In 2023 CHEI piloted a new intercultural peer mentoring project for international and local students.
This new bilingual intercultural peer mentoring project placed local students and international students in intercultural teams of 4-5 students. Twelve local students took part in four workshops on intercultural communication in order to become mentors in the project. The workshops were held by Andrea Campisano, an Italian L2 expert working in Cattolica, and Olivia Mair.
The project aims to:
•Increase intercultural competence of all participating students
•Facilitate friendship and inclusion through the informal curriculum
•Create opportunities to improve communicative competence in the local language for international students
• Provide an internationalisation experience for Italian students without the need for mobility.
The project builds on and responds to the key findings of the NEAR project and in particular the need to connect international students better with local students.