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Includ-EU Online Session: “Anti-discrimination: a Transformative Approach for Organisations”

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This online session focused on how we can identify and prevent systemic discrimination in our environments. It was led by Diversity Equity and Inclusion Expert, Author and Podcast Producer Prisca Ratovonasy. She shared the stage with Mame-Fatou Niang, Associate Professor, Author and Artist-in-Residence at Ateliers Médicis.

The slides of the training are available here

The bibliography is available here, it is in one document with the agenda

This session was held in English and simultaneously translated into Italian, Slovenian, Romanian, Greek, Spanish, and Dutch, allowing us to grow our community and involve more and more institutions.

This was a rare opportunity to bring together an international community with 7 European languages around a shared objective to make services and organisations more inclusive.

The session enabled all participants and organisers to:

  • better understand the stakes
  • raise awareness on the transformative dimension of addressing discrimination
  • get actionable knowledge, ready to use

If you missed this, please contact us ([email protected])

This online training session is organised in the context of INCLUD-EU, an EU project funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration fund (AMIF) which contributes to building more inclusive and cohesive European societies by enhancing knowledge, driving innovation, and stimulating cooperation between local and regional authorities in the European Union. To know more about the project, visit the project website.

 

 

 

How To Foster An Intercultural Approach To Education & Training- Highlights From Includ-EU Webinar

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On 24 May 2022, AER organised, within the framework of the Includ-EU project and in cooperation with IOM (International Organisation for Migration), the 5th and last webinar on the series that looked into the 4 areas tackled by the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-2027), namely Education and Training, Employment, Access to Health, and adequate and affordable housing.

It is by no chance that Education and Training are on top of the list, as they are considered as a pre-condition and the key enabler of social inclusion and empowerment encompassing all other areas of Inclusion (together with housing, the most tangible and thus need and also very high on the European agenda).

That is why a firm commitment of IOM, as underlined by Emanuela di Paola (Integration and Technical Cooperation Unit, IOM, Coordination Office for the Mediterranean) in the opening, is to engage the youth to become driver of social inclusion through education (formal, non-formal and informal). 

Students who are well integrated into the education system, have more chances to be active and reach their full potential. Not only, “when young people given responsibility, are empowered and encouraged to take ownership, they can also be catalysts of innovation and creativity”, continues Emanuela.

But learning cannot stop with the end of the traditional education path and the inclusion in an insatiable rapid-changing labour market. In particular, lifelong learning opportunities and the possibility to upskill and reskill are key to creating the right environment for migrants (young and adults) to arrive in a host country and be able to take up new job opportunities, which reflect the needs of the national/local specificities. 

And in this regard what can be done at the local and regional levels is really make this integration happen, with a series of approaches and initiatives which capitalises on local strengths/ specificities and existing initiatives, as reported by Bruno Mesquita Valle, (Chief of Unit, Capacity Development and Field Support, UNESCO) when presenting the UNESCO mapping of host countries’ education responses to the influx of Ukrainian students, a living exercise to help circulating information and practices.

Still, it is important to identify challenges that are common all over Europe, and draw and recommendations that can benefit different contexts.

Specifically, Eleonora Milazzo (PhD, researcher and migration policy consultant, Kings College London) presented during the webinar the thematic briefing on Access to Education, addressing the key question on how to make education more accessible and inclusive for all. 

Here are the key recommendations:

  • Expand further Intercultural capacity building and teachers training so that all staff receives specific training on how to engage students from culturally diverse backgrounds (ex. School for All, Greece); but also, as highlighted by Ourania Xylouri, Director, Athens Lifelong Learning Institute, Greece Schools for inclusion: integrated way across the curriculum (methology, guidelines and toolbox): How to turn an ordinary school into an intercultural school.
  • Improve Language training in the host countries to make it available from an early stage and capitalising on the existing language skills ( ex. Online tool MyRO, Romania);
  • Build reciprocal trust to avoid that TNC are stigmatized and isolated from the rest of the learning community through Peer2Peer support and mentoring initiatives (ex. Mentorship, Italy);
  • Develop Intercultural Skills of students and families, making sure TNCs can acquire education system and administrative services;
  • Address specific needs for disadvantaged groups to improve greater representation.

A great example comes from Jesenice, Slovenia Adult Education Centre managed by Maja Radinovič Hajdič

Lack of digital skills is one of the greatest barriers for migrants to join different activities and learning and job opportunities, so the centre creates a targeted and tailored capacity-building programme to enable the participants to enhance their Slovene language and digital skills, gain better understanding of online public services in the local environment and strengthen their social network.

Maya states that to achieve this counselling is very important and that no person is entering the programme without counselling. After the pre-assessment of skills, and the definition of the programme, individual Counselling and other support is offered also throughout the whole programme.

[Watch the video dedicated to The Adult Education Centre Jesenice’s pilot project and Murisa’s experience!]

The importance of individual counselling blends well with the final takeaway that comes from Maria Podlasek-Ziegler (Policy Specialist at European Commission: Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps Inclusion and Diversity Strategy). 

One key learning from the thousands of Erasmus projects, she highlights, is that is more and more important to focus on the individual, and tailor-needs of learners and not exclusively on specific target groups. [Read the full study report Data collection and analysis of Erasmus + projects. Focus on inclusion in education here].

There are different personalities and different needs to be addressed with tailored-based interventions, stresses also Irene Psfidou (Senior Expert, CEDEFOP).

Background, gender, student well-being as well as aspiration, skills, and personal attitude of individual learners are crucial to take into account to fulfil one’s potential. That’s why policies should work to create equal conditions for all. 

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Inclusion, Creativity & Human Potential

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Labour participation is an essential building block for inclusion. It has a direct impact on access to housing, wellbeing and the ability of individuals to contribute.

A Holistic Approach to Labour Market Inclusion

The Includ-EU workshop “Inclusion, Creativity and Human Potential” on 14-15 June 2022 in Venice, highlighted regional policies and practices, that support stakeholders to build on their ideas, motivation, competences and experiences.

Speakers included:

  • Rossella Celmi, IOM Coordination Office for the Mediterranean, Lead Partner of the Includ-EU project
  • Gloria Bondi, The Human Safety Net
  • Angelique Petrits, DG HOME
  • Rabab Ahmad, IOM’s Regional Office for the EEA, the European Union and NATO
  • Alan Barbieri, The Human Safety Net
  • Mónica Oltra Jarque, Vice President of and Minister for Equality and Inclusive Policies of Generalitat Valenciana, Member of Intercultural Regions Network
  • Helena Castellà Duran, Adviser to the Minister of Equality and Feminism’ office, Catalonia
  • Stefano Rovelli, The Human Safety Net
  • Mays Kabouch, Coordination Entrepreneuriat IDF, Singa
  • Federico Mento, Director, Ashoka Italy

They shared how they are working to improve access to labour market -or accessed the labour market- the collaborations they implement, and how they learn from their peers to improve practices.

