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Assembly of European Regions

Connecting regions, inspiring Europe since 1985

You are here: Home / Archives for Refugees and migration

This tag is for all posts relating to Refugees and migration.

Opportunity: Capacity Building Of City Services For The Inclusion Of Migrants

4 September, 2020 By Mathilde Perrier

Helping city services to fight gender-based violence

The EU-funded project Equalcity is supporting local services to better identify, prevent and tackle sexual and gender-based violence in migrant communities.

This initiative was first introduced during the Q&A session of the “Intercultural Regions: Improving Access to Services” webinar organised by AER, IOM, and the Council of Europe. The opportunities Equalcity provides for cities will ultimately have an impact on the regional capacity to become more intercultural. AER, therefore, invites its members working on inclusion and migration to share these with cities in their territories.

Practical training tools

The Equalcity project, coordinated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), supports local authorities to foster the inclusion and protection of migrants. The project will achieve this through the development of practical training tools and awareness-raising material.

The project tackles sexual and gender-based violence against migrants in EU cities by building capacity of local services to

  • identify sexual and gender-based violence
  • protect and assist migrants who are confronted with, or who survived sexual and gender-based violence. This whether it happened during their journey, or upon arrival in their host country.

4 cities, 4 different focuses

The project is piloted in Brussels, Luxembourg, Rome and Gothenburg. Each city has a specific focus:

  1. the creation of safe spaces for LGBTQI+ migrants and people with a migrant background (Brussels)
  2. gender-based violence against migrant women and girls (Luxembourg)
  3. the wellbeing of unaccompanied migrant children (Rome)
  4. gender-based violence in a family context, including honour-based violence (Gothenburg).

Each city will develop and pilot training and awareness raising material. All the tools will be reviewed by a diverse panel of experts, including expert cities. Multiple review sessions will allow the material to be duplicable in various EU contexts.

Becoming a “trainee city”

As a project funded by the European Commission (DG Justice), Equalcity aims at having many more cities benefiting from the tools developed across Europe.

In this context it is possible to become a “trainee city” to benefit both from the process and the outcomes of the project. Many different cities have already joined the project as “trainee cities”. Trainee cities will participate in a 1-day workshop in Autumn 2021. They will receive the finalised toolboxes once the project ends.

For more information on the project and on how cities in your Region can join as a trainee, please contact Elisabeth Palmero ([email protected]).

For more information, check out the Equalcity website, on which you can find the list of Trainee Cities
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AMiD Final Conference

29 August, 2019 By Editor

SAVE THE DATE!

The Assembly of European Regions is pleased to invite you to:

The AMiD Final Conference

Date: 5 November 2019 
Timing: 13:00-18:30
Venue: European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Rue Belliard 99, B-1040, Brussels

 

AMiD – Access to services for Migrants with Disabilities project is an EU funded project that aims to support the efficient management of the reception and inclusion of migrants with disabilities in the EU. The conference is organised in collaboration with the AMiD consortium.

 

Aims of the conference:
– Explore the main project results from the national reports of the participating countries, the Needs Assessment Tool and the training modules
– Improve the knowledge of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and local authorities in order to meet the needs of migrants with disabilities arriving in Europe more successfully
– Discuss the most important trends, needs and challenges on the topic ‘disability & migration’ with key experts in the field

 

Participation is encouraged from experts working in the areas of social affairs, migration, inclusion, and diversity in AER’s member regions in local & regional authorities around Europe.

 

Useful Links

General Programme
Registration Link

For more info about the AMiD project please visit this webpage.

 

Check the video of Magnus Berntsson, President of AER, presenting the AMiD Project:

Migrants with disabilities are one of the most vulnerable groups of society🤝@europeanregions actively support their integration at local level! Find more #Regions4Integration stories on ➡https://t.co/LvA4LcPSkP@MagnusBerntsson pic.twitter.com/hwKXld8QEc

— European Committee of the Regions (@EU_CoR) July 17, 2019

"Massively thought-provoking" - AMiD project Final Conference

“Massively thought-provoking” – AMiD project Final Conference

Massively thought-provoking... That was the first reaction of one of the participants to the conference. The final conference of AMiD ...
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Bridge

National insights. AMiD closer look at everyday situation of migrant with disabilities

AMiD project looks at the topic of migrant with disabilities under different angles. The very starting point of the journey ...
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Throwback Thursday: reflecting on the achievements of the AMiD project...

