The Kick-off Workshop on Pilot Project 4: “Quality and training in the asylum processes: the European Asylum Curriculum” was held in Stockholm on 30-31 October 2012. It gathered representatives of 20 participating countries and experts from EASO, UNHCR and ICMPD. Pilot Project 4 (PP 4) aims at exploring the possibility of a broader implementation of the training program of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) called the European Asylum Curriculum (EAC) in the interested Prague Process states. Subsequent to the findings of initial workshops and consultations with non-EU countries who have not yet worked with the EAC concept, national trainers selected by relevant country authorities will have the opportunity to be provided with training following the concept, while a pilot group of asylum officers and decision makers will receive content training in the Inclusion module. The project will explore further the training needs in participating partner countries; reflect on the role of training in the work of quality and standards, whether and how training could be handled in a more long-term sustainable manner; and finally the participating partner countries will consider and recommend how information and best practices could be shared and exchanged between the countries. During the meeting the work plan was presented, featuring train-the-trainer sessions and national trainings, expert missions, study visits to EU member states, mid-term and concluding workshops. The participants accepted the work plan, discussed modules and the timeline for the trainings and started discussion on the study visits. Both the participant as well as observer states expressed their willingness to participate in the training program. The project is led by Sweden (Swedish Migration Board) with the support of Germany (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees) in close cooperation with the EASO and UNHCR. It will be implemented within the framework of the initiative “Support for the Implementation of the Prague Process and its Action Plan” led by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Poland. The action is funded from the European Commission’s sources and in-kind contributions is provided by the Leading States in all of the four pilot projects: Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden, and on a voluntary basis by other Prague Process participating states.The overall objective of the Prague Process Targeted Initiative (PP TI) is to enhance the cooperation in the area of migration and asylum between the countries of the European Union, the Schengen Area, the Eastern Partnership, the Western Balkans, the Central Asia, Russia and Turkey, through the support for the implementation of the Prague Process and its Action Plan 2012–2016. The final beneficiaries of the project are the migration authorities from partners participating in the Prague Process.
