Welcome to the "Diversities are Reviving Enterprises" (DARE) Project Curriculum. This curriculum is a comprehensive educational resource designed to upskill and reskill European Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and those who support them in integrating diversity and inclusion into their business practices.
The DARE Curriculum is tailored for SME employers, employees, trainers, and vocational education and training (VET) institutions across Europe. It is also valuable for policymakers, industry specialists, and anyone interested in promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
The primary objective of the DARE Curriculum is to demonstrate the economic and ethical benefits of diversity and inclusion in SMEs. It aims to equip participants with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to foster an inclusive workplace culture, thereby enhancing organisational performance and social cohesion.
The DARE Curriculum is structured into eight modules, each focusing on different aspects of diversity and inclusion:
Introduction to DARE: Overview of principles, goals, and the significance of diversity and inclusion in SMEs.
Top-Level Executive Support: Strategies for gaining executive support and integrating D&I from the top down.
Inclusive Human Resource Management: Recruitment and retention strategies focused on diversity and inclusion.
Inclusive Leadership and Management: Developing leadership skills to manage diverse teams effectively.
Cultural Inclusivity Engagement: Promoting respect and understanding of cultural differences.
Diversity-Focused Internal Communications: Enhancing communication within diverse teams.
Diversity and Inclusion-Centric Marketing: Reflecting diversity in branding and marketing strategies.
Community and Partnership Engagement: Building partnerships and engaging with diverse communities.
Each module includes interactive content, case studies, exercises, and practical tips to ensure a thorough understanding and application of the concepts learned. The curriculum also weaves in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to education, equality, and community building, to highlight the broader impact of these initiatives.
The Diversity Competence Framework defines the competencies and theme complexes that will be taught using our resources (user orientation), as well as the necessary prerequisite knowledge for teaching (educator orientation). Our initial needs analysis are further detailed through this document.
Framework as the first main result of the project based on expert interviews, develops a framework that considers the skills and knowledge needed by SMEs to meet the challenges of transformation regarding diversity and inclusion.
Scientific analysis shows that vocational education needs to be rethought to meet the demands of the target groups and sustainably equip them for the challenges of the future.
The DARE Competence defines the concrete topic complexes, modules, learning objectives and specific learning content of the resources to be developed. It analyses the challenges for SMEs in developing suitable diversity and inclusion strategies, links them with the EntreComp Framework regarding specific skills needs and condenses them into an operationalizable framework.
The Competence Framework is available for download via the project website.