Throwback Thursday: reflecting on the achievements of the AMiD project…

The AER flagship project on migration, AMiD-Access to Services for Migrants with Disabilities, has been running since early 2018. Soon, ...
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SUMMER ACADEMY 2019: AMiD workshop on Migrants with Disabilities

SUMMER ACADEMY 2019: AMiD workshop on Migrants with Disabilities

"Opportunities for all abilities" The AMiD-Access to services for Migrants with Disabilities project is landing in Novi Sad, Vojvodina (RS) ...
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AMiD workshop: multilevel cooperation for migration policies

AMiD workshop: multilevel cooperation for migration policies

On the occasion of this year Spring Plenaries in Örebro (SE), AER is organising a workshop on multilevel cooperation for ...
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At International Migrants Day event, regions share intercultural approaches to diversity, inclusion

At International Migrants Day event, regions share intercultural approaches to diversity, inclusion

On 18 December, AER marked International Migrants Day in Barcelona. A source of inputs for the AMiD project (Access to ...
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Good practices on refugees and disability inspired AMiD project

Good practices on refugees and disability inspired AMiD project

Refugees and asylum seekers with disabilities is the main target of AMiD project. Started on January 2018, the project team ...
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AER members share knowledge to improve situation for refugees in their regions

AER members share knowledge to improve situation for refugees in their regions

On 24 and 25 January 2018, AER co-organised several events focusing on local and regional responses to the Syrian refugee ...
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Fairer Assessment for Migrants with Disabilities? Accomplished, with the AMiD Project!

Fairer Assessment for Migrants with Disabilities? Accomplished, with the AMiD Project!

Good news for AER partners! EASPD, the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities, and AER, together with ...
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SUMMER ACADEMY 2019: AMiD workshop on Migrants with Disabilities

17 June, 2019 By Editor

“Opportunities for all abilities”

The AMiD-Access to services for Migrants with Disabilities project is landing in Novi Sad, Vojvodina (RS) for the 2019 Summer Academy with the aim to raise awareness among regional and local authorities and young representatives about one of the most fragile within the disadvantaged groups: migrants with disabilities. The AMiD official video, testimonies of migrants with disabilities, the human rights-based approach of the UN CRPD- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are ingredients of the cocktail to showcase how better services lead to more inclusive societies.

Costs of participation can be reimbursed from the European Union’s AMIF – Asylum Migration and Integration Fund programme by signing up to this AMiD workshop taking place on Wednesday 3rd of July! How? Keep reading below…

Migrants with disabilities in the spotlight

Over the past few years, Europe has been facing an unprecedented influx of migrants and refugees since the end of the Second World War. The risks for refugees and migrants travelling to Europe remain very high today with more people dying at sea or along land routes while travelling to or crossing a border. In this context, the integration of migrants has become one of the most salient topics in the European political agenda.

When it comes to migrants and refugees with disabilities, the European Council and Parliament Directive 2013/32/EU states that “the reception of persons with special needs should be a primary concern for national authorities in order to ensure that such reception is specifically designed to meet their special reception needs.”

Furthermore, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD), ratified by the EU and all the EU member states, requires States Parties to put in place structures that enable the full participation of persons with disabilities in society and to ensure their protection in situations of risk, including armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters.

However, there are multiple obstacles migrants and refugees with disabilities have to face, such as fails to assess their disabilities or the lack of access to social services that address their specific needs. One of the reasons is the lack of a common approach among different actors and the lack of cohesion among Local Authorities concerning the migrants and refugees situation.

Inclusion at the forefront

AER is at the front side when it comes to migration. In 2008, the AER General Assembly adopted the “Tampere Declaration on Migration and Integration”. A political statement on “Facing the migration and refugee challenges” was also adopted by the Bureau in 2015. Furthermore, AER is a partner in a project to support efficient management of the reception and integration of asylum seekers and refugees with disabilities in the EU, the AMiD project. Värmland (SE), Timis (RO) and Valencia (ES) are members of the AMiD – Community Advisory Board. Just last week, the AER Task Force on migration adopted a position “Towards an intercultural Europe”.

