What?
In the aftermath of the outburst of the migration crisis, numerous efforts towards identifying and implementing solutions have been made on all governance dimensions. Despite the endeavour of ensuring the most efficient policies, most of them treated short-term symptomatics of what is a rather long-term concerning issue. Includ-EU brings into play a bottom-up approach to identifying and respectively tackling issues surrounding the migration and asylum policies. The project acknowledges that both coordination and cooperation are foundational to developing a homogenised strategy that ensures both social cohesion and the utmost respect for human rights.
In this context, the Includ-EU project aims at bringing together local and regional authorities from Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia and Spain for the purpose of enhancing transnational knowledge and experience sharing cooperation and partnerships. The action takes account of five key integration priorities as outlined within the EU Action Plan, and more specifically:
- Enhancing host communities’ integration capacity
- Education
- Employment and Vocational Training
- Basic Service Provision (housing, healthcare)
- Active Participation and Social Inclusion
Who?
Includ-EU is to be implemented by the International Organisation for Migration, a UN-related agency with 173 member states, the Assembly of European Regions and five co-applicants among which we number:
- ANCI Toscana (IT): The regional branch of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, gathering no less than 274 municipalities.
- Region of Crete (GR): Represented in the Committee of Regions, member of the European Network of Social Authorities, and committed to matters of integration, health and social services.
- City of Tilburg (NL)
- Secretariat for Equality, Migrations and Citizenship (ES): Entity responsible for the development and implementation of public policy on integration in Catalonia.
Why?
By structuring the action around the previously mentioned five key integration priorities, the main goal is that of building more inclusive and cohesive European Societies. Through fostering a better understanding of local integration experiences, promoting knowledge sharing, and peer-to-peer capacity building, the project aims at reinforcing the coordination capacity of national integration strategies across different levels of governance. Moreover, it aims at creating a spill-over effect into enhancing multi-level cooperation, including with EU networks in inter-connected policy areas.
How?
- By improving knowledge and capacities of local and regional authorities to facilitate the integration of third-country nationals
- By implementing and assessing pilot-projects that promote the integration of third-country nationals at regional and local levels
- By establishing an informal network of regions and local authorities with different levels of expertise that capitalizes on the diversity of territorial approaches, policy and practice of integration
When?
Overall, the implementation of the project is set to take place over a period of 36 months from January 2020 to September 2023.
What is AER’s Role and how to get involved?
AER is tasked with leading the project components aimed at fostering structured regional exchanges, and the dissemination of knowledge and best-practices within its wider network. In this respect, AER is leading Work Package 4, providing for, among others, the organisation of five thematic workshops and webinars structured around the key priority areas. The workshops are envisioned to bring together target beneficiaries, experts, partners, and respectively representatives of interested social communities.
AER is committed to making the voice of its member regions heard, in both matters of migration and asylum and otherwise. We are proud to share their success stories and applaud their initiatives, developments and practices. It is for this reason that AER is honoured to cooperate and involve the Intercultural Regions Network.
In line with EU and UN priorities on asylum and human rights, the AER is honoured to partake in all efforts of optimising and enhancing social cohesion in Europe.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s AMIF – Asylum Migration and Integration Fund programme.
For more interesting updates, see the Includ-EU website:
Contact: Agnese Pantaloni, European Projects Coordinator
E-mail: [email protected]
