:
– travel costs to/from/in Krakow
– their own insurance
– registration fee 75 Euro

More information about the Summer School can be found at:

www.visegradsummerschool.org 

Deadline for submitting on-line applications has been 31 March 2012.

The main goal of the project has been based on qualitative empirical research to evaluate the current public policy measures aimed to improve the education of Roma children in terms of their inclusiveness. This meant to assess to what extend the measures enable full and equal opportunities for Roma children to participate in the educational process without endangering their own cultural identity. Based on the research CVEK research team had an ambition to formulate recommendations to improve existing policies and if necessary to suggest alternative tools, which would support the inclusive education of Roma children and prevent systematic exclusion of Roma children from mainstream education.

CVEK´s project focused on two basic types of measures: pedagogical measures (especially teaching assistants, zero grade, individual integration), and financial measures (e.g. subsidies for food and school supplies, motivational scholarships, etc.) from a so far unexamined perspective – inclusive education, which respects the social disadvantages and also cultural differences. CVEK monitored the extent to which these programs help the Roma children in being able to fully participate in school without having to assimilate and to give up their identities. CVEK focused on the examination of the extent and if at all the educational system bears the burden of the process of inclusion. In the center of a CVEK´s concern therefore was whether the school is adapted to the needs of Roma children, or if only the adaptation of the minority into the existing structures is expected.

Building capacities of actors of local integration policies through networking and development of information base.

The project has been concerned with integration of migrants on local level. It is assumed that successful integration of migrants depends on the way this matter is perceived dealt with by local stakeholders. Local stakeholders in this project include not only regional and local self-governments and their subsidiary organizations but also various, civic associations and migrants living in particular municipalities themselves.

The project aimed to focus attention of the above mentioned stakeholders on the issue of migration and integration in the light of regional development. This goal has been achieved by collecting information on the issue (statistical data, information on legislation and public policies, interesting examples of integration on the local level from abroad etc.) and by providing information to the stakeholders on regular basis (bulleting and informational website).

The next step of the project has been concerned with selecting municipalities/towns (5 altogether) where info-points were established. Info-points serve as information providers but also to help network relevant actors of local integration policies. In the course of the project implementation several informational and coordination meetings were held in the selected localities. The meetings were conceptualized as a room for discussions of actors of local integration policies about integration of migrants in particular municipalities. Relevant stakeholders were offered individual consultations regarding issues of integration of migrants in their municipalities or integration related problems they might encounter.

CVEK launched a formal cooperation with following regional partners:
Bratislava – city borough Bratislava– Old City
Košice – ETP Slovakia
Martin – Municipal Office Martin
Trnava – Regional Development Agnecy for the Trnava Self-Governing Region
Zvolen – Municipal Office Zvolen

Based on the cooperation with the said regional partners and networking meetings on the local level a framework strategy of foreigners’s integration was drafted for each town. The strategies explore populations of foreigners in each town, their situation and needs, institutions concerned with integration of foreigners, availability of support services for migrants and the concept documents’ approach to migrants’ integration on the local level. The strategies conclude with challenges and recommendations aiming to improve the process of foreigners’ integration on the local level.

The project includes several informational materials serving as a source of information on migrants’ integration for local actors of integration as well as wider professional public:

Bulletin Integration of migrants on the local level/1
Bulletin Integration of migrants on the local level/2
Bulletin Integration of migrants on the local level/3

and the informational website www.integration.sk

Project was financed by European Integration Fund for Third Country Nationals within the programme Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows.

In 2011 CVEK co-organized already 10th edition of the V4 Summer School in the Willa Decius in Krakow. The 10th edition of the Visegrad Summer School brought again together 50 young Czech, Hungarian, Polish, and Slovak students, as well as some students from other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The program consisted of lectures, panel debates and seminars on issues and challenges relevant to the Visegrad Group region, the European Union and beyond. School offered many opportunities to learn about each other and to start an international co-operation between the people and the countries.

The program of the tenth edition of the Visegrad Summer School included debates on current political, cultural and social challenges in the regional, global and European perspective. On the occasion of jubilee edition and the 20-th anniversary of the Visegrad Group, the open space discussion with the alumni representing all previous edition of the School has been organised. There was a chance to summarise transformation processes in V4 countries, achievements of the Visegrad Group as well as strengths and weaknesses of the integration – both regional and European. The participants were invited for study visit to Malopolska region, they also attended artistic events in Krakow and insight the culture of Poland.

The organizers provided: 
– educational program and materials
– special events
– accommodation and board

Participants covered:
– travel costs to/from/in Krakow
– their own insurance
– registration fee of 50 EURO

Call for applications for the Visegrad Summer School opened on March 1, 2011, the deadline for applications was March 31, 2011.