An AMiD workshop to stand-up for equal opportunities!

The Summer Academy participants attending this workshop will take-away the following message: migrants with disabilities are in need of welfare support and integral services to fulfil their right to equal opportunities. One expert from the AMiD consortium will conduct this session where the participants will be invited to reflect on the challenges that migrants with disabilities face on a daily basis.

Following this, the AMiD official video and some video-testimonials will be screened in order for the participants to get acquainted with the campaign and the ways they can collaborate to spread the word. The participants will also have the chance to share their experiences when accessing welfare services in a foreign country. The last part of the session will be dedicated to introducing the human rights-based approach and the AMiD’s Needs Assesment Tool (NAT).

Get reimbursed for your participation!

By signing up to this workshop, the participants can benefit from the reimbursement of their trip expenses, accommodation for 2 nights and 3 meals per day at the AER 2019 Summer Academy in Novi Sad, Vojvodina.

Please, read very carefully HERE the guidelines to make sure you meet the requirements and your expenses are eligible for reimbursement! Please, note that you will need a mandate signed by the relevant public authority:

  • Reimbursement Form Guidelines.
  • Public authority mandate letter.

Expenses must be claimed after the Summer Academy and sent to the AER Secretariat until the 15th of July!

For any inquiries regarding the AMiD project or reimbursements, please contact Luca Magri ([email protected]) at the AER Secretariat.

How to participate?

This workshop takes place in the context of the AER Summer Academy 2019.

If you are already registered for the AER Summer Academy and would like to participate in this workshop, you have the possibility to have two nights accommodation and your travel costs reimbursed. Please send an expression of interest to [email protected] via email with the Subject Line “AMiD workshop 2019 Summer Academy – Expression of Interest”.

If you are not already registered for the Summer Academy and wish to participate in this workshop and in many other activities, please visit the event page of the Summer Academy and discover the full programme. 

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to join the Novi Sad 2019 European Youth Capital!

Register for the Summer Academy Now!

If you would like to register for the AMiD workshop only – please email [email protected] with the Subject Line “AMiD workshop 2019 Summer Academy – Expression of Interest”

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‘Connecting the dots’ – Multi-level, Multi-actor Migration 

16 May, 2019 By Erica Lee

The Assembly of European Regions is pleased to invite you to two inclusion days, starting with:

A Round Table and World Cafe’ Exchange Session
‘Connecting the dots’
Multi-level, Multi-actor Migration

AMiD Targeted Meeting 3
Larnaca, 5 June 2019

Timing: 10.00 – 16.30
Venue: Radisson Blu Hotel, Larnaca (Atlantidon 2, Larnaca 6058, Cyprus)
Programme: HERE

About the Event:
This event aims to bring regional and local authorities together with civil society organisations and representatives of European Institutions to share experiences and methodologies on how to achieve a common approach among different stakeholders and a better multilevel coordination on welcoming migrants and refugees.

Participation is encouraged from experts working in the areas of social affairs, migration, inclusion, and diversity in AER’s member regions in local & regional authorities around Europe.

Individuals from organisations, such as NGO’s, working in this field may qualify for participation, pending an endorsement mandate (available HERE) from their region. 

Travel and accommodation costs for participation will be covered in the context of the European project “AMiD – Access to Services for Migrants with Disabilities“. Full details about the reimbursement procedures can be found HERE.

On 6 June, the AER Bureau Meeting will take place. Participants attending the AMiD workshop are welcome to attend the Breakfast Seminar and Taskforce on Migration taking place on this day. The full programme for the Bureau can be found HERE.

On the evening of 5 June, a Gala Reception will take place at Larnaca Medieval Castle Gardens. Participants of the AMiD workshop are invited to attend this event. 

Due to a limited number of places eligible for reimbursement, participants are encouraged to register as soon as possible. 

To do so, please click on the link below:

International Migrants Day: Promoting Diversity in Regions

3 October, 2018 By Editor

To mark this year’s International Migrant Day, the Assembly of European Regions and the Region of Catalonia are organising this conference on promoting diversity and integration of migrants at a regional level on 18 December in Barcelona.

