Details on ZIP-EQUAL

Future-oriented intercultural strategies of human resources development (ZIP)

Funded under the EQUAL-Program through the European Social Fund (ESF) and the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Coordinated by BBQ gGmbH, Stuttgart.

Duration: 2006-2007

The action research project ZIP is a so called EQUAL-Development Partnership which consists of educational institutions and institutions of public Administration in the Stuttgart area.
Beyond this regional connection ZIP is linked with seven EQUAL-funded projects in Europe.
Iris e.V. represents one of the regional projects which is called: ZIP.Concepts.

Other projects of the Development Partnership in the Stuttgart area are:

ZIP.Culture (Forum der Kulturen)

ZIP.EuroCompetence (Berufsbildungswerk ENAIP e.V)

ZIP.EuroSkill (BBQ Berufliche Bildung gGmbH)

ZIP.PE (Jugendamt der Stadt Stuttgart)

ZIP.Selbstorganisation (Schulzentrum Silberburg)

Short description of ZIP.Concepts

Up to now small and medium-sized enterprises and organisations only insignificant regard and benefit intercultural dimensions as a resource for their Institution.

Therefore main argue of ZIP.Concepts is that in particular the diversity of employees can be opened up and be of use on several different levels. The project aims therefore on the taping of intercultural resources and links by that intercultural issue with the newer european discussion about learning and education.

ZIP.Concepts aims at two target groups:

Personnel officers and decision makers in enterprises and organisations who want to reflect and make use of the cultural diversity of their employees.
Employees in enterprises and organisations who are confronted in their everyday working life with the intercultural thematic and therefore want to consider this issue.

„ZIP.Concepts“ aims at different levels:

On the level of the development partnership:

IRIS e.V. introduces theoretical basics into the development partnership. Above all these are concepts of diversity management and about informal and self-directed learning. Central point is the link between learning and intercultural dimensions.
Together with the other partners of the development partnership there will be developed an audit-procedure for small and medium-sized enterprises. Therefore institutional change processes in intercultural contexts shall be monitored and corresponding general conditions established institutional.

On the level of the enterprises and organisations:

In context with ZIP.Concepts we cooperate with different enterprises and organisations in Baden-Württemberg on a different level of intensity and as regards main content. We cooperate for example with organisations of vocational youth assistance, job creation companies, small and medium-sized businesses and professional associations.
In these projects we operationalise, test and link together with the cooperating organisations and enterprises concepts as diversity management with the discussion about informal and self-directed learning strategies. Through this we gain to develop concepts to widen existing learning settings and link them with institutional development processes towards an intercultural opening process. This means that we are for example reflecting used instruments which are used to register occasional competencies in the light of intercultural dimensions. At the same time the qualification of personal managers in the cooperating organisations and enterprises plays an important role. For this not only attitudes of the employees are reflected in intercultural trainings but also methods evolved to develop intercultural potential of the target group.