ERAPAN: Education of Refugees and Asylum Seekers under and post the Pandemic in the Nordic Countries

The ERAPAN project, funded by Nordfors, aims to uncover how the pandemic’s restrictions and the post-pandemic conditions have affected the educational trajectories of children and youth from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway. 

Meeting the need for knowledge about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted this group of children and youth, the project aims to contribute to the development of novel, research-driven inclusive policies and practices in the participating countries, thus contributing to the overall wellbeing of children and young people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.

The research group consists of researchers from several disciplines, specifically those related to educational, sociological and wellbeing fields. It uses an interdisciplinary approach to explore how the pandemic has affected the educational trajectory of children and youth from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.

The research question is approached with certain assumptions, namely that children’s sense of belonging, as well as their social capital, is important for their wellbeing, and that there is a close connection between school, social capital, and other aspects of life.

The project is coordinated by Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN University), Norway.