The Conference will bring together representatives of regional authorities, high-level institutional officials and other stakeholders from across Europe.

Our invited speakers and participants will share their experiences and good practices in diversity management at regional level, including examples of policies, programmes and projects promoting inclusion, participation in civic, economic and political life, positive intercultural interaction and the sense of belonging.

 

Participant’s travel, accommodation and food will be covered by AER – AMiD project (see the reimbursement guidelines for more details).

 

Working languages: English, Catalan, Spanish

 

For further information please contact Vania ([email protected]) in the AER Secretariat.

 

Direct Links

Programme

Background Note

Roundtables Concept Notes

Practical Information

Reimbursement Guidelines

Good practices on refugees and disability inspired AMiD project

2 May, 2018 By Luca Magri

Refugees and asylum seekers with disabilities is the main target of AMiD project. Started on January 2018, the project team is working on the development of the main project output, the Need Assessment Tool – NAT. The lack of tool and procedures to support refugees and asylum seekers with disabilities with the right actions and services is the challenge that AMiD wants to face. The second project meeting was focused on the preparation of the Need Assessment Tool – NAT. The meeting was also the opportunity to present good practices among the project partners, as way to pave a useful, sustainable and successful Need Assessment Tool – NAT.

AER already shared successful programmes to improve the refugees situation. During the meeting two good practices became particularly important. The first one is a web platform by ARCI, Italian association, where services offered to asylum seekers and international and humanitarian protection holders are reported on a country map. The second is a set of questions developed by the Washington Group of Disability Statistics to help to detect disabilities.

The JUMA Refugees Map Services: more that a web tool

The JUMA web tool answered to the gap of putting together all the players involved in the refugees work, from the refugees themselves to the volunteers organisations passing by NGOs and public institutions. The project was developed by ARCI in collaboration with UNHCR. The web tool was launched at the beginning of 2018. As disclaimed on the website, JUMA objective is to gather in a national map of the country all the information to services that already exists.

Services are clustered on seven groups of fundamental needs expressed by refugees and international and humanitarian protection holders: where to sleep, where to find legal assistance, where to find health care, where to find psycho-social assistance, where to find a language school. All those services are showed on a map of the country, with single boxes for each office to provide more information on the single service like contacts or a description of what is offered.

JUMA is not only a web platform. ARCI provides a telephone line dedicated to both: those who are looking for services and those that are offering ones. This is a way to be closer to refugees and a strategy to increase the number of organisations registered on the map. Refugees received the information on JUMA at their arrival on the hot spots, while organisations were informed of the project via a national campaign. The telephone line and the website are proposed in the several languages.

The Washington Group Set of Questions on Disability

The Washington Short Set was originally set to identify and record in statistics figures of people with disabilities. The set of questions  does not identify particular health conditions or diagnostic categories but rather captures the possible impact of these conditions on functional abilities. The human right approach of the set based on the UN CRPD, Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is in line with AMiD values. Even the set was developed for a statistic purpose, the set of questions can fit different uses.

The questions ask whether people have difficulty performing six basic universal activities: walking, seeing, hearing, cognition, self-care and communication. The questions were not designed to measure all aspects of difficulty experienced by people, but rather those domains of functioning that are likely to identify a majority of people at risk of participation restrictions.

There are more set of questions available. There is a short set and other tailored for children (different sets for different ages). Where more information about disability is required, the Extended Set on Functioning is available to address in more detail the case.

A final word

JUMA is not an acronym neither a fancy project name. Juma is a name in urdu, the name of a young Afghan refugee, who travelled and staid in Greek and Italian camps. Once in Italy, he obtained the refugee status and the reunification with his family thanks the collaboration of different organisations. Inspired by this story, the platform linking those involved in the field made a tribute to this successful case choosing his name.

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Valorisation of talents with a migrant background: do you want to work on this?

2 February, 2018 By Agnese Pantaloni

EVA vzw (BE) – a social innovator in the social economy – is looking for European partners for the ESF project “Culture-sensitive Care ambassadors – Valorizing talents+”.

This project aims to make the potential of informal caregivers with migrant roots visible and valorized in order to improve their transfer to training and job opportunities within the professional care. This should be made via a model structured according to three paths: individual coaching, training in group, and workplace learning.

