Since the onset of the Ukrainian crisis, Baltic countries have faced a consistent inflow of IDPs and refugees from Ukraine. In this context, it is fundamental to identify strategies and programs that could help both countries and refugees to valorize their competences, acquire new skills that can help them thriving, develop capabilities that they could be able to valorize after return to Ukraine.

To do so, the SINTONIA partnership needs substantial funding and thus the SI seed funding mechanism will be used to prepare a proposal for external funding (eg. from various EU programmes)  and to further define the needed activities and stakeholders.

• Funded by the Swedish Institute, the SINTONIA project aims at developing new projects aiming at:
• Foster the professional activation of IDPs/refugees by learning the basics of social entrepreneurship, participating in various training, events and mentor/coaching programs.
• Improve their living conditions by setting start-ups and improving qualifications.
• Mitigate war trauma by setting new (work and education-based) social ties and learning local language and culture by intensified contacts.
• Identify of talents and prospective candidates for entrepreneurs and providing them with individual coaching.
• Increase capacity of project partners and the collaborating aid organizations in delivering targeted education and aid.

Project transnationality is one of the key aspects of the proposal. Creating an international network that could lead to the development of new tools and opportunities for supporting Ukrainian refugees requires a proper sharing of information and competences that goes beyond the borders. We believe that our proposal will consistently benefit from the adoption of a transnational approach to the creation of the project proposal, allowing us to identify a wider number of funding opportunities aiming at supporting refugees/migrants from diverse fields of study in developing essential transferable skills applicable in various life and career situations. Moreover, SINTONIA could rely on a wide strategy for project dissemination and impact, which will lead to the multiplication of the impact of our action both during and after the end of the Seed funding lifetime.

The project provides positive impacts at local, national and European levels. Some of the major impacts are listed below. During the implementation of the project, these impacts will be further reviewed and improved.  

LOCAL AND REGIONAL  - Desired impacts on those territories that will implement the project results during and after project lifetime are: • Creation of a project that will foster the increase of opportunities for the inclusion of IDPs and refugees; •  Upgraded collaboration between local institutions and additional organizations/stakeholders from the various countries; • sharing of information about innovative initiatives in field; Increased knowledge at national level of the opportunities opened by international fundings.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL At national and EU levels, SINTONIA will aims to provide significant impacts in terms of: • Improved policy support for innovative initiatives in social entrepreneurship and social integration field; • The developed new project will give impetus and inspiration for the development of new learner-centered digital tools and methods; • Adoption of seed project outcomes in other contexts, areas and sectors, for the realization of relevant projects that could have a long-term impact on the sector