Timeline: 2002–2005
Head of the Project: Ružica ČIČAK-CHAND
The Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies is the coordinator of the international project Migration and Intercultural Relations – Challenge for European Schools Today in the Republic of Croatia. This project is part of Comenius 3 within the framework of the Socrates program and is financed by the European Commission for a period of three years (2002—2005) and the coordinator of the whole project is Dan D. Daatland. Eight European countries have participated in the project: Norway (University College Stavanger) – project coordinator, Germany (Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Carl von Ossietzky Universität, Oldenburg), Portugal (Centre for the Study of Migration and Intercultural Relations, Universidade Aberta, Lisboa), Sweden (School of Education, Malmö University), Northern Ireland (Centre for Migration Studies, Omagh), the Czech Republic (Society Rozmberk, Trebon), Slovenia ( Institute for Slovenian Emigration Studies, Ljubljana) and Spain (Pedagogical Department, University of Girona). As opposed to other partner countries, Croatia presently holds the status of the associated member, which has determined its quite modest funding position within the project.
The basic aim of the project was to establish purposeful cooperation in the field of migration and intercultural relations between different types of institutions, with the purpose of improving the pupils’ knowledge in the domain of migration studies, in particular through a) studying and understanding current migration trends in Europe; b) exploring examples from the history of migration (e.g. the European overseas migration) in order to better understand the present situation of migrants in European countries; c) developing the pupils’ empathy as a fundamental pedagogic principle in teaching migration and intercultural relations; d) forming associations between local schools (primary and secondary education), teacher training institutions, regional or state education authorities, and research institutes and archives; e) testing teaching materials by using modern technologies (e-communication, the Internet, etc.). Currently, the Croatian participants in this project include two Zagreb schools, a primary and a secondary one (with the tendency of expanding to other interested schools as well), the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, and the Institute for Educational Development. The role of the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies in this project has been crucial not only because of the importance of coordinating activities between participants but also because the Institute has been the main source of migration-related materials and information. The institute is also obligated to organize lectures and seminars for teachers dealing with the subject of migrations and intercultural relations, to prepare appropriate teaching materials, organize exhibitions for pupils and teachers, and other activities.
Within the project, the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies and the Institute for Educational Development of the Republic of Croatia organized the seminar “Democratic Citizenship – Migration and Intercultural Relations”, which was held on October 22, 2003, in Zagreb. The seminar was intended for teachers of history, geography, sociology, politics and economy, ethics, Croatian and foreign languages in primary and secondary schools, as well as teachers of these subjects in pupils’ hostels.
The seminar “Human Rights, Migration, Education – Challenge for European Schools Today”, organized by the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies and Stavanger University, took place from November 10 to 12, 2004, in Zagreb and was intended for Norwegian and Croatian primary and secondary school teachers. The seminary included lectures held by Norwegian and Croatian lecturers, discussions, and visits to two Zagreb schools participating in the project.
Within the framework of the project, teachers of Zagreb schools have regularly taken part at conferences or teacher training in the domain of migrations and intercultural relations, which take place twice a year in countries involved in the project.
Detailed information on the project is available at the project website:
http//:migrationhistory.com/comenius.