The reason behind the development of this project is linked to the diversification in the society, where the potential of people with a migrant background is a much overlooked feature. Nevertheless, the use of that potential, for example in the healthcare sector, can help to provide better healthcare for elderly people. In fact, it has been identified that the classical systems within the area of education and employment impede the access for people with this potential, although the need for professionals who can operate in a super-diverse context is high. This project aims to face this problem in order to foster the creation of care ambassadors by valorizing talents.

If you wish to work within this topic, please get in touch with us by 16th February!

Contact

European Projects

Agnese Pantaloni

Phone: +32 2 400 10 52
E-mail: a.pantaloni(at)aer.eu
Skype ID: agnesepanta
Languages: it, en, pt

Articles by Agnese


  • EU funding
  • Calls for projects and tenders
  • Partner search

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Fairer Assessment for Migrants with Disabilities? Accomplished, with the AMiD Project!

27 September, 2017 By Editor

Good news for AER partners! EASPD, the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities, and AER, together with 10 other partners, struck a grant agreement on a new project. We believe such initiatives to be particularly interesting for regions and local authorities dealing with migrants to better support those with disabilities. Three AER member regions are represented in the project Advisory Board, providing a link between project outputs and the regional dimension. This makes the project even more appealing for other AER members, disabilities being a long-standing issue on the agenda of the organisation. The project will have a duration of 2 years starting in December 2017.

Want to know more?

The Access to services for Migrants with Disabilities – AMiD project addresses scarse communication between European regions about the treatment of migrants with disabilities. The project will result in the creation of a Specific Needs Assessment Tool to be circulated among all actors dealing with migrants assessment. Such a tool will empower Local Authorities, NGOs and EU agencies to assess and support with adequate responses migrants and refugees with disabilities, hopefully serving as a foundation for launching a common EU approach to this topic.

The project aims to give proper instruments to NGOs and local personnel to evaluate and consider disabilities while assessing migrants in need of first help by EU Member countries or Frontex. Such an initiative appears to be most in line with AER commitment on finding territorial-based solutions for migrants and refugees. The impact of culture on refugees relocation is also taken into account. This will be accomplished through the implementation of four workshops, to take place on a regular bases starting from month eight of the project. Participants will be trained in the use of the new assessment tool and know-how exchange will be encouraged between staff working with migrants and staff working with disabled people. Workshops will also be the perfect place for practitioners to exchange good practices among themselves and report those in their own region.

What’s in it for regions?

In our view, European regions would benefit from this project by adopting a common approach to migrants with disabilities. At present, all actors involved seem to be working with different and informal tools; a standard procedure to assess disabilities in relation to refugees and asylum seekers is needed. Therefore, AER supports the systematisation of the assessment of migrants and refugees with disabilities, and is actively taking part in the project by  managing a key action in the project’s implementation; AER will facilitate communication and cooperation among Local Authorities in order for them to make the most of the new evaluation tool. AER regions involved in the project will have the chance to increase the efficiency of the welcoming of refugees with disabilities thanks to a specific tool adopted by all the actors of the first aid. Equally important will be a better coordination with EU agencies. Finally, Regions will come up with an operative manual to transfer project results to other Local Authorities.

Partner regions are also represented in the Community Advisory Board (CAB), including key regional representatives and other external experts. The Community advisory Board will aim to identify the tools currently in place for NGOs and service providers and tune them to Local Authorities’ needs. The presence of Timis, Valencia and Värmland AER member regions in the Board is crucial to ensure a link between the two phases of the development of the tool. Key aims of the CAB will be:

  • valorising project results through the whole project cycle and beyond,
  • developing a permanent task-force able to coordinate future common actions together with EU Agencies, and
  • inspiring a shared EU approach to this issue, with a view to improve the European Asylum System.

Contacts

If you would like to know more about this project, please do not hesitate to contact Andrés Muñoz at the AER Secretariat, via email or dialling +32 (0)2 400 10 50.

Photo credits: @visualhunt; @visualhunt Follow AER!

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Integration in the labour market for asylum seekers and refugees: looking for project partners!

