AMIF Project

You can download the project information eLeaflet by clicking here.

This project is an AMIF (Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund) programme that seeks to create a motivated cross border group of higher education students to act as mentors to individuals in vulnerable groups. The project involves partners across eight EU countries to act as mentors to young immigrants seeking to integrate themselves better in the local culture and environment.

The consortium behind the project is composed of seven higher educational institutions. These are supplemented by nine NGOs and specialist organisations in the participating countries that are directly involved in support for immigrant and refugee activities.

Language Buddy aims at enhancing the language learning of students – 12 to 17 years old – with a refugee/migrant background through non-formal & informal learning through the upscaling of mentoring practices and implementation of a buddy system.

Coordinated by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), schools/education authorities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and migrant-led organisations, the buddy system will involve their matching with students of HEIs (pedagogy/education/language/literature departments) who will be supported to act as language mentors in terms of voluntary programmes and/or placements within the framework of their studies.

Apart from linguistic support, this buddy system will enable pupils to gain a better understanding of the culture and education system of the society in a safe environment where their culture is also valued, as well as possibly motivate the continuation of their studies. At the same time, it will help the HEI students develop their intercultural skills, thus contributing to enhancing their tolerance and acceptance, much needed to work in multicultural educational environments.

The project’s starting point will be the identification of best practices regarding mentoring and buddy system initiatives, co-design workshops and peer learning workshops. These activities will lead to the Language Buddy Model that will be applied through the establishment of Language Buddy systems in HEIs, the development of an online course and e-platform, as well as a transnational Training of Trainers of 22 HEI students and a total training of 365 HEI students.

The 365 mentors will be matched with mentees and 4-6-month buddy sessions will take place, leading to the finalisation of the Language Buddy Model. National digital roundtables with key stakeholders will also inform recommendations, leading to one contextualised Policy Recommendations Report per country to be used for the Language Buddy Model’s mainstreaming at national level.

In essence, the Language Buddy Project comprises the following core activities and events referred to in the five work packages set out below:-

WP1 Project Management to ensure appropriate planning of all activities and the timely implementation and delivery of agreed upon deliverables.
WP2 Design, Development and Implementation of a market research programme in each participant country to identify best practices in the broad area of mentoring. This involves secondary research to identify established best practices, and primary research to bring together key stakeholders and obtain their feedback on what practices and processes are most effective in implementing “buddy-based” activities to support individuals from vulnerable communities. This will serve as the basis for the development of the Language Buddy model and framework.
WP3 Design and development of an accredited training programme based on the proposed Language Buddy Model to train HEI students that will participate as mentors. This will include both online learning activities as well as on-site workshops in Malta to finalise support tools to be used with follow-up-webinars organised in each participant country.
WP4 Implementation of the training programmes for the mentors and the recruitment and support of the study buddy beneficiaries, the young immigrants or refugees.
WP5 Project dissemination involving the promotion of the activities and results of the programme to ensure that best practices will be shared throughout the EU member states and taken up by other HEI institutions.

The Language Buddy project will add value by providing HEIs students with a unique opportunity for training and development of their mentoring skills and it will provide immigrant youths with additional support to accelerate their integration in their local communities.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them. GA Number: 101141117