ARENA – Refugees and Recognition (Toolkit 3) – An Erasmus+ Project

The silhouette of a man

Are you

  • a university staff member working in international admissions?
  • in charge of recognition of foreign qualifications?
  • a credential evaluator?
  • an immigration officer or integration adviser for newly arrived refugees and migrants?
  • looking for ways to recognize qualifications when the documentation is missing?

This project page will help you when dealing with refugees’ qualifications.

Read our info brochure on ARENA (pdf) | Web version

ARENA Pathway

The ARENA Pathway is a set of practical guidelines for higher education institutions who wish to set up admission pathways for refugees in higher education. The ARENA Pathway has been developed as a result of the experiences from the project. We have made this Pathway available as a module, to make it an interactive learning platform. The module is open for everyone and is free of charge, and you do not need to register or create an account. Go to NOKUT's e-learning

Webinar: final dissemination webinar

A webinar was held on the 4th of May 2022, presenting projects achievements, as well as further possibilities within the existing frameworks for inclusion of refugees in higher education institutions.

Webinar: pathways for admission at HEIs

A webinar was held on the 27th of January 2022, presenting findings from the project on the implementation of admission pathways for refugees at higher education institutions in Greece, Malta, the Netherlands and Italy.
See the recording from the ARENA webinar – Refugees, Admission and Sustainability

Webinars: refugees country briefings

Five refugees country briefings represent the first results of the ARENA project, presenting a systematised overview of the educational systems in Yemen, Sudan, Palestine, Burundi and Rwanda. The briefings provide recommendations for navigating in a landscape of complicated cases and have been developed to assist with the evaluation of credentials held by refugees, displaced persons and persons in a refugee-like situation.

The briefings were launched through a series of webinars, taking place in April and May 2021. Experienced credential evaluators from the ENIC-NARIC centres of Norway, Italy and Belgium (Flanders) presented updated and relevant information on assessing qualifications from the five countries. The webinars were recorded for broader dissemination and can be accessed below. The briefings can be accessed through the results section further down this page.

Recordings

Yemen: Thursday 8. April, 13:00–13:45 CEST – see the recording from this webinar
Sudan: Wednesday 14. April, 13:00–13:45 CEST – see the recording from this webinar
Palestine: Thursday 22. April, 13:00–13:45 CEST – see the recording from this webinar
Burundi: Thursday 29. April, 13:00–13.45 CEST – see the recording from this webinar
Rwanda: Thursday 6. May, 13:00–13:45 CEST – see the recording from this webinar

About the project

The overall goal of the Refugees and Recognition – Toolkit 3 (ARENA) project is to enhance the mobility, employability and access to further studies for refugees, displaced persons and persons in a refugee-like situation, including those without official documentation of their educational background.

The project builds on the completed Refugees and Recognition – Toolkit project, where a common methodological approach to the recognition of refugees’ qualifications was developed with the Toolkit for Recognition of Refugees’ Qualifications (pdf). In the follow-up project Refugees and Recognition – Toolkit 2 (REACT), the methodology was successfully tested as a supplement to ordinary admission procedures in cooperation with Oslo Metropolitan University (NO), University of Bremen (DE), University of Utrecht (NL), LUISS University (IT) and the University of Limerick (IE). The REACT Q-Card for Admission Officers (pdf) represents the main outcome of the project, providing recommendations for action at higher education institutions working towards enabling access to further studies for refugees, displaced persons and persons in a refugee-like situation.

In the ARENA project, the aim is to further test, upscale and adjust the Toolkit in cooperation with national recognition centres and higher education institutions (HEIs) from major refugee-receiving countries. Further testing of the methodology in cooperation with institutions that have a diverse set of admission procedures and refugee populations will contribute towards more efficient implementation of the methodology across national contexts. The project will also address the need to integrate a broader focus on ensuring the sustainability of identified best practice procedures and assessment schemes, in an effort towards increased capacity building at institutions. Moreover, five new refugee country briefings will be developed, providing updated and easily accessible information on the educational systems of Yemen, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan and Palestine.

Main project activities

  • Partnership meeting
  • Kick-off meeting with project consortium
  • Development of refugee country briefings and e-learning materials for Yemen, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan and Palestine
  • Workshop with HEIs
  • Further testing of the Toolkit in cooperation with HEIs from Greece and Malta
  • Mapping of how HEIs in Italy view the European Qualifications Passport for Refugees (EQPR) as a supplementary document for admission to further studies
  • Managing sustainability of best practice procedure identified in the Refugees and Recognition – Toolkit 2 (REACT) project
  • National seminars for stakeholders on the dissemination of results from testing of the Toolkit in major refugee-receiving countries
  • Development of e-learning materials on identified best practice cases of recognition of refugees’ qualifications and admission of refugee students to further studies
  • Final dissemination webinar for ENIC-NARICs, HEIs and policy stakeholders

Timeline

  • Partnership meeting (June 2020)
    – Minutes from the meeting (pdf)
  • Kick-off seminar for consortium (October 2020)
    – Minutes from the meeting (pdf)
  • Development of refugee country briefings and e-learning materials for Yemen, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan and Palestine (September–December 2020)
  • Workshop with HEIs (December 2020)
    – Minutes from the workshop (pdf)
  • Further testing of the Toolkit in cooperation with HEIs from Greece and Malta (January–July 2021)
  • Mapping of how HEIs in Italy view the EQPR as a supplementary document for admission to further studies (July 2021–January 2022)
  • Managing sustainability of best practice procedure identified in the REACT project (January–December 2021)
  • National seminars for stakeholders on the results from testing of the Toolkit (October–November 2021)
    – Report on National Seminar, Malta (pdf)
    – Report on National Seminar, Greece (pdf)
  • Development of e-learning materials on identified best practice cases of recognition and admission of refugee students (November–December 2021)
  • Final dissemination webinar (Spring 2022)
    – Minutes from the webinar (pdf)

Results

Country briefing for:

Contact us

If you would like more information about this project, please contact us at: project-arena@nokut.no

EU-logo