9 February, 2017 By Agnese Pantaloni

Kahramanmaras Metropolitan Municipality (Turkey), member of the Assembly of European Regions, is preparing a project proposal as lead partner in the framework of the Employment and Social Innovation EaSI programme aimed to promote a high level of quality and sustainable employment, guaranteeing adequate and decent social protection, combating social exclusion and poverty and improving working conditions.

The call addressed by this project is “Fast track integration into the labour market for third country nationals targeting exclusively asylum seekers, refugees and their family members – VP/2016/015” which might be shared by other AER member regions being the topic of migrants and refugees very high in the AER agenda and discussions.

The objectives of this Call are:

• to promote the development and testing of innovative and effective mechanisms to ensure fast-track integration into the labour market

• to develop sustainable multi-level partnerships models conducive towards the integration of the targeted groups into the labour market

• to foster knowledge- and experience-sharing between different Member States of already functioning swift and successful insertion mechanisms into the labour market of the targeted groups, with a strong emphasis on the challenges faced by women

Kahramanmaras Metropolitan Municipality is now looking for partners to complete the consortia, which should be public bodies, profit or non-profit-making private entities, or international organisations established and registered in EU Member States, Iceland and Norway in accordance with the EEA Agreement, Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

The deadline of this call for project proposals is 30th March.

We wish to share within AER network the partner search of Kahramanmaras Metropolitan Municipality, therefore if you are interested to know more about this opportunity and/or to join the project do not hesitate to get in touch with AER Secretariat by 21st February.

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Migrants, asylum seekers and refugees under the spot: two new funding opportunities

13 January, 2017 By Luca Magri

Migrants and refugees are on the top of the European Commission agenda since the flow of people coming to Europe blow up. AER is also closely following this topic big very high in the agenda of European regions, which had discussed it on occasion of several AER meetings, in particular during the 2015 AER General Assembly & Autumn Bureau and the 2016 Committees Spring Plenary Meetings.

Since 2015, different strategies were put in place by the European Commission to look for complementary solutions to manage the issue. It now goes further to support organisations, institutions and other stakeholders with other calls for proposals especially targeting the group of migrants or third-countries nationals as call in the call for proposals, refugees and their families.

The first opportunity is under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund. The topic of the call is “Integration of Third-Country Nationals – AMIF-2016-AG-INTE-01”. The call for proposals aims to promote the the active participation in society.

The call for proposals focuses on two priorities:

  • promote the development and implementation of innovative actions;

  • foster knowledge and experience, sharing and capacity-building on successful actions;

to increase third country nationals’ participation in educational and social activities, cultural life, the volunteering sector, media professions, decision-making/consultation and representation frameworks.

Among the eligible activities for this call there are the setting-up of transnational cooperation networks and pilot projects, organisation of studies and research on possible new forms of Union cooperation in the field of asylum, immigration, integration, and furthering of Union cooperation in implementing Union law and in sharing best practices in the field of asylum.

The co-funding for the grant of the projects is 90% of the total eligible costs for a minimum total of € 450.000 and a maximum of € 750.000. The deadline is 28 February at 17:00 Brussels time.

For more information on this call for proposals are available in the participant portal.

The second opportunity is in the frame of the Employment and Social Innovation EaSI programme. This programme aims to promote a high level of quality and sustainable employment, guaranteeing adequate and decent social protection, combating social exclusion and poverty and improving working conditions.

EaSI launched a new call for proposals specifically targeting asylum seekers, refugees and their family members. The call is named “Fast track integration into the labour market for third country nationals targeting exclusively asylum seekers, refugees and their family members – VP/2016/015”.

The present call for proposals aims at funding innovative transnational projects to test and implement innovative policy schemes and delivery mechanisms that will ensure and facilitate a swift labour market integration of the specific target groups of third country nationals listed in the documents.

The range of activities fostered in the call is really huge in numbers and typologies going from civic courses and intercultural skills to specific training for teachers, from surveys to transparent procedures for the validation of competences.

The European Commission expects to fund approximately 5 to 7 projects under this call. The co-financing is maximum the 80% of the total eligible costs. The first step of the selection is to prepare a concept note.

 The deadline is 30 March at 17:00 Brussels time.