For the European Union, improving access to the labour market for all has deep implications both for the economy and for social cohesion. The challenge of integration and inclusion is particularly relevant for migrants, not only newcomers but sometimes also for EU citizens with a migrant background.

The EU Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021-2027 states that

Ensuring effective integration and inclusion in the EU of migrants is a social and economic investment that makes European societies more cohesive, resilient and prosperous.

Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021-2027, COM(2020) 758 final

This workshop therefore specifically focused on the benefits of peer learning for better policies and practices. It actually created a space where meaningful exchanges between peers would occur. At a time when everything is available online, it was important to design an experience that would nurture the network and encourage further collaborations.

Tapping Into Human Potential

In the afternoon, the interactive exhibition at the Home of the Human Safety Net provided participants with an opportunity to explore different dimensions of human potential and their own character strengths: Creativity, Perseverance, Leadership, Team spirit, Hope, Curiosity.

These character strengths were also highlighted in the exchanges with Yousaf Marufkhel, Mohammad Hossaini and Ali Rezai from the Orient Experience, an ethnic catering company founded in 2012 by political refugees and asylum seekers in the city of Venice.

It was born from the idea of making the experience and memory of the migrants’ journey (from Africa and the Middle East to Venice) meaningful through the proposal of a “menu” of dishes that retrace that itinerary.

The Migrant As An Innovator

In fact, the dishes are the result of the migrant’s encounters with other cultures and a personal reinterpretation and adaptation to the place where they are proposed. The Orient Experience makes it possible to transmit new knowledge and live a new sensorial and relational experience, through the conviviality offered by the food, the care of the place of refreshment where this otherness is breathed in.

The Orient Experience highlights the potential offered by the encounter between different cultures, and diversity as a source of innovation and education. It is a testimony of the figure of the migrant as an innovator.

Attendees had dinner at the Orient Experience to actually live the concept.

Collective Intelligence To Improve Practices

On the second day, participants were invited to work in small groups using the co-development methodology developed by Adrien Payette and Claude Champagne. This professional development approach focuses on the group & the interactions between participants to promote understanding and better practices. Co-development has two general objectives:

  1. improving a professional practice
  2. learn how to solve complex problems.

Co-construction, collaboration, sharing, individual and collective reflection are at the center of this approach, based on the idea that it is possible to “learn on your practice, by listening and helping colleagues to progress in understanding and improving their own practice”.

This session was the first of a series of sessions to be facilitated in upcoming events of the project. The  6-step co-development methodology helped participants to take advantage of the presence of their peers to unlock challenges and seize opportunities in a very concrete way.

Strategic Partnerships For Integration

The afternoon session started with a plenary moment, which includes the presentation of:

  • the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policies on their multi-annual integrated programmatic document for work, integration and inclusion 2021-2027;
  • the Fondazione Leone Moressa, a private research institute dedicated to the study of the economics of immigration who will focus on the economic added value of migration.

This Includ-EU workshop was hosted at the premises of the Human Safety Net, a foundation created by Generali, which brings together non-profit organisations and the private sector in Europe, Asia and South America. It was therefore quite natural to look at strategic partnerships to tap into expertise, networks and resources outside government.

The two roundtables gathered the following representatives:

  • Simona Torre, Fondazione Italiana Accenture
  • Kenny Clewett, Ashoka – Hello Europe
  • Paola Cavanna and Dina Ulinici, IM Italy – Alt Caporalato
  • Massimiliano Giacomello, Consorzio Comunità Brianza –
    Hope Fund and the Bonvena Network
  • Carlo Massini, Hogan Lovells
  • Alice Dalfovo and Stefano Buzzati, Diagrammi Nord – Una casa per l’uomo
  • Anna Filippucci, MicroLab
  • Gianfranco Della Valle, Region of Veneto – Navigare

Exchanges showed the importance of getting opportunities to discuss shared objectives, ways to facilitate the work of NGOs, as well as the challenges related to different standpoints and perspectives.

Additional Resources

Here are some more resources from the Includ-EU project and findings:

  • More on labour inclusion in Includ-EU countries: https://includeu.eu/labour-inclusion/
  • Includ-EU Thematic Briefing on Education: https://includeu.eu/second-includ-eus-briefing-education/
  • Includ-EU Thematic Briefing on Housing: https://includeu.eu/first-includ-eus-briefing-housing/

Avoid FOMO: Follow Us!

If you haven’t yet subscribed to the Includ-EU Newsletter, this is the place to be.

To get regular news about the project, the pilots, resources and upcoming events: follow Includ EU on Twitter @Includ_EU

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Inclusive Housing: Why And How?

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Access to adequate and affordable housing is a key determinant of successful integration. Housing conditions have a strong impact on employment and education opportunities and on the interactions between migrants and host communities. Poor housing conditions and segregation can exacerbate divisions, which undermine social cohesion. Inclusive housing is therefore essential for thriving neighbourghoods.

The need for cross-sectoral approaches

In the framework of the Includ-EU project AER organised a webinar on cross-sectoral approaches to inclusive housing. The 4th Includ-EU webinar looked at practices that promote the benefits of intercultural identities of neighbourhoods. Encouraging social interactions via holistic housing policies and reinventing public spaces is of utmost importance to foster integration.

Setting the framework

Rossella Celmi, Project Manager at the IOM Coordination Office for the Mediterranean, opened the webinar by reminding participants that

Beyond its strictly material aspect, upholding the right to housing is considered crucial for human dignity and personal development, as well as a precondition for the enjoyment of other rights

With the war in Ukraine leading to new needs to welcome migrants, mainly women with children, Rossella Celmi shared an overview of the current situation, both in Ukraine, with high numbers of internally displaced persons (for up-to-date numbers: see this UNHCR Ukraine webpage), and in neighboring countries, as well as the IOM response in different countries (see Rossella Celmi‘s presentation here)

Looking at housing through an intercultural lens

Ivana D’Alessandro, Head of the Intercultural cities Unit, Council of Europe started off with the basic principles of intercultural cities: Integration is not only about rights, it is about

  • Promoting real equality
  • Building on the diversity advantage to create a “WE” culture based on shared values
  • Fostering Interaction within and between

The intercultural model brings together the principles of Diversity, Equality and Interaction.

