On Thursday 29 September, members of the Romany community, researchers and European politicians met up to discuss measures to promote the recognition of minority groups, in particular gypsies. This meeting is directly related to the presentation of the results from the European Project called Workaló: The creation of new occupational patterns for cultural minorities: the Gypsy case. This study is coordinated by the Research Centre in Theories and Practices for Overcoming Inequalities (CREA), part of the University of Barcelona, located at the Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB, Barcelona Science Park).

This V Framework Programme project, which has been performed over three years and has included the participation of the gypsy community, highlights the need to adopt policies that are more inclusive of cultural minorities, to overcome ethnic discrimination in education and in the workplace, and to achieve the institutional recognition of the Romany community.

The study concludes that, in order to provide effective responses, ethic minorities must be actively involved in the preparation of measures directed at the problems faced by these groups and advocates that the beginning of this process can only be through their institutional recognition. Moreover, in the case of the Romany community, there is a need to establish transnational policies since it is distributed throughout Europe.

The Workaló project highlights that the present situation of the gypsy community is worsening because of the lack of knowledge about its culture; a culture that includes values and traditions that could be used to enhance social cohesion. This social climate leads to the development of racism and stereotypes that deeply affect the employees of this ethnic group, for example. Moreover, the project stresses that the low levels of schooling in this community impedes inclusion in the labour market. In this regard, the study proposes the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation in education and in the labour market.

According to the research, the development of labour inclusion policies for the Romany community should take into account the characteristics of their traditional trades –basically street sellers, and the collection of scrap iron and cardboard– where they have developed skills and show particular aptitude for team work, cooperative organizations and the family business. These skills clearly coincide with new occupational profiles. .

Regarding the education system, the project recommendations stress the importance of quality education that can facilitate access to qualified posts. In this regard, the study explains that educational policies must include several components, such as an intercultural education, schools open to the gypsy community, teachers from this community, the promotion of academic success and the acquisition basic skills.

Finally, Workaló points out the key role played by gypsy associations, which defend anti-discrimination legislation and basic human rights.

For more information, contact Mimar Ramis (Tel. 93 403 45 48, e-mail: publicrea@pcb.ub.es).