Unique Project

Discrimination against LGBTIQ people is a reality, even in countries where LGBTQI individuals’ civic rights are well established. Despite the progress that has been made and the legal recognition in all OECD countries, LGBTIQ people are still far from being offered equal opportunities in education, work, or healthcare. In the VET Sector, classic educational material often replicates traditional gender norms and therefore contributes to the perpetuation of discrimination and stereotypes. VET teachers are not trained or prepared to openly discuss in the classroom issues that are considered “sensitive” and maybe biased themselves. The UNIQUE project aims at reversing the perceptions and attitudes towards LGBTIQ learners in VET Sector by introducing innovative, inclusive, and gender-sensitive training materials for VET Teachers/Trainers as well as educating them in safeguarding and promoting a non-discriminatory classroom. In the course of the project, the partnership will design a modern Training Curriculum for VET Teachers/Trainers after conducting a detailed mapping of the discriminatory norms and patterns met in VET Education and will appoint Ambassadors to diffuse the new training strategy through peer learning activities within their VET Providers at European level so as to maximize the impact. The new Curriculum will be piloted in the participating countries to test its efficacy and relevance to the actual needs. Our project also focuses on advocating the results at the national, regional, and EU levels in an effort to introduce a pro-LGBTIQ agenda in the social dialogue and initiate policy reform for more inclusive education. The project started on the 15th of January 2021 and will be completed after two years. The partnership, led by AKMI S.A., is consisted of 9 organizations from Greece, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, and Germany.