Intercultural Model by Carlos Jimenez

These three principles lead to a specific role for public space: social trust indeed builds across diversities in the public space. Urban planning is therefore fundamental for authorities that want to develop intercultural cities and regions. To harness the diversity advantage.

Gentrification, a process through which lower income residents are displaced from a neighbourhood due to an influx of new residents, resulting in a change of character of the neighbourhood, results in displacement, and change in social and urban character. Gentrification therefore has negative impacts on all three dimensions of interculturality: equality, diversity, and interaction. Ivana D’Alessandro cited Tom Slater Professor of Urban Geography, at the University of Edinburgh who calls gentrification “the special expression of economic inequality”.

She shared how the intercultural cities’ principles apply to the public space

Applying these principles is then reflected in work on the rent gap and affordability, in the prevention of displacement, the strengthening of participatory processes, achieving inclusive public space and the promotion of sustainable tourism… which in turn will have an impact on rent etc. See Ivana D’Alessandro‘s presentation here

Includ-EU briefing on housing

Eleonora Milazzo, PhD, researcher and migration policy consultant at Kings College London shared the findings of the Includ-EU Briefing on Housing, which analysed the housing context for migrants in Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia and Spain. The data lead to a series of recommendations:

The briefing also describes a series of local and regional examples in the 6 countries, which illustrate how these recommendations can be implemented.

In Includ-EU, sharing of examples is seen as an essential tool to improve policies and practices. Eleonora Milazzo‘s presentation is available here, and provides for instance details on

  • how the “A New House” initiative in Cluj-Napoca provides material and medical assistance to vulnerable families and individuals
  • how Lucca’s House Agency in Tuscany matches supply and demand on the housing market
  • how Slovenia provides additional housing support for beneficiaries of international protection
  • and many other examples!

Unleash the potential of migration

Migration is a phenomenon that will remain and is likely to amplify in the future. In this context, rather than “solving” a “migration challenge”, sustainable policies and practices are focused on creating meaningful, equal to equal interactions between newcomers and local citizens. This in turn is deemed to enable cities and regions to benefit from the entrepreneurial spirit, variety of skills and creativity associated with cultural diversity.

Fatemeh Jailani, COO of SINGA Global, shared insights on SINGA’s “3 weapons of mass cohesion”, which are community organising, entrepreneurship and innovation.

SINGA’s tried and tested citizens hosting methodology fits in the “innovation section”, and is a methodology that ensures a healthy, equal relationship between newcomers and local citizens.

The 7 steps methodology

This methodology ensures the relationship is mutually beneficial and not rooted in a saviour-victim pattern.

  • Registration: aspiring hosts inform about motivation & space available
  • Informational meeting: to explain the programme, methods of intercultural co-housing, check motivation
  • Connection: based on location, motivation & expectations, areas of interest
  • First meeting: in neutral place. Potentially a second meeting to visit
  • Decision making: if both sides agree, then they have access to tools such as agreement, charter of cohabitation, intercultural training
  • Follow-up: the ‘J’accueille’ team will check on cohabiations regularly.
  • Facilitate communication: whenever there is a communication issue hosts and hostees can contact the team. A mediation service is available too.

While in emergency situations, the methodology may seem slow, results show that it is very effective and more sustainable than citizens hosting solutions without knowledgeable support. Safety is indeed a key aspect, both for hosts and hostees.

ANCI Toscana’s new model to tackle temporary housing needs

Additional Resources

Here are some more resources from the Includ-EU project and findings:

Videos of the other Includ-EU webinars

Related articles

Avoid FOMO: Follow Us!

If you haven’t yet subscribed to the Includ-EU Newsletter, this is the place to be.

To get regular news about the project, the pilots, resources and upcoming events: follow Includ EU on Twitter @Includ_EU

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Inclusion, Creativity & Human Potential: Includ-EU Workshop

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This workshop is organised in the context of the Includ-EU project co-financed by AMIF programme of the European Union. It will look at labour market inclusion from a skills, creativity and human potential angle.

The opening and roundtable (09:30-11:00) will be streamed, you can register here to get the link to attend online:

 

The objective is to take a holistic approach to labour market inclusion, which takes into account space, skills and the realisation of potential. Participants will share policies and practices which support stakeholders to build on their ideas, motivation, competences and experiences.

Migrant entrepreneurs contribute to economic growth, create jobs and can support the post-COVID-19 recovery. Effective inclusion of migrants and EU citizens with a migration background into the labour market requires the active collaboration of a large variety of actors, including public authorities at local, regional, national and European level, civil society organisations, economic and social partners and employers.

This workshop aims to:

  • Give visibility to inclusion policies and practices shared in the context of the project and which can be of use to stakeholders across wider Europe
  • strengthen the collaboration between partners, support them in mobilising both their local and international networks
  • Facilitate the exchange of policies and practices for inclusion between local and regional stakeholders in Europe
  • Encourage the development of new collaborations between local and regional stakeholders

AGENDA

Cross-sectoral Approaches To Inclusive Housing

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On 7 April 2022 AER is organising a webinar on cross-sectoral approaches to inclusive housing from 15:00-16:30 CET in the framework of the Includ-EU project.

Access to adequate and affordable housing is a key determinant of successful integration. Housing conditions have a strong impact on employment and education opportunities and on the interactions between migrants and host communities. Poor housing conditions and segregation can exacerbate divisions, which undermine social cohesion.

Building inclusive societies for all

The EU action plan on integration and inclusion states that:

Inclusion for all is about ensuring that all policies are accessible to and work for everyone, including migrants and EU citizens with migrant background. This means adapting and transforming mainstream policies to the needs of a diverse society, taking into account the specific challenges and needs of different groups.

In the field of housing, the European Commission aims to achieve the following:

  • Migrants and EU citizens with a migrant background have access to adequate and affordable housing, including social housing.
  • Member States and local and regional authorities have access to a wide range of tools and good practices to fight discrimination on the housing market.
  • Innovative housing solutions that foster inclusion and fight segregation are widely used across the EU.

A central role for local & regional authorities

Integration happens in every village, city, and region where migrants live, work and go to school or to a sports club. The local and regional levels play a key role in welcoming and guiding newcomers when they first arrive in their new country. In addition, civil society organisations and migrants themselves play a key role in achieving a truly effective and comprehensive integration policy.

The intercultural approach to policymaking as defined by the Intercultural Cities Programme of the Council of Europe is particularly useful to manage diversity positively and realise the diversity advantage.