All of the materials (application form that contains also CV / letter of reference and motivation letter) are to be sent by postal service to:

“V4 Summer School 2011”

CVEK

Klariská 14

811 03 Bratislava

Slovakia  

Moreover, an electronic copy of application form should be send to naglova@cvek.sk.

The overall objective of this project has been to contribute to the creation of a common approach for better addressing the needs of vulnerable asylum seekers who are unaccompanied minors (UAMs) and former UAMs. This has been achieved through the following activities: implementation of an assessment in 10 targeted countries; drafting of the “Assessment and Recommendations for a Common Approach” report; organization of an international conference to discuss the assessment, its findings and the report; and creation of awareness raising leaflets targeting UAMs. This project targeted UAMs, former UAMs, organization who assist UAMs from their first reception to their integration, and government officials who deal with UAMs at a policy level.

To achieve this, the project has been devised in three phases:

Phase I: In order to establish a collaborative, common approach for addressing the needs of vulnerable asylum groups, a practical assessment that combines desk research, field interviews and discussion groups has been carried out. The first phase of the project has been finalized by the assessment of methodology.

Phase II: During the second phase of the project, IOM and project partners carried out the assessment. This included desk research identifying gaps in addressing specific integration needs of UAMs and former UAMs, evaluating shortcomings in the institutional capacity of those organizations providing assistance to the target groups, identifying whether any new projects or initiatives have emerged since previous assessments, and testing the level of attention authorities devote to these groups. Experts carried out field up to 45 interviews and working groups targeting UAMs, former UAMs, and assistance providers. After assessments were carried out country-specific reports were written. During this phase, the “Assessment and Recommendations for a Common Approach” report was written, which included the findings of the assessment, and, based on the findings, recommendations for a common approach for meeting the needs of UAMs and former UAMs that can be applied not only in participating countries, but throughout the EU.

Phase III: This report and the findings of the assessment were presented at an international conference in november 2011. Practitioners and policymakers from EU MS have been invited to participate in the presentations and discussions of the findings and recommendations for a common approach. The conference allowed stakeholders to share information, network, and discuss the next steps for the implementation of the recommended common approach. A report on the conference summarized the discussions and conclusions of the conference and has been disseminated electronically. The assessment findings were also used to create an information and awareness raising leaflet with key messages on UAMs’ rights and guidance for their future integration.

This project contributed to safeguarding the rights of the child as set out in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and in particular advance the principle of “the best interests of the child” as the underlying feature of the project’s common approach for meeting the needs of unaccompanied minors and former UAMs in the EU.

During last decade V4 countries face growth of influence of ethnic identity politics and consequently of national populism in V4 countries. In each V4 country we can encounter various features of national populism – activization of a far right scene, radicalization of public discourse, or concrete policies of state administration. All these factors make mutual coexistence and cooperation of V4 countries problematic.  

Project of the national populism and nationalism research in the Czech republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia has been based both on qualitative research (semi-structured interviews) and desk research of various institutions.  

1. Semi-structured interviews with:

a. All the relevant political parties (parliamentary parties since 1990);
b. Any other party considered important in the terms of this research;
c. NGOs, civil society movements, sport fan clubs, websites or informal groups: which are identified nationalistic by social discourse, by themselves, by academics etc.
d. Representatives of above mentioned parties and groups and proponents of the national ideology and nationalism;

2. Desk research – Political parties:
a. Manifestos, program documents;
b. Attitudes and voting in some major issues concerning national appeal (immigrants, Roma, sexual minorities, liberalism, Jews, national history, foreign powers);
c. Campaign /billboards, videos, slogans/;
d. Elections successes (%);
e. Geographical and demographical distribution of support;
f. Coalition potential, participation in government.

3. Desk research – Formal and informal groups:
a. Manifestos, program documents;
b. Attitudes in some major issues concerning national appeal (immigrants, Roma, sexual minorities, liberalism, Jews, national history, foreign powers);
c. Campaigning tools /billboards, videos, slogans/;
d. Number of members / supporters / in case of websites visitors;
e. Their relations to public institutions / access to power.

Project has been concluded by presentation of an academic publication and by organization of the international conference “Nationalism and Political Parties in Visegrad Countries” on October 18, 2011 at the Faculty of Social Studies of the Masaryk University in Brno. 

The main goal of the project of the Milan Šimečka Foundation (NMŠ) and CVEK has been to develop and to test education tools focused on integration of children of third country nationals into the Slovak education system. 

NMŠ trained the group of 20 elementary school teachers and in cooperation with them tested the developed educational tools during the regular instruction and in extracurricular activities. CVEK assesed the impact of the newly developed educational tools and both organizations disseminated the verified educational tools to the broader pedagogical and lay public.

The main outputs of the project included the set of educational activities and the impact analysis from the testing phase of the project at the involved schools. A symposium for policy makers at the end of the project and policy handout served as a final outcome of the project.