More information on this call for proposals are available on the DG for Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion web site.

AER is happy to support member regions wishing to tackle the topics funded by these calls, therefore do not hesitate to contact AER Secretariat.Follow AER!

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Partner search on entrepreneurship support schemes for the Syrian migrant community

5 December, 2016 By Agnese Pantaloni

A member of the Assembly of European Regions, Kahramanmaras Metropolitan Municipality (Turkey), is going to submit a new project within the Call for Proposals for Migrants Entrepreneurship Support Schemes launched by the European Commission – Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME), deadline 20 December 2016 17.00 hours (Brussels time).

The project idea deals with the establishment of a Migrant Education, Training and Advice (META) centre to support the Syrian migrant community in order to set up their own businesses. The centre will provide migrants with the opportunity to become more familiar with the local business and regulatory environment as well as local language courses.

The lead partner is looking for two additional partners to complete the consortium, coming from EU members and COSME participating countries which have within their territories a large Syrian migrant population. Preference will be given to German and Swedish partners but the search is anyways open and it will be discussed case by case. In terms of responsibilities, the missing partners will be involved in sharing information, experience and methodologies within the consortium, in transferring to other regions/countries the successful entrepreneurship support programme, and in designing and implementing new joint projects between the partner organisations.

If you are interested to join this project proposal or to ask more information, get quickly in touch with us!

The deadline to join this consortium is 9 December.

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Call for Proposals for Migrants Entrepreneurship Support Schemes by EASME

25 November, 2016 By Editor

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.Follow AER!

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At the intersection of urban policies and the migration issue

31 October, 2016 By Editor

On 13 October, as part of the the 14th edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC) in Brussels, the workshop, “Migration and Cities: Territorial Aspects of Migration” was held. It fell under the Inclusive economic growth theme of EWRC.

The workshop focused on the intersection of urban policies and the issues of migration, which tend to be discussed separately although migration is primarily concentrated in urban areas. The speakers – Ms. Aspa Gospodini, Mr. William Le Goff, and Ms. Yvonne Franz – presented three different cases of the interdependencies between migrants and urban areas, using data from Greek cities, Paris, and Vienna, respectively.

The first speaker, Ms. Yvonne Franz – a researcher with Institut für Stadt – und Regionalforschung (ISR), presented us with the case study of Vienna. She underlined the importance of and the increasing need for a co-creation of Niche Public Services (NPS). With migrants becoming a big part of the housing market and local communities, she claimed that NPS are more effective than the Fordist Public Service provisions currently in place in Vienna.

When asked how refugees and asylum seekers can be integrated into Viennese society, Ms. Yvonne Franz stated that while there is currently enormous civic engagement and support on a regular basis along with federal and city policies, there aren’t any permeable systems in place for housing. However, concerning urban policies on housing in Vienna, there has been a shift in housing laws, which has made housing more accessible, as the city grasped the need to build housing quickly and cheaply.

The second speaker, Ms. Aspa Gospodini – an Urban planning & design professor at the University of Thessaly, presented us with the case study of Greek cities. She highlighted that as of the last five years, the main land-use change for Greek cities is the transformation of the economic character of the city centre. Vacant spaces, which formerly belonged to the commercial and service-entrepreneurial sector, have recently gone to the cultural-entertainment sector and are fostering economic growth in Greek cities.

When questioned about the degree of integration of migrants in Greek cities, especially in Athens, Ms. Aspa Gospodini commented that while the first wave of immigrants (in the period after WWII) did not have any trouble integrating into society, this recent wave of refugees and migrants from Syria and Afghanistan, did indeed have difficulties integrating. She also opined that the best solution for integration in terms of space may be the renewal and restoration of small factory plants and wholesale housing units, which could then be sporadically and evenly distributed to serve as cheap housing options for migrants.

The third speaker, Mr. William Le Goff – researcher with the Ile-de-France region, presented us with the case study of the self-managed migrant hostel (Le Centenaire) in Montreuil, Paris. He considers Le Centenaire to be a successful example of integrating migrants socially and economically into their environment, as they are not segregated from the politics in Montreuil. However, he also explained that if other migrants do have trouble integrating, a main part of that comes from the irrelevance of current urban policies in place that respond to the needs of the past, as they were inherited from the 1960s. There has, seemingly, not been any change in urban policy in Paris in response to the current migrant crisis.

