As UNITE approaches its end, one question is particularly important to us: What remains after the project?
Over the past months, UNITE has given us the opportunity to try out and combine different forms of support for newcomers – individual mentoring and coaching, language learning, competence development, labour-market orientation and opportunities for social participation.
Some of these experiences will continue to shape our work.
One very concrete example is our Language Café. Established within UNITE as an informal place to practise German, meet others and exchange experiences, it will continue beyond the project and will also be opened to people from other migrant communities.
We will also take elements of the UNITE approach and tools into our regular employment-oriented coaching. Our experience during the project has reinforced something that is easy to overlook when the primary objective is finding employment: the path towards work is influenced by many different factors.
Language and digital skills, confidence, social contacts, orientation in everyday life and the ability to navigate unfamiliar structures can all make a difference. Taking these aspects into account can complement more traditional support with job search, applications and career planning.
And there is another thing that remains: connections. UNITE has brought participants, coaches and local organisations together and strengthened links between different forms of support available in Göttingen.
So while the funded project is coming to an end, we are not simply closing the door on UNITE.
We are taking what worked with us – into our coaching, our Language Café and our future work with newcomers.
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unded 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 Social Fund+. Neither the European Union nor the European Social Fund+ can be held responsible for them.
