The IENE programme was established in 2008. Since then, nine projects have been funded by the European Union the intellectual outputs of which can be accessed freely at www.ieneproject.eu .

The first six project were co-ordinated by the Research Centre for Transcultural Studies in Health. The materials/resources are suitable for student and qualified nurses and other healthcare workers and leaders, aimed at improving their cultural competence and compassion in practice.

The IENE1 project (2008-2010) was funded by the EU Leonardo Da Vinci Lifelong Learning Programme. It addressed cultural competence in pre-qualifying nursing and AHPs (Allied Health Professionals) as well as for qualified healthcare professionals who wished to move within the European Union.  In addition to the multilingual internet platform, The PTT/ IENE European model for cultural competence was developed along with a number of module outlines based on a needs assessment of nurses and AHPs working in the partner countries which were: UK (co-ordinator), Romania, Germany, Bulgaria and Belgium.

In 2010, the EU funded the IENE2 Transfer of Innovation project which built on the IENE1 project but also included a short ‘Train the Trainer’ course for healthcare educators and trainers which was delivered in the partner institutions: UK (co-ordinator), France, Belgium, Romania and Germany. The PTT/IENE model is was embedded in the education for nurses and other healthcare workers in the aforementioned countries.  If you wish to find out about the outputs of this project please go to  http://ieneproject.eu/IENE2/about-objectives.php

In 2013, the EU funded the IENE3 project in collaboration with partners from UK (co-ordinator), Romania, Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Turkey. The project developed innovative tools for the teaching and learning of culturally competent compassion, intercultural communication, and courage in healthcare practice.

In 2014, the EU ERASMUS+ funded project IENE4 titled ‘Strengthening The Nurses’ And Health Care Professionals’ Capacity To Deliver Culturally Competent And Compassionate Care’.  Its main aims were to develop a self-administered tool to measure culturally competent compassion, and to develop and deliver training to promote culturally competent and compassionate leadership. This was a partnership between UK (co-ordinator), Romania, Denmark, Cyprus, Italy, Spain and Turkey.

In 2015 the EU ERASMUS+ funded the IENE5 project ‘Multicultural Healthcare Teams, Patient Safety and Intercultural Communication’. The aim of the IENE5 was to develop an Massive Online Open access Course (MOOC) for teaching / learning patient safety and intercultural communication, within multicultural multidisciplinary teams. The partners were, UK (co-ordinator), Romania, Italy, Cyprus and Denmark.

In 2016 the EU ERASMUS+ funded IENE6 project ‘Contemporary large migration waves into Europe: Enabling health workers to provide psychological support to migrants and refugees and develop strategies for dealing with their own emotional needs’. The aim of this project was to develop a knowledge hub (KHub) which contains tools and information designed to provide psychological support and training to refugees, healthcare workers and volunteers. During this project we developed an app which enables refugees, volunteers and healthcare workers to compose and submit their stories on the KHub. The partners in this project: UK (co-ordinator), Romania, Spain, Cyprus and Greece and Turkey.

In 2017, the EU ERASMUS+  IENE7 project ‘Improving communication and social skills of foreign and migrant caregivers who work with older people’. This project compares the training, role descriptions and regulation of care workers in the partner countries and based on that information a European model for their training has been developed. Currently, the project is preparing the relevant units of learning which will be delivered as a MOOC in 2019. The partners in this project: Romania, (co-ordinator), UK, Spain, Italy.

In 2018 we gained funding for the EU ERASMUS+ for the IENE8 project ‘Refugees- Parenting in transit’. The project aims to examine the challenges faced by refugees who have children, during their flight from their homeland. We aim to create resources which will help the refugee parents remain compassionate parents despite the challenges and terrible conditions they encounter during their journey to safety. The partners in this project: Cyprus  (co-ordinator), UK, Greece, Italy, Germany. Visit the IENE 8 Knowledge Hub website.