Call for Letters of Interest: Integration and Diversity in Education in Europe

Date:

June 25, 2009

The Open Society Institute Education Support Program (ESP) has launched an initiative to influence EU and national policies to address the inequality and exclusion that migrant and other marginalized children face in education.

The Integration and Diversity in Education in Europe (IDEE) initiative will focus on the following activities:

collaborative projects and public awareness campaigns in selected communities: connecting initiatives to share successful strategies and amplify their calls for action;
building towards national campaigns for equal and integrated education: seeking the common ground and collaborative approaches between migrant communities and marginalized sections of majority communities;
advocacy at the European Union level to refresh the debates on integration and inclusion in education in Europe and to influence European Union funding and policy to support collaborative civil society initiatives.

Collaborative projects and public awareness campaigns are the core component of the initiative.

The main objectives are:

to promote public awareness of the injustice of unequal education and the threats to safety and stability inequality inevitably brings;
to promote collaborative action in local projects through enhancing working partnerships in education change among local players;
to directly involve marginalised communities and amplify their voices in advocacy actions;
to build support in local media and mobilise affected communities to broaden support for diversity and integration in education in Europe.

The Education Support Program is calling for expressions of interest in collaboration with OSI to support your work.

The program seeks initiatives that:

have an innovative approaches to integration and diversity in education;
promote education justice and equality;
bring together social actors;
raise awareness on specific education issues within their community;
advocate for a specific issue at the national level.

Small grants will be awarded to communities with internal energy and motivation to place education and local school(s) at the core of community collaboration between public and private partners such as local authorities, migrant organizations, parent/teachers associations, schools, NGOS, and activists groups.

The small grants are intended to provide additional funding for successful initiatives that are relevant to IDEE's objectives. An average size of a grant will be 15,000 EUR, and activities could start in autumn 2009 and last for 12-18 months.

Eligible Organizations

Local authorities, civil societies organizations, school-parent associations, immigrant organizations or coalitions of actors that have strong professional expertise, established partnerships and the potential to bring together key players.

An applicant organization should be interested in information sharing, networking, and linking good practice with research and policy making.

Other Opportunities to Participate

In addition to small grants, collaboration with OSI/IDEE will provide opportunities for information sharing and networking. A website will be created where all relevant documents as well as information about selected communities will be posted. The website will be open to all partners in the IDEE project.

We hope to collaborate with you in other areas of the IDEE project aimed at national campaigns and advocacy efforts at local, national and EU levels. An important part of the IDEE project will be an evaluation of successful initiatives. Outcomes of this study together with other research findings will become part of recommendations to policy makers in designing more effective EU, national and local education policies.

Letter of Interest

In your letter, please include the following information (do not exceed 3 pages):

title of your project/initiative;
applicant organization (name and contacts);
short description of your initiative;
list of partners involved in your initiative;
how the project contributes to one or more objectives of the IDEE project
brief explanation of activities for which you would seek OSI's funding and expected outcomes
partners (current and new) you intend to engage in your initiative.

Deadline

The deadline for submission of letters of interest is July 27, 2009.

Selection Procedure

The letters of interest will be used for identifying potential interested partners and initiatives and engaging in a dialogue with interested parties.

We shall confirm that we have received your letter of interest. We shall review all submitted letters of interest and follow up by mail and telephone. We intend to organise site visits to meet with potential partners to discuss further and develop ideas outlined in the letters of interest.

As the next step, the communities will be invited to submit a project proposal for OSI/IDEE funding. We will review these project proposals so that the awarded projects could be launched from September 2009.