Students from the BA Applied Studies in Social Care at IT Sligo are on a field trip at the European Parliament this week.
The students will visit the European Union institutions and meet with a number of leading NGOs, minority ethnic campaigning groups while in Belguim. They will also attend a major European Social Platform conference on the theme of ‘Care in Europe’.
The BA in Applied Studies in Social Care includes a module called Europe, Exclusion and Ethnicity which seeks to raise awareness around issues such as diversity, ethnicity, interculturalism and anti-discrimination policies across the EU, as well as the role of EU social policies in dealing with these issues.
IT Sligo students from Ireland, Nigeria, the UK, Netherlands and Austria are among the group who have travelled on the field trip.
The visit has been organised by Dr John Pender, Senior Lecturer in EU Social Policy at IT Sligo. In advance of the trip, Dr Pender said: “Opportunities for students to visit key policy-making actors developing critical social policies around intercultural cohesion at the European level are invaluable. We are most grateful to the European Parliament for making this aspect of the student learning experience happen and, moreover, for the generous financial support the European Parliament has made available so that students and staff can make this trip.”
The group of IT Sligo students who are on a field trip visiting the European Parliament this week, with their lecturer Dr John Pender (front).