Urban planning & inclusion

While a homogenous statistical mix of people in all neighbourhoods is not needed to make a territory intercultural, regions and cities need to make sure that ethnic concentration in a neighbourhood does not convert into socio-cultural segregation. Indeed this could act as a barrier to the inward and outward flow of people, ideas, and opportunities.

In recent years, many innovative housing solutions have been developed in several EU countries, including through EU funding. Partnership-based approaches, co-housing, and accompanying housing with employment and social services have proven to be particularly promising models that foster inclusion and community building.

Mutual learning for inclusive policies & practices

In the context of the Includ-EU project, AER is facilitating mutual learning between regional and local authorities across the European Union to improve inclusion policies and practices. This is done via a series of webinars and workshops.

The videos of previous webinars are available here:

–Intercultural Regions: Improving Access to Services
–Intercultural Regions: Improving Labour Market Inclusion
–Intercultural Regions: Active Participation & Social Inclusion

The first Includ-EU Regional Workshop focused not on discussing solutions but analysing and sharing problems and challenges in our ever-changing Europe, in a collaborative way, and with peer-to-peer dialogue.

The second Includ-EU Regional Workshop took place in the context of a two-day event on the Sustainable Development Goals and focused on two topics:

  • Rethinking services & raising awareness on design in shaping more sustainable services
  • how to counteract hate speech

Venice Workshop in June: Save the date!

The third Includ-EU Regional Workshop will take place on 14-15 June in Venice and will be organised in collaboration with the Generali Foundation, The Human Safety Net.

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Includ-EU and the Agenda 2030- Two Days of Exchange at the Heart of Europe

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On 28-29 October, the INCLUD-EU Project held its Second Regional Workshop in a series of 5 thematic sessions facilitating knowledge sharing and discussing the design of Includ-EU pilot projects, as well as other integration policies and projects carried out across Europe. 

The Workshop happened in a hybrid format within the framework of the Agenda 2030 Conference, which took place in Strasbourg and online, and in partnership with Region Grand Est and the City of Strasbourg.

On the morning of the 29, after the opening of Ms Rabab Ahmad, Policy and Programme Analyst (IOM), participants were welcomed by our facilitator, Mr Abram el-Sabagh (Design for Impact) and encouraged to share a picture telling the story of why they got into migration and integration, as a way of breaking the ice and setting a cosy atmosphere for the rest of the dy.

The focus of the Includ- EU project workshop –Day 1- was “Rethinking services & raising awareness on design in shaping more sustainable services”

Consortium partners from SocioLab, represented by Ms Silvia Givone and supported by Anci Toscana (National Association of Italian Municipalities-Tuscany) held a presentation of how Service Design methods helped them Co-design workshops for the mutual re-definition of pathways and networking models among Job Centers and managing organizations of reception centers.  In particular, the  Identification with a “typical-user” and the modelling the process through which the user comes into contact with the services allow them to carry out an analysis and confrontation on difficulties/emotions of front line workers and service providers.

In the second half of the morning, Ms Johanna Pacevicius (AER) introduced a revamped “marketplace”, which put the focus not so much on the presentations of the good practices as such but rather on the collective intelligence for mutual learning that could be capitalised from all the expert participants in the workshop. In other words, all participants were actively involved in the discussion of challenges encountered by the two presenters and offered their counsel, expertise and help to answer questions raised by Ms Sofia Luis (IOM), who introduced us “The Migrant Women & Girls Toolbox, City of Luxembourg (Equalcity Project)”; and  Ms Alessia Rochira (Unisalento), who spoke about their research project on “Culture Brokers: when integration is made by the youngest” (Regin Project).  As a way of example, in the second scenario, questions such as “What are the possible effects of this linguistic and cultural mediation activity for young immigrants and for the reciprocal relationships they establish with their families and schools?” and “What are the possible effects on family relationships?” were lively discussed by participants who had at times contrasting ideas on whether ​​young immigrants can carry out a more formal activity of linguistic and cultural mediation on behalf of their parents. Eventually, many tips and resources were shared, thus certainly enriching the base for the research project carried out by Alessia and her team.

The afternoon study visit of the urban project Deux-Rives was very interesting for participants.  “In the EcoQuartier Danube, we appreciated not only the architectural form of the complex and the connection with the river, but also the functional mix: the homes (for sale or rent), the co-designed cohousing, the residence for vulnerable groups (senior housing, supported housing for mental health patient), the beautiful wooden playground, the common vegetables garden  (with farm animals!), schools and spaces for social activities.”, shared Ms Giulia Maraviglia, an onsite participant from Social Lab in Tuscany.

She went on explaining how in the nearby Presqu’île Malraux the contemporary architecture dialogues with the industrial heritage to form a suggestive water landscape. “The docks, buildings in search of a new identity, have been transformed in a lively media library and a fablab/coworking.” In Strasbourg, Giulia saw the materialization of the housing community-building processes that are being similarly developed in the metropolitan area of Florence, her city in Italy, through the project “Abito in community“.

On Day 2, a much more concise but still very practical workshop was held. For this occasion, the IncludEU project partnered up with the Council of Europe. The subject was one raised and felt by many, in previous webinars of the project, namely how to counteract hate speech,  which is an increasing threat to human rights and democracy.

The workshop dealt with important questions such as: How can we define and tackle Hate Speech and what can we do to stop it? Can regional authorities help to protect the most vulnerable groups of society such as the migrant population? 

At first, Ms Irena Guidikova, Head of Inclusion and Anti discrimination programmes at the Council of Europe introduced the complexities of defining hate speech and finding the right and effective response. Then, our guest speaker, Ms Julia Mozer, Communication & Policy Officer at CEJI office, gave a brilliant overview on tools to counterstrike Hate Speech and “drive out the hate out with a positive message that is constructive and can engage the audience”.

She additionally provided useful links and online resources such as: http://facingfacts.eu, http://facingfactsonline.eu, and https://coe.int/en/web/inclusion-and-antidiscrimination/wecan4hrs, and concluded with a hope of further collaboration with the project, perhaps in form of more in-depth training.

As the objective of the Agenda 2030 Conference was to show and reiterate the key role that regions play alongside cities, in facilitating the transformation required to realistically implement and achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, our workshop was successful in demonstrating how inclusion and integration have to be indeed understood as integrated and mainstreamed into many (if not all) of other goals, in particular gender equality, affordable housing, quality education and reduce inequalities.

With Includ-EU, we are looking forward to the next workshop and we encourage you all to follow Facebook and Twitter page, as well as to visit the newly launched website at includeu.eu. We would also like to thank those of you who participated and made the workshop possible (at last also in person!), and we are always happy to hear suggestions for the next content focus and presentations!

