Main theme
Promote inclusion and integration
Other relevant themes
Access to education, actions to ensure all-inclusive approaches, access to education, access to employment, mentorship and support peer education
Actors involved
The project is co-funded by the European Union and local partners. It operates across diverse regional partnerships, including schools, municipalities, NGOs, and other civil society actors.
Aims
Through a combination of education, vocational training, civic engagement, arts, and sports, the programme aims to foster equal opportunities and community integration.
Description
The Programa Escolhas is a model of inclusive practice which addresses complex needs with a structured, sustainable, and person-centred approach to integration. The programme targets children, young people, and families from socioeconomically vulnerable backgrounds, with a focus on those at high risk of social exclusion, particularly refugees. Its governance seeks to encourage tailored, locally relevant actions through a model that blends local autonomy and a centralisation of strategy.
Each project cycle (two to three years) includes dedicated support plans for refugees. These include life-history assessments, personal life-project planning, psychological screening, and educational integration. As part of Programa Escolhas, the U CAN project developed several supports related to integration and access to higher education, such as scholarship opportunities and a mentorship network. The mentorship network, for instance, provides young people with personal and academic support from different mentors who have higher education.
Intercultural resources and activities are available and considered essential for the programme and have assisted in fostering belonging, linguistic acquisition, and intercultural dialogue. These have included, for example, multilingual welcome kits, cultural celebrations, cooperative games, and inclusive sports and nutrition programmes.
Results/ Outcomes
The Programme celebrated 20 years in 2020 with demonstrable results in different areas of integration, including education and training. In the first 20 years, it covered 650 projects and approximately 400,000 participants. Examples of results of projects can be seen from the first two editions of U CAN. In total, 66 mentors were involved and 96 scholarships were granted during these editions. Additionally, almost all (94) scholarship students achieving strong results most of their subjects.
Links to further information
- https://national-policies.eacea.ec.europa.eu/youthwiki/chapters/portugal/44-inclusive-programmes-for-young-people
- https://www2.gov.pt/en/noticias/governo-aprova-renovacao-do-programa-escolhas-para-2021-e-2022
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25585487/
- https://european-social-fund-plus.ec.europa.eu/en/projects/empowering-youth-escolhas-programmes-fight-against-social-exclusion-santarem