The partnership aims to make the participating organizations more active in the field of adult education from the point of view of intercultural communication. It is also aimed at sharing best practices. The partnership has succeeded in helping each organization understand how different individuals and companies operating in different cultures can act. At the same time the partnership was designed to break down cultural barriers in this era marked by migration, particularly in the labor market. The partnership was an excellent opportunity to develop strategies to support partners, their students and the wider community, to improve their intercultural communication skills and develop better mutual understanding together with greater integration into local communities.
During the partnership, various situations, typical of intercultural communication, were addressed as case studies, in order to identify the similarities and differences in the communication conventions (personal or professional) in use in the partner countries, but also in those belonging to migrants who work and live in those countries. The emphasis was placed on stereotypes and prejudices related to migrants, who often have problems in interactions, interpreting situations of everyday life.
The transnational dimension of the project was an added value for the partnership as it helped the partners to better explore their respective cultures and how they relate to different cultural backgrounds without ever forgetting the common ground of European belonging. The newly acquired knowledge was applied by the partner organizations to their own reality to better understand students from different countries.
hanks to this collaboration, students and staff have acquired new and better skills useful on the European labor market, greater language skills, a relevant learning experience, greater awareness of the opportunities created by the EU, ability to interact better in foreign languages, a different perspective on the challenges posed by intercultural communication and in particular on how to deal with these challenges, a higher degree of tolerance towards people from cultures other than one's own.
The partnership has helped staff and students to break down personal barriers related to intercultural communication, to open new horizons and to be better integrated and proactive in the local community. Thanks to this partnership the institutions have obtained a valuable contribution from their European partners through the exchange of information and experiences, they have improved the know-how in the field of education, especially with regard to cultural topics and, last but not least, they have created new opportunities for a future of cooperation.
Partners
Centro Internacional de Formação dos Trabalhadores da Indústria e Energia (CIFOTIE) (Portugal)
Asociatia pentru calificato, recalificato i forma profesional continu (Romani)