Caring to Include: trauma-informed support for refugees and migrants in Europe
Caring to Include is a project that supports refugees, migrants, and their helpers. We create trauma-informed resources, provide training, and build a community of practice across Europe.
Caring to Include is a three-year project financed by Erasmus+ that aims to reduce the negative effects of trauma and other stressors on the social inclusion of refugees and migrants. At the same time, this initiative means to improve the mental health of NGO staff and volunteers working with these vulnerable groups. We create practical tools, provide training, and connect NGOs across Europe to improve trauma-informed support and mental well-being.
This initiative is led by the Dutch Council for Refugees in partnership with six European organisations from Hungary, Estonia, Malta, Cyprus, Greece, and Croatia.
Why is this project needed?
Across Europe, refugees and migrants face increasing hostility, border violence, and shrinking access to protection. At the same time, NGOs working with these groups are under pressure. They face restrictive laws, funding cuts, and even criminalisation in some countries. These challenges harm both refugees and the aid workers supporting them.
Caring to Include responds to these urgent needs by strengthening long-term collaboration among NGOs and improving mental health support for both refugees and frontline workers. By sharing knowledge and practical tools, we ensure that trauma-informed care becomes a standard part of refugee support services in Europe.
What do we do?
- We build a Community of Practice (CoP) where NGOs can share knowledge, experiences, and best practices on trauma-informed support.
- We develop two toolkits: one for improving the mental well-being of NGO staff and volunteers, and another with trauma-informed approaches to support refugees and migrants.
- We organise training sessions and exchange programmes to improve service delivery and embed trauma-informed practices in our partner organisations.
Events
We will develop the Community of Practice and two toolkits through online quarterly meetings and five in-person meetings in the Netherlands, Hungary, Estonia, Cyprus and Brussels. Reports of these meetings can be found below:
- Kick-off: Amsterdam, the Netherlands (november 2024)
- Comparative report and the toolkit for mental well-being: Budapest, Hungary
- Toolkit trauma informed support: Cyprus
- Review meeting toolkits and CoP: Estonia
- Multiplier event: Brussels
Toolkits
Our toolkits to support NGO staff and volunteers, as well as refugees and migrants, will be developed during our upcoming in-person meetings. In due time, they will be made availble on this page as PDF downloads.
- Toolkit 1: improving the mental well-being of NGO staff and volunteers
- Toolkit 2: trauma-informed approaches to support refugees and migrants (coming soon)
Activities
Platform
This platform will be a live environment where we share the developed products with all partners, accessible to other refugee and migrant organisations. Our partners will also use this platform to share the news updates and content that they develop within the context of this project.
The Community of Practice
We created a European NGO community where partners exchange practical ideas and experiences on mental well-being for staff and volunteers, as well as trauma-informed support for refugees, migrants and asylum seekers. We share our experience and formats in the Handbook for Setting Up a Community of Practice.
Refugee Focus Group
The Refugee Focus Group brings together members with a refugee background from across the project’s partner countries. They will participate in the meetings to share their input, knowledge and lived experience to create products that will be applicable to diverse nationalities and circumstances. The RFG will co-create the products together with the partners.
Piloting
Trainings will be developed as part of both toolkits. These trainings will be piloted among the staff in each organization, testing the impact of the developed products. However, implementation of the developed products will not take place during the project.
- Januari - April 2026: Piloting mental wellbeing toolkit
- August - November 2026: Piloting trauma informed and culturally sensitive methods toolkit
- December 2026 – May 2027: Pilot sessions trauma informed and culturally sensitive methods
Implementation plan
Each organisation will produce a plan to use the developed tools in their work. These plans will make sure that gained experience is part of the new approach to tackle mental well-being challenges and trauma informed support.
July 2027: National implementation plans mental wellbeing and trauma informed and culturally sensitive methods.
Research
Each partner conducted two needs assessments (one focusing on the needs of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers, and another on the needs of staff and volunteers), as well as a mapping of best practices. On our part, we also developed a European mapping. Based on these assessments and mappings, an overview for each country was created, followed by the drafting of a comparative report.
Want to know more?
For more information, please contact us via: ip@dcfr.nl.
Let’s work together towards an inclusive and healthy organization and trauma-sensitive support for our target group.
This project is made possible with the support of Erasmus+.