Please contact [email protected] for any question/request.

Includ-EU, financed by the AMIF Programme (DG Home, European Commission), aims to contribute to building more inclusive and cohesive European societies by enhancing transnational knowledge and experience sharing, cooperation and partnerships between local and regional authorities from Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia and Spain.

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Not Just Another Workshop: Looking Back at the Includ-EU First Regional Peer-2-Peer Learning

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The project in a nutshell: The Includ-EU Project is funded by the European Union’s AMIF– Asylum Migration and Integration Fund Programme and aims at enhancing regional and local expertise with engagement of social cohesion in Europe. In this workshop, we brought together representatives from all the different countries involved in the project: Italy, Greece, Spain, Romania, Slovenia and the Netherlands.

Setting the Scene.

We live in an increasingly complex society. There are no easy solutions or easy answers to the many challenges we are facing today, and the ones presented by migration, integration and inclusion are no exception. Policies and service designers must make sure these mirror the complexity of realities around us.

That is why our first Includ-EU Regional Workshop focused not on discussing solutions, but analysing and sharing problems and challenges in our ever-changing Europe, in a collaborative way, and with peer-to-peer dialogue.

The past few months have been challenging for all of us. The restrictions affected our work and social cohesion, especially for migrants but there are a few lessons learned that we can bring with us and that can help improve the near-future situation, and in light of new  unpredictable crises.

In her opening speech Geertrui Lanneau, Senior Regional Labour Mobility and Human Development Specialist, at International Organization for Migration (IOM), reminded us how migration is still very high on the European Agenda  with the EU pact on migration and asylum passed last year and followed by the EU action plan on integration.

At the same time, she stressed how it is not the EU that finally implements the integration action, but the Member States, and  in particular, the local and regional levels are the centre stage. 

Geertrui Lanneau, Day 1

It is with this mind that we feel that with our project we can make a difference through the exchange of practices, region-by-region tailored SWOT analyses and especially with the pilot projects to be tested and implemented in the different member states.

Alas, also this time the consortium and associated partners didn’t have the chance to meet in person, but even virtually, we had an extraordinary time and opportunities to exchange our experiences. In particular, we collectively brainstormed around new challenges raised by the pandemic as well as old challenges that the pandemic might have exacerbated, both in the way we work and provide services, and in the way migrants and vulnerable communities would interact with the community.

The fact that all participants had experienced similar challenges, had seen similar opportunities and learned similar lessons despite the different geographical contexts, was very surprising and helped create a warm atmosphere of collaboration that lasted throughout the workshop, which lasted 2 days, and it felt a very special and unique moment!

The visual result of our peer-learning exercise on Mural, Day 1

Let Your Imagination Soar!

Before getting into the second part of the first day of the workshop, we did a quick icebreaker activity, where we split in 3 teams of five, and each group took 5 minutes in separate breakout rooms to brainstorm together and draw 50 apples, with only one applicable condition: ALL THE APPLES MUST BE DIFFERENT.

It was hilarious and mind-opening at the same time to see how different groups came out with absolutely different ideas, stories, concepts, or how they decided to devote their time: some shared memories associated with apples while others exchanged about different way to say “apple mus” in different languages, but fun fact: none of the teams reached the 50 apples goal. 

In short, this exercise tells it all about the very purpose of the workshop itself, meaning it is not about the destination, and focusing on solutions, but about the journey and what you learn along the way.

Becoming familiar with design for change

In the second session of the day, we worked together with Abram El-Sabagh, a service designer and the founder of Design for Impact, who led us through some exercises and discussion on good service designing, while sharing his own personal journey.

“It was in mid-2019 when I realised I could spend less time working, and more time helping others create impact.

The truth is it was a difficult decision. My day job is about using Design to create impact. I’ve been able to travel around the world to places as far as Marshall Islands, Kenya, China, and Bhutan. All to help coach others and build their ability to create positive impact using Design. But something was missing.

I had experienced what it was like working alongside others who genuinely want to make our world a better place, and there is no feeling like it. It’s euphoric.”

“No passion to be found in playing small”

Innovation Systems are extremely complex, Abram goes on explaining, as there are many different components and they all interact together. Imagine for a moment the healthcare system for instance:  How many hospitals and doctors are there only in your area?

Another thing to keep in consideration is that experiences regarding the system depend on each one’s different pathway. In healthcare, the experience will change depending on which doctor I talked to, which disease or illness you have, to mention only a few variants.

Migration is of course, a very complex system affecting real people who are facing real challenges.

It is easy to read 10 books about system change and design, but it is harder to apply all the theories that you learn in real life. Abram explained how his path led him to go into the field, talk  and interact with different people from many professional and social backgrounds, rather than keep learning on his own. Eventually, he gathered more and more skills that are useful to design services and testing powerful ideas, until he was skilled enough to lead his own project.

KEY CONCEPTS OF DESIGNING SERVICES IN COMPLEX SYSTEMS

If a 1.5 hours session couldn’t of course cover and teach participants hard and soft skills harnessed through years of experience and exercise, Abram gave us the key concepts needed to start understanding how to create change thanks to design.

He touched upon many concepts, but few of them resonated particularly among the participants.

Emergence is one key concept in complex systems that is worth explaining, as  it means that because of the complexity and the many actors involved, one cannot predict behaviour, or be sure of what will happen before you test an idea and that’s why it is therefore important to test hypotheses.

As a consequence, running parallel fail-safe experiments and interacting with the system is the only way we can truly understand it.

When running an experiment, it is important to test behaviours and not intentions, as many times these intentions do not translate into behaviour (just think about your new year’s eve resolutions..).


A final concept to keep in mind in testing hypotheses  is that correlation does not equal causation -although these two often get mistaken- meaning that just because two things correlate does not necessarily mean that one causes the other.

Main takeaways from day 1

The big finale of day 1 came with an interactive exercise where participants were asked to design, in teams, a new policy or service to help people get vaccinated.

The special feature of the exercise was the identification of the team members with multi-level stakeholders, meaning that each team member represented a different perspective and therefore brought an additional value to the co-creation process.

Each team formed several hypotheses around why a specific cohort of people (migrants over 50 rather than young people living in the periphery) are not getting vaccinated enough and generated experiments to test each hypothesis.

What did participants learn?

Mainly 2 things came up from the different teams:

  1. You need to involve many people, not just the usual suspects. 
  1. It is important not just to co-design services in a participative way but we should also aim to co-create and co-decide on a political level. It is essential to cooperate at all stages of a project or process, “ If you want to go far, go together”.

