Against the backdrop of economic crisis, terrorism, rising populism, and Brexit, Europe is faced with an unprecedented influx of migratory flows. This dramatic increase in the number of migrants and refugees arriving at Europe’s borders poses a great challenge to its member states, especially in terms of integration.

This migration issue is not only affecting the member states, but also the regional territories that compose the member states. Indeed, AER grasps the importance of this phenomenon and has contributed to finding solutions in various ways. AER focused on the migration challenge during the 2015 AER General Assembly & Autumn Bureau, and since then, has taken actions and disseminated information towards its member regions on Calls for Proposals in the field of integration, social inclusion, and the intersection between culture and inclusion.

During the 2016 Committees Spring Plenary Meetings, AER member regions showed great interest in the issue, and a workshop was dedicated to the specific topic of migrant entrepreneurship and integration in the labour market. Consequently, as it may be of interest to many of you, we wish to draw your attention to the Call for Proposals for Migrants Entrepreneurship Support Schemes by EASME from the European Commission.

This Call aims to help migrants become self-employed and build a successful enterprise (profit-generating and/or with social objectives) by supporting the creation, improvement and wider dissemination of support schemes for migrant entrepreneurs. The initiative will bring together shared approaches and lessons learnt among a trans-national network of relevant actors at the national and regional levels to work together and achieve better impact based on what is effective.

If you wish to share your project idea, start a project on this issue, or get in contact with other regions potentially interested in working on this topic, just get in touch with AER Secretariat!

The deadline for this Call for Proposal is 20 December 2016.