• Civil Society and Governance
  • Civil Society and Governance Overview
  • Institutional Capacity Building
  • Civic Education
  • Citizen Participation
  • Advocacy
  • Democratic Governance
  • Grants Solicitation and Management Capacity
  • Women's and Minority Rights
  • Disenfranchised Groups
• Education
  • Education Overview
  • Basic Education
  • Higher Education
  • Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
  • Education for Vulnerable Groups
• HIV/AIDS
  • HIV/AIDS Overview
  • HIV/AIDS Prevention
  • Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)
  • Grants Solicitation and Management Capacity
  • Institutional Capacity Building
• International Visitors Exchanges
  • International Professional, Academic, and Cultural Exchanges Overview
  • Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Exchanges
  • Professional Exchanges
  • Youth Exchanges
• Capacity Development and Training
  • Capacity Development and Training Overview
  • Participant Training
  • Institutional Capacity Building
  • Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Exchanges
  • Grant Solicitation and Management Capacity
  • Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Professional Exchanges

Outreach and Integration of Marginalized Populations in Denmark

In 2008, the World Learning Visitor Exchange Program was awarded a 2-year grant by the US Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Office of Citizen Exchanges, to administer an exchange program on Outreach and Integration of Marginalized Populations in Denmark.  The program calls for a total of four exchanges between Denmark and the United States in 2009 and 2010. 

The program encourages participants to examine Danish and American models on integrating and empowering minority and marginalized communities and developing dynamic new policies to meet rising expectations.  In doing so, the objective is to harness the creative energies not only of the participants but also of the wider communities in which they live and work. 

The goals of the program are to:

• Explore the themes of identity, minority empowerment, youth leadership, valuing differences, and the integration of diverse ethnic groups into society;
• Foster relationships among different ethnic, religious, and national groups in Denmark;
• Create linkages between Danish and American institutions, organizations, and citizens; and
• Promote mutual understanding, respect, and collaboration between the United States and Denmark.

In April 2009, thirteen English speaking Danes who work closely with minority communities in Denmark came to the United States for a program in Washington, D.C., Brattleboro, Vermont, and Denver, Colorado. The delegation included teachers, school administrators, social workers, and a police official.

The Washington segment featured job shadowing and discussions on various topics relating to cultural integration, immigration, diversity, and social justice in the United States.  In Brattleboro, the Danes participated at World Learning's SIT Graduate Institute in a series of training sessions on youth leadership, teambuilding, program design, youth empowerment, leadership communication, and capacity building.  In Denver, the delegation observed real world applications of these approaches, visiting community organizations, schools, police departments, and government agencies that work with immigrants, minorities, and young people. The program in Denver included an extended homestay to introduce the delegation to life in the United States.

In September, nine Americans travelled to Denmark for a two-week program in the cities of Copenhagen, Odense, Århus, and Kolding, all of which either have large immigrant and minority communities or are experiencing rapid growth of their minority populations.  In conjunction with their Danish counterparts, American participants conducted interactive sessions on teambuilding and feedback/analysis, and visited community organizations, schools, and government agencies that work with immigrants, minorities, and young people in Denmark.  Similar exchanges will take place in 2010.

In administering the program, the World Learning Visitor Exchange Program is working with partners ASF-Dansk Folkehjælp (ASF), a Danish NGO, and the Institute of International Education Rocky Mountain Regional Center (IIE), a member organization of the National Council for International Visitors.