European Centre for Economic and Policy Analysis and Affairs (ECEPAA)
The European Centre for Economic and Policy Analysis and Affairs (ECEPAA) is a Belgian non-profit research organization founded in 2011. It is specialized in the development of European Union projects in the fields of social inclusion, education, youth and migrant. The association, thanks to the use of funding from different programs, aims to contribute to the knowledge of topics related to social exclusion, the climate change as push factor on migration, the persistent difficulties of the marginalized population due to economic, cultural, class, race and gender reasons.By sharing the achieved knowledge through a bottom-up approach will contribute to better address the above-mentioned issues.
Since its foundation Ecepaa has been partner and lead partner of different consortium in implementing project dealing with school and migration. Ecepaa has implemented several projects on the prevention of early school leaving, on the importance of learning the language of the country of arrival as a tool for integration, and on the need to combine formal and non-formal methods in order to make the learning path fruitful. Recently, Ecepaa focuses also on the climate change as a driver for migration.
The most recent projects on migration and schools are the following:
IHAVET: “Integrated Holistic Approach to a Validated European Tool", the project was focused on one of the most impelling social problem European societies have to deal with: the social inclusion; particularly the social inclusion of disadvantaged people. Within the group of disadvantaged people either due to the high number of the people concerned either because of the dramatic social consequences of their exclusion, stands youth with migrant background.
DO-IT: "Digital Competence to teach youth with migrant background" The overall objective of DO-IT was to develop an innovative practice in the digital framework, while committing to a greater social inclusion of students with a migrant background by tackling the early-school-leaving phenomenon.The project aimed at contributing to the gathering of more experience of what is happening on the ground by developing a research on the effects the pandemic had on the learning and teaching process of youth with migrant background, by also paying special attention to the use of digital tools; contributed also to Increase the skills of teachers, trainers, youth workers and associations dealing with young people with a migrant background on how to deal with the effects the pandemic had on the learning and teaching of young people of migrant origin.
WAY: "Whole school Approach" for Youth with migrant background" aimed at producing a very first research paper on the whole-school approach adapted to education to students with migrant background and develop the methodological guidelines for the training of teachers, educators, youth workers with regard to whole-school approach to education to students with migrant background and to supporting of 60 teachers, educators, youth workers in developing the wholeschool approach to education to students with migrant background. By achieving these objectives, WAY promoted the social inclusion of people coming from a migrant and low socio-economic background and contributed to reducing the early school leaving for students of migrant origin.
YOUCAN: (YOUth with migrant dropout tackling: CApacity buildiNg) is a KA2 European Project whose aim is to contribute to triggering the modernisation and to reinforcing the response of education, training systems and youth policies considering the main challenges provided by the migrant youth school drop-out and social exclusion, by building the capacity of the consortium to work transnationally and with a cross-sector approach.
Gabriele Sospiro, Director and Sociologist
He is one of the founder of Ecepaa. PhD in Social Science. His research interests and areas of expertise are migration, employment, education, labour market and youth with migrants background. Strong experience in managing European project and carrying out research on migration issue. He is author and co-author of articles and books related to migration policy and youth. He is Expert Evaluator for Horizon Europe programme for the European Commission.
Vittorio Lannutti, researcher
PhD in Social Science. Has planned and worked on several projects funded by the EU whilst he has also carried out multiple research on the migration phenomenon. He authored and co-authored several articles, essays, and books related to migration. His research areas are: identity paths of second-generation immigrants, integration of immigrant women as well as both migration and welfare policies.