The Building Intercultural Communities (BIC) Project in Donegal is will launch a new training programme this weekend with a visual demonstration standing in solidarity with those experiencing racism and exclusion.
BIC is set to be the first initiative in Ireland to launch their online DiversityAware training programme.
“An Introduction Into Diversity In Your Community And Workplace” is a short online programme that takes approximately 45 minutes to complete and covers topics such as diversity, ethnicity, interculturalism, asylum seekers and refugees,
Travellers, Roma, racism and respecting diversity on social media.
The BIC Project will host a launch of the training on Sunday, July 19th in the Letterkenny Community Centre football pitch. The launch will take place from 2:30pm -3:30 pm. While there will be several short inputs on the day, the main activity of the event will be to stand in solidarity with those experiencing racism and exclusion by organising attendees into spelling out Black Lives Matter, Traveller Lives Matter and Roma Lives Matter which will be captured from above by a drone photographer.
Additionally, the BIC Project will require that all participants wear face coverings and socially distance for the duration of the event. Hand sanitizer will be available for all those participating on the day. Participants are asked to wear black or dark clothing. All participants must register for the event via the Eventbrite page. There will be a maximum capacity of 150 people. People who have recently travelled outside of Ireland or have symptoms of COVID19 are asked to stay at home and to stay safe.
The BIC project has also created and launched a Donegal Diversity Aware video in collaboration with LYIT student, Artur Szotek to capture some of the diversity in the county.
The training programme takes participants through a series of short videos defining various terms related to diversity. At the end of each video, participants will be asked a number of true/false questions relating to the terms in the video they have just seen.
The training, which is being funded through the EU’s PEACE IV Programme, is a collaboration between BIC/Donegal Travellers Project and Joanne Sweeney, CEO of Public Sector Marketing Institute. Joanne has worked with a vast array of international Government and public sector agencies to deliver digital transformations.
Upon successful completion participants will receive a DiversityAware course certificate. The training programme will allow individuals to become familiar with terms relating to diversity in the comfort of their own homes or offices without fear of judgement and/or offence and could form the foundation for further, more in depth diversity training opportunities in the future. This training programme will help individuals to use these terms with confidence and become a stepping stone to the exploration of the concepts/issues they give name to.
The BIC Project is exceedingly proud to launch this training programme as it is the first of its kind developed in the County and represents a legacy it leaves behind for Donegal as the project comes to a conclusion at the end of this month.
The BIC Project, which is being run as a collaboration between Donegal Travellers Project and the Donegal Intercultural Platform, promotes the inclusion of Black and Minority Ethnic communities, including Travellers and Roma into the fabric of Donegal life through a number of programmes and supports.
The project is part of Donegal County Council’s €5.5m Local Authority Action Plan. This Action Plan is funded through the EU’s Peace IV Programme, which is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUBP). Match funding has been provided by the Executive Office in Northern Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development in Ireland.