These three cases have demonstrated that urban policies need to adapt with the times, to the migrant crisis challenges that is being thrown their way, with the ever-increasing number of migrants in urban areas. It is increasingly clear that accommodating migrants will be one of the main responsibilities of cities in the future. The speakers are optimistic that if cities are willing to adjust their policies to fit the needs of the migrants that have recently arrived and those that will arrive in the future, these migrants can be a driving factor of economic growth in European cities.

Migration is an issue of great importance to AER, which falls under our Revitalising Democracy theme; and AER has worked on it in a variety of ways. Firstly, AER has called for action in the field of Migration & culture, and proposals in Migration and integration, and Migration and social inclusion. Secondly, AER held talks on the refugee crisis on the occasion of last year’s Bureau. Lastly, it has also been a priority in the Committees’ spring plenary meetings, which bore concrete exchanges on good practices. AER has worked on the issue of migration at different levels: the project-based level, the political level and the good practices level.Follow AER!

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Partner search: project on new technologies to foster social innovation

3 October, 2016 By Agnese Pantaloni

The University of Greenwich (lead partner) located in London (UK) in collaboration with one French and one Belgium local authority are looking for partners to develop a project under the Interreg North-West Europe’s priority axis ‘Innovation’, which supports actions aimed at delivering societal benefits through innovation.

Actions developed under this project will target specifically excluded population or population at risk of exclusion and communities under pressure. Actions will aim at supporting the development, testing and implementation of innovative solutions for social needs and problems (‘social innovation’).

The high level objective of this project is to develop new innovative approaches to engaging with key sections of the community that, hitherto, were found difficult to access, and to pilot the use of new technology to support the development of community activities, promote entrepreneurship, and improve skills (including language, financial and digital skills) and hence develop more resilient and cohesive communities.

The partner search is addressed to any local authority (especially above 250.000 inhabitants), universities, R&D agencies, non-profit organisations as well as private partners, including profit-making partners (e.g. SMEs) located in the following countries only:

  • The Netherlands
  • Ireland
  • Luxembourg
  • Germany
  • Switzerland

Estimated budget: around € 6 million (60% covered by the EU grant)

Estimated duration: between 30 and 36 months with an approximate starting date if the project is successful in Winter 2017.

Might you be interested, please get in touch with AER Secretariat by 12th October.

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Culture & inclusion: call for contributions

8 September, 2016 By Johanna Pacevicius

Sharing experiences

Within the framework of the AER Subcommittee on Culture, Västerbotten is carrying out an inventory of good practices on culture & inclusion. Several regions have already sent their good practices on this topic. It’s not too late to contribute and highlight a succesful example from your region. It doesn’t need to be a large-scale initiative, actions need to start somewhere! It is by sharing the steps regions are doing everyday to be inclusive territories that they become an inspiration for others.

Culture & inclusion

Europe is facing a significant mission right now and for the coming years: how to handle the migration challenge?

Several AER regions jointly decided to focus on the role culture can have in including migrants and refugees. During the spring meeting in Timis, Romania, Committee 3 members shared good practices and discussed how culture can create links and overcome prejudice. Examples from Hälsingland and Västerbotten in Sweden, Catalonia in Spain and many other regions were shared on this occasion.

How is your region doing this?

A brief description is all we need. It can also be a project application. Send your good example to the lead region Västerbotten (S), [email protected], by the 30th of September.

If you have questions, please give us a call or send and email.

For subcommittee on Culture
Nina Björby
Västerbotten (S)
Vice President

[email protected], +4670-627 49 96Follow AER!

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AER Projects

  • Ongoing projects
    • EU-BELONG: An Intercultural Approach to Migrant Integration in Europe’s Regions
    • Includ-EU: Regional and local expertise, exchange and engagement for enhanced social cohesion in Europe
  • Partner search
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    • SCIROCCO Exchange project
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    • Regions4GreenGrowth
    • Road to the Future
    • SEED European Silver Economy Awards
    • Smart Care
    • Smart Europe
    • YES – Youth Entrepreneurship Strategies

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