All in all, we can safely and happily conclude that by reflecting on the challenges the pandemic created or worsened, speakers and participants shared their concerns around the needs of their regions, but also injected optimism in the future on integration and inclusion, while giving us reasons to believe that design and multi-stakeholders approaches can be powerful tools for creating sustainable and innovative services, solutions and policies.

Angelique Petrits with some of the participants, day 2

DAY 2 -Good Practices and Hard-won Wisdom through the Includ-EU Marketplace

After the insightful and comprehensive presentation by Ms Angelique Petrits  (DG Home, European Commission) on the new Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-27) and its 4 key areas -Education, Employment, Health, Housing-, the morning of Day 2 continued with a dynamic market-place exercise.

Here different regions and municipalities presented their own future strategy for integration, but showcased good practices and successful projects from the past programming period. We are happy to share here all presentations which are available below for you to browse.

Strategy on Migration, Valencia

Pilot experience of community sponsorship in the reception and integration of migrants, Valencia, Spain

Regional Plan for the socio-economic integration of TNCs, with focus on COMMIT Project, Tuscany, Italy

Project School for Adults, Jesenice, Slovenia

Integration Strategy, Cluj Napoca, Romania

Project Murcia Acoje (Welcoming Murcia), Spain

For more information, contact: [email protected]

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Rethinking Inclusive Societies in Light of Crises

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“Migrants are ‘us’, not ‘them’. Everyone has a role to play in making sure our societies are cohesive and prosperous.” 

Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson 

Within the Includ-EU Project, AER continues its long-standing commitment to making the voice of its member regions heard, in both matters of migration and asylum and otherwise. In this context, we are proud the share their success stories developments and practices, in the upcoming workshop, organised with the involvement of Intercultural Regions Network.  

Integration and inclusion of people with a migrant background is a process that involves a whole of society, that includes migrant and local communities, employers, civil society and all levels of government. 

Regions, above all, have always had a paramount role to play and extensive experience in implementing innovative ideas and projects. They have the contextual knowledge and resources can be activated quickly.  

In light of this, AER’s role in the project is to foster structured regional exchanges, and the dissemination of knowledge and good practices within its wider network. This objective translates in organising of 5 thematic webinars structured around the key priority areas and 5 thematic workshops, envisioned to bring together target beneficiaries, experts, partners, and respectively representatives of interested social communities to exchange and engage in peer-learning exercises. 

So far, AER, with the support of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), has organised 3 of the planned webinars and is now preparing the 1st regional workshop, taking place on 30 June and 1 July from 9:00 to 12:30 (CEST). 

The pandemic might have exacerbated some of the challenges already in play in regards to integration of migrants but on the other hand, as for many other sectors, it has provided an occasion for shifting paradigm and rethinking our whole society in order to be better prepared for future crises. It can empower us to demand a much-needed transformation of a system in crisis. 

As such, the focus of the first day will be on how to rethink services in light of crises and raising awareness on the role of design in shaping better and more sustainable services. Abram El-Sabagh, expert in designing strategic solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals, will facilitate the session, in which participants will immerse in a peer-learning exercise, which will help them to brainstorm collectively and identify challenges and opportunities to apply to the concrete specific needs of each regional/local reality. 

The second day keeps looking ahead with the presentation by DG Home of the Commission new Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-27), which structures among 4 key areas: Education, Employment, Health, Housing. 

This is followed by a dynamic market-place exercise, where few regions and municipalities will present their own future strategy for integration, but also good practices and successful projects from the past programming period.  

We will hear from Valencia municipality (Spain) to Cluj-Napoca and Timis (Romania), among others. 

Registrations for day 1 are open exclusively to Includ-EU consortium partners, while day 2 is open to all interested stakeholders working on migration and interculturality. 

This project receives funding from the European Union’s AMIF – Asylum Migration and Integration Fund programme. It 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. 

To read about the results of the 1st workshop, follow AER website. To register, click here.

Contact: Anna Comacchio, Project and Policy Officer 

E-mail: [email protected] 

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Active Participation & Social Inclusion To Harness The Diversity Advantage

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On 16th February 2021, the Assembly of European Regions in cooperation with IOM and the Intercultural Regions Network hosted the webinar “Intercultural regions: Active Participation & Social Inclusion“.
This was the third webinar co-organised within the framework of the Includ-EU project which works towards building more inclusive and cohesive European Societies.

Intercultural interaction at the core of positive diversity management

Policies and practices that foster intercultural interaction and inclusion are instrumental in enabling cities and regions to manage diversity positively. This third webinar focused on regional and local experiences facilitating migrant’s active participation and social inclusion.

Political will, effective methodologies, a learning environment

The webinar, which was moderated by Irena Guidikova, Head of Division of the Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Programmes at the Council of Europe, presented different experiences of the pivotal role of regions in building inclusive and welcoming communities, where no one is left behind.
Ms. Guidikova highlighted the slow evolution of concepts around migration, from the assimilation approach, which considered that individuals had to completely conform to the host society without the latter changing in any way and where all efforts were aimed at avoiding change, to the intercultural approach, in which aims cities and regions strive to become more inclusive and to harness the diversity advantage.

To this aim, the Intercultural Cities Network, which brings together over 140 cities in Europe and beyond, developed a variety of tools and methodologies as well as a mutual learning environment for cities. This inspired the creation of the Intercultural Regions Network, led by the Council of Europe and the Assembly of European Regions.

Are all animals equal?

Conny Brännberg, co-chair of the Intercultural Regions Network at the Regional minister of culture in Västra Götaland (SE), started his intervention citing George Orwell and asking whether in Europe some may be more equal than others. Building intercultural and cohesive regions can only be achieved by truly treating people equally.

The EU Action Plan: Lessons learned and upcoming changes

Angeliki Petrits, Policy Officer at the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs – DG HOME of the European Commission provided an overview of the main actions & principles underpinning the new EU Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-2027), built upon the lessons learned from the previous EU Action Plan.

In this context, the sectoral areas of actions regard:

  • Inclusive education and training, meaning better equipment for multicultural classrooms, as well as an easier recognition of qualifications and continued language learning.
  • Improving job opportunities and skills recognition by bringing together different labour market partners, and facilitating the assessment of migrant’ skills, especially for women.
  • Promoting access to health services, while ensuring that people are informed about their rights, and recognise the specific challenges faced by women.
  • Provide adequate housing, through the EU funding opportunities and the boost of mutual learning, both at the national and local level.

Ms. Petrits, underlined the importance of reinforcing strong multi-stakeholder partnerships of cooperation, as well as supporting the use of digital tools for integration and inclusion through the EU funding opportunities.

