Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion
Last Updated: 28 February 2019
by Vera NYGARD
The EU Affairs office took part of the conference Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion in the European Economic and Social Committee on 24-25 January. The conference has become an important platform for a range of stakeholders, from social entrepreneurs to policymakers. The theme of the conference this year was Building A Sense of Home, and the aim was to discuss how refugees can build a sense of home where they arrive, both in rural and urban communities far away from their homes.
Considerations for the Salvation Army:
- TSA in rural and urban communities can be involved in helping refugees/migrants to settle into these communities, by either providing services, such as language lessons, reading and writing skills, interview accompaniment, cultural orientation, drop in centre/café. A good starting place is to speak with your local municipal authority to ascertain the needs.
- TSA can be involved in community sponsorship schemes by providing accommodation for a family and giving them friendship and support.
- TSA can link up/partner with other organisations or churches providing similar ministries or services.
- The importance of including refugees in their own integration process and giving them a voice cannot be stressed enough. Integration cannot happen unless there is a dialogue between decision makers, civil society and the refugees themselves.
We are living in times where diversity in Europe is a fact. In the welcoming remarks Carlos Trinade, president of the EESC Group on Immigration and Integration, stated that in order to make integration efficient, we need to approach refugees directly and involve them in the process. This was highlighted throughout the conference. The first panel discussed the role that living situations have in terms of facilitating the integration process for refugees. Moderator Meghan Benton from the Migration Policy Institute stressed that housing is one of the most crucial issues regarding refugees. All actors need to be involved in creating a safe place for refugees. The panellists all emphasised that we need to see refugees as capable individuals who have a lot to offer society. Journalist and author Doug Sanders mentioned that in countries where refugees can access housing easily they tend to do well. Self-integration is key: “We need to stop thinking of refugees as people we need to integrate. Policies for integration do not work – you cannot integrate from above”.
In one of the first breakout sessions, we discussed how urban planning and design support the integration of newcomers into existing communities, and counteract social and spatial exclusion. Doug Sanders brought in the aspect of self-integration again, stating that the goal of urban planning for refugee inclusion is to remove obstacles for this integration. We should allow refugees to create their own urban planning. Jonathan Darling from Durham University spoke about the importance of enhancing urban knowledge, as it has an essential role in refugee inclusion. Refugees should be provided with feedback mechanisms to give input on what their needs are.
The second day of the conference continued the theme of urban inclusion, but also looked at challenges and possibilities for refugee inclusion in rural societies. Mari Bjerck from the Eastern Norway Research Institute presented a H2020 project in a rural context in Norway, of which the goal was to contribute to a growing population in rural societies and facilitate integration for refugees. This was done by facilitating hiking and camping trips and have this be part of the introduction program for refugees. Bjerck shared positive experiences from the project, and said that in general, the refugees they worked with wanted to be active participants and contribute to society. “The rural areas need migrants more than the other way around”, she commented.
One of the breakout sessions of the day focused on Innovative Financing. One of the panellists was Fuad Mahamed, founder of Ashley Community Housing in the UK. His organisation provides housing and training for refugees. Mahamed realised early on that getting government funding for the housing part would be fairly easy, but not for providing training. He then decided to target the private sector instead, by presenting businesses with a program where his organisation would provide employees according to the company’s needs, in return for them financing the training. This turned out to be a success, and Mahamed emphasised that appealing to corporate responsibility does not open doors, but business proposals do! Filippo Addarii from PlusValue in Italy/UK agreed, and stressed that we have to transform finