Experiences and exchange: FIER 4th Partner Meeting in Brussels
25/11/2019
FIER project partners gathered for the last time in the context of this ambitious project to share their lessons learnt, analyse project results so far and discuss further opportunities of cooperation and scaling up the pilot activities that have been developed during the past two years. This project is funded by the European Union and coordinated by Region Västra Götaland. The meeting took place in Brussels on 18 November 2019, and was hosted by GO! onderwijs van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap.
In the morning, project partners visited different spots in the city in relation to the arrival process of third-country nationals. Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen (Flemish Refugee Action) was the organisation in charge of explaining the path that all new arrivals have to follow from the moment they step in Belgium. Thus, partner representatives had the chance to experience first-hand how the integration process works in the country.
After the study visits, a project meeting took place at Campus Comenius. Project partner representatives were welcomed by Ms. Therese Ydrén (FIER project coordinator), who congratulated the almost 600 people in total who had taken part in FIER (workers, volunteers, managers) for having reached more than 2,700 refugees whilst the initial target was of just 1,000. Afterwards, each partner presented their outcomes and expectations for the future of FIER activities.
Presentations were followed by a gallery walk to discuss specific topics and concerns, and working group sessions dealing with fast-track language acquisition, guidance and cooperation with companies and training of company mentors. Finally, all participants agreed on the success of the project and looked forward to keep on implementing their activities.
Visit by Flemish Refugee Action 
Visit by Flemish Refugee Action 
Mentor training demonstration by PH Weingarten