Overcoming barriers

Have you ever heard about quality social contact?

Jobst Koehler, Senior Integration & Migrant Training Specialist at the International Organisation for Migration – IOM, presented different solutions to overcome social barriers to integration and thus achieve a quality social engagement.

Understanding the possible targeted solutions to overcome the different barriers to participation is pivotal to address the latter. Whether they are individual, social, or institutional barriers Mr. Koehler stressed the importance of collective experiences and a social mix of activities, which combined with local communities’ communication around integration can influence the perception of host and migrant communities and helps to defeat the barriers to participation.

Experiences from the regions

The webinar presented two experiences from the regions:

Catalonia: community involvement at the core

Arancha Garcia Fresneda, the representative from the Secretariat for Equality, Migration, and Citizenship of the Government of Catalonia provided a quick overview of the activities implemented with migrant communities whose main features are cross-cutting approach, consensus, intergovernmental coordination and cooperation, and dialogue with civil society. In this context, Ms. Fresneda presented the activities carried out by the Association EAMISS – Equipo de Atención y de Mediación Intercultural y Socio sanitaria whose president is Jossie Rocafort.

Ms. Rocafort explained the strong presence of the Filipino community in the region and how their potential contribution to the development of an integrated society is hindered by the lack of communication with social services, among other challenges. In this context, the EAMISS Association aims to combine internal and external services to raise awareness within the community, among which language courses, social and legal assistance, as well as more activities aimed at boosting gender equality through the recognition of women’s rights.

The University of Padua & the Mentorship project

A very successful local example is the mentorship project organised by IOM to ease the inclusion process of TCNs in Italian universities by implementing peer to peer support scheme. In this mentorship programme implemented at the University of Padova, student committees are supporting foreign students’ integration by providing them with administrative, academic and social support.
Elena Tubertini, a Tutor and Team coordinator in the Mentorship project, presented the work they carry out, as well as the results of a mapping exercise to analyse needs and barriers of foreign students currently studying at the University of Padova.

Wrap-up & next steps

The event provided both insights on the barriers to active participation and examples of approaches and practices which improve active participation and inclusion.

The Includ-EU website will be launched in Summer, where anyone will be able to provide good practices & foster mutual learning.

Regions interested in joining the Intercultural Regions Network should contact Vania Freitas – [email protected]

Watch backClick here
AgendaClick here to download
Handouts Angeliki Petrits –  DG HOME – The Action Plan on Integration & Inclusion 2021-2027
 Jobst Koehler – IOM – Barriers to Participation
 Jossie Rocafort – Catalonia – Equipo de Atención y de Mediación Intercultural Sociosanitaria, EAMISS
 Elena Tubertini – University of Padua – Mentorship Project 2020/2021
Contact[email protected]

This webinar is organised in the context of INCLUD-EU, an EU project funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration fund (AMIF) which contributes to building more inclusive and cohesive European societies by enhancing knowledge, driving innovation, and stimulating cooperation between local and regional authorities in the European Union. To know more about the project, visit the project webpage, and consult this info sheet.

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Intercultural Regions: Active Participation & Social Inclusion

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On 16 February AER will organise a webinar on how regions can foster active participation & social inclusion of third-country nationals for better integration policies and practices, together with IOM and the Council of Europe

Mutual learning to foster integration policies & best practices

Regional and local authorities are at the forefront when it comes to addressing integration needs in practice. It is therefore particularly important to create opportunities for structured and meaningful mutual learning on integration. This will enable regional and local authorities to share good practices and improve policies and practices.

Participation & Inclusion for Cohesion and Economy

Organised in the framework of the Includ-EU project, an EU-funded project which contributes to building more inclusive societies by enhancing knowledge and stimulating cooperation between local and regional authorities in the European Union, this third webinar will focus on active participation & social inclusion.

Policies and practices that foster intercultural interaction and inclusion are instrumental in enabling cities and regions to manage diversity positively and realise the diversity advantage. This webinar will therefore focus on regional and local experiences facilitating migrant’s active participation and social inclusion.

This event will be facilitated by the Council of Europe and will feature practices identified in some of the countries involved in the Project (Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain). DG HOME will provide an overview on measures promoting active participation, especially in the decision-making process, as per the new EU priorities included in the updated Action Plan.

This webinar is organised in the framework of the Includ-EU project, in close collaboration with the Intercultural Regions Network. The Intercultural Regions Network is a platform for regions to share knowledge, resources, and experiences to promote intercultural integration at the regional level, which is based on the experience and tools of the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities Network.

This event will be recorded. By registering for this event, you agree to allow the Includ-EU consortium to publish the recording online and use it for the promotion of the project, capacity building, and mutual learning.

Register here

Includ-EU is funded by the European Union’s Asylum Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). The project runs from January 2020 to December 2022 and involves the following partners: The International Organization for Migration, the Assembly of European Region, the Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani Sez. Reg. Toscana (IT), the City of Tilburg (NL), the Secretariat for Equality, Migrations, and Citizenship of Catalonia (ES), and the Region of Crete (GR).

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Intercultural Regions: Improving Labour Market Inclusion

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On November 10th, the Assembly of European Regions in cooperation with IOM and the Intercultural Regions Network hosted the webinar “Intercultural regions: improving labour market inclusion“. This was the second webinar co-organised within the framework of Includ-EU project which works towards building more inclusive and cohesive European Societies.

The webinar, which was moderated by Geertrui Lanneau, Senior Regional Labour Mobility and Human Development Specialist from the IOM Regional Office for the European Economic Area, the European Union and NATO, presented different experiences on how regions work to improve labour market integration policies and provided insights from IOM, and the European Commission.

Multistakeholder approach to support cultural diversity

Fereshteh Jalayer-Hess, co-chair of the Intercultural Regions Network, County Councillor of Värmland (SE) opened the webinar by sharing her personal experience of escaping a totalitarian regime and embracing a society which tolerates and appreciates cultural diversity.

The Intercultural Regions Network, she explained, is all about cultural diversity and encouraging all levels of government to better coordinate and adopt an intercultural approach. In this context, the multistakeholder approach is key to achieve a society where all inhabitants are included and given the chance to contribute and develop.

Ms. Jalayer-Hess explained how lowering barriers for the access to the labour market is instrumental in delivering on other objectives such as improved education, active participation, political engagement and social cohesion. The Intercultural Regions Network, provides teherfore a platform for regions to share knowledge resources, experiences.

