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Building Relationships and Integration by Developing local Groups and Enhancing Solidarity

Objectives

The main objective of this project is to create cohesive and inclusive local communities that foster participation and exchange between old and new residents. The project promotes active civic participation of ‘new’ and ‘old’ residents of  neighborhoods and local communities, encouraging dialogue, collaboration and intercultural exchange between them. Citizens will be mobilized and motivated to interact with each other and to make their skills and voluntary work available to the community. The active engagement of natives and migrants will foster a more positive perception of migration and promote the construction of a counter narrative against the “invasion” rhetoric that dominates public debate on migration and asylum in Europe.

Methodology

The project applies participatory and co-design methodologies to the facilitation of dialogue and collective action. The methodologies will allow the development of a fruitful community dialogue and will result in the co-creation and implementation of integration initiatives. The process will adapt and integrate a wide range of tools and methodologies from human-centered service design, collaborative practices and design thinking, to facilitate the active engagement of citizens to meet community requirements and to support capacity building in communities.


Activities

The main activities and outputs of the project include:

  • A preliminary needs assessment to identify existing experiences and organizations at local level.
  • Guidelines on how to read the local context and its needs and how to build a inclusive community.
  • 48 integration initiatives addressed to both third-country and host-country nationals as mixed target groups to promote interactions under 3 fields: sports, cultural and educational events, voluntary activities for community services.
  • Eight community events and a final conference.
  • An European Handbook on practices implemented during the project.
  • An online campaign and a video campaign.

Duration
From January 2019 to January 2021

Participating countries

Austria, Croatia, Greece, Italy and Spain