project

Welcome to MUTUAL - the project to develop a competency-based qualification for migrants who want to work as intercultural caregivers in childcare-services.

The project is initiated by Volkshilfe Steiermark (AT), supported by many partners across Europe and funded through the European Commission’s Leonardo da Vinci Fund.

Christian, 6 years, Graz, Austria

Fatma, 6 years, Graz, Austria

Why “MUTUAL”?
Migration is a European scenario.
Migration, especially from asylum seekers, brings about a variety of problems for the host-countries. But instead of focussing on the problems we should rather understand migration as an opportunity for economic upswing and cultural diversity.
Moreover, a diverse Europe is in need of a diversified workforce that building on the right of free movement within the EU gets accreditation for prior learning and experiences. One way of raising employability is the identification, assessment and recognition of key and core skills and competencies as specified in the Copenhagen Declaration.

The project has the following aims:
• To build on migrants’ prior learning experiences in the field of childcare
• To raise the chances for migrants by combining learning outcomes from different life- and society settings with further competency-based training
• To improve the intercultural dialogue in childcare services and in society as whole
MUTUAL will be of advantage to both migrant people and host-country using and improving the resources and talents of both of them and thereby contributing to the intercultural dialogue in the participating countries.

Jasmina, 5 years, Graz, Austria

Lea, 6 years, Graz, Austria

Target Groups:
• Migrant people who want to work as inter-cultural caregivers in childcare services and either are low qualified or do not have recognition of prior learning in their host country.
• The children of migrants coming from diverse cultural backgrounds that need to be integrated in childcare services and have to learn the language of their host-country.
• The European society in general which is facing increasing migration and wants to raise the employability of migrants and thus combat social tension caused by migration.

Our part of the world
Carol-Robert Derla
8 years, Iasi, Romania