Upcoming changes at EU level

Antoine Savary, Deputy Head of Unit, DG HOME, European Commission, provided the latest development in the field of integration of migrants in the labour market, announcing that on 24 November the European Commission is going to adopt the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion.

This Action Plan will focus on inclusion as a whole instead of focusing on migration specifically. It lays out two key commitments in the area of integration: 

  1. Adopt a comprehensive Action Plan on integration and inclusion for 2021-2024;
  2. Implement the renewed European Partnership for Integration with social and economic
    partners and look into expanding the future cooperation to the area of labour migration.

The Action Plan on integration and inclusion for 2021-2024 will:

  • provide strategic guidance and set out concrete actions to foster inclusion of migrants and broader social cohesion;
  • bring together relevant stakeholders and recognise that regional and local actors have a key part to play;
  • draw on all relevant policies and tools in key areas such as social inclusion, employment, education, health, equality, culture and sport, setting out how migrant integration should be part of efforts to achieve the EU’s goals on each;
  • ensure migrants fully benefit from the European Pillar of Social Rights;
  • recognise in its actions that people with a migrant background often face similar integration challenges to third-country nationals;
  • directly support those active ‘on the ground’ and cover the full range of measures needed to accompany migrants and their families along the path to successful integration and social inclusion.

Mr. Savary stressed the importance of the partnership of cooperation with local and regional authorities in the preparation, implementation, and revision of the programme.

Experiences from the regions

The webinar presented three experiences from the regions

The Netherlands: a one stop shop for smoother integration pathways

Iris de Kok, Policy Advisor Asylum & Integration – City of Tilburg, presented the evolution of integration processes in the City of Tilburg. The new legislation to come into force in July 2021, allows a procedure where each migrant is guided throughout the program in order to make it easier to get familiar with the municipality they are living in. This approach combines the three-elements of participation activities, skills training, and language courses in order to enable migrants to be self-reliant.

This broader and interactive programme is developed in three phases:

Phase 1 – IntakeAn early-stage to choose the direction of integration, to understand talents & skills
Phase 2 – OrientationPractical and tailored approach with a Personal Integration Plan which stipulates the route for the Dutch labour market
Phase 3 – Work & Skills routeThe participative part were migrants actually work within the Dutch labour market

Greece: support towards self-reliance

Kostas Kousaxidis & Anastasia Arapidou, from IOM Greece, shared the example of the HELIOS project – Hellenic Integration Support for Beneficiaries of International Protection. It aims at increasing the beneficiaries’ self-reliance working on five areas of integration:

Integration coursesHELIOS provides courses at Integration Learning Centres (ILCs) on the Greek language and soft skills.
Accommodation supportHELIOS helps beneficiaries of international protection to find accommodations by providing economic contributions and through networking with apartment owners
Employability supportIndividual job counseling is provided to acknowledge strengths and weaknesses and prepare the Career Action Plan
Integration monitoringAssessment of the integration process to valuate the self-reliance of the migrant once the program ends
Sensitisation of the host communityThrough initiatives and activities, the interactions between the migrants and the host communities bring value to the integration process

Italy: the experience from the business sector

Several sectors of the labour market suffer from a shortage of skilled labour, especially in the informatics sector. In this context, Roberto Strocco, Head of Projects and Local Development Area, Unioncamere Piemonte presented the MATCH project – Migration of African Talents through the Capacity-building and Hiring is a 36‑month initiative funded by the European Union (EU) aimed at providing highly skilled talents from Senegal and Nigeria, where the IT, engineering and new technologies workforce is highly qualified, to private sector companies whose needs for qualified staff cannot be satisfied by the offer available on the EU labour market.

What can be done further?

Labour market integration is not only essential to migrants, but also to receiving societies: it reduces the costs to the welfare system, and ultimately the cost of the asylum system. Some of the barriers to the labour market highlighted during the session constitute a challenge, such as languages, and cultural differences, which can marginalise migrants. The recognition of qualifications was identified as a major obstacle to labour market integration. A stronger collaboration between both private an public stakeholders is needed for better results.

Next steps

The next webinar will be organised in March 2021 and will focus on active participation and social inclusion.

Regions interested in joining the Intercultural Regions Network should contact Vania Freitas [email protected]

This webinar is organised in the context of INCLUD-EU, an EU project funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration fund (AMIF) which contributes to building more inclusive and cohesive European societies by enhancing knowledge, driving innovation, and stimulating cooperation between local and regional authorities in the European Union. To know more about the project, visit the project webpage, and consult this info sheet.

Watch back Click here
AgendaClick here to download
HandoutsInclud-EU infosheet
City of Tilburg Netherlands
HELIOS project Greece
Click to discoverCorporate Social Responsibility Strategy
Unioncamere Piemonte homepage
MATCH project Piemonte
(in Italian)
Contact[email protected]

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Webinar on Improving Labour Market Inclusion: save the date!

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We are pleased to invite you to a webinar on how regions can improve labour market integration policies and practices, with examples from different regions and insights from IOM and the European Commission

When? Tuesday November 10th 2020, 14:00-15:00 CET
Where? GoToWebinar

Mutual Learning to improve policies and share good practices

Regional and local authorities are at the forefront when it comes to addressing integration needs in practice. The Covid-19 pandemic has strongly tested systems in place, revealing tremendous needs but also the resourcefulness which exists at local and regional levels. This shows how essential it is to create opportunities for structured and meaningful mutual learning on integration in order to enable regional and local authorities to share good practices and improve policies and practices.

Integration & Social Inclusion for Cohesion and Economy

The webinar on 10 November will focus on labour market integration. The integration and social inclusion of migrants are crucial not only to ensure cohesion in society but also to address skills gaps, labor shortages, and to boost economic performance overall. The webinar will feature regional good practices as well as a presentation on upcoming changes in the new EU programming period and what this means for regions. At a moment when the Multi-Annual Financial Framework is being negotiated, it will be particularly timely to hear about upcoming changes in funding.

This webinar is organised in the framework of the Includ-EU project, in close collaboration with the Intercultural Regions Network. The Intercultural Regions Network is a platform for regions to share knowledge, resources, and experiences to promote intercultural integration at regional level.

This event will be recorded. By registering for this event, you agree to allow the Includ-EU consortium to publish the recording online and use it for the promotion of the project, capacity building, and mutual learning.

This webinar is organised in the context of INCLUD-EU, an EU project funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration fund (AMIF) which contributes to building more inclusive and cohesive European societies by enhancing knowledge, driving innovation, and stimulating cooperation between local and regional authorities in the European Union. To know more about the project, visit the project webpage, and consult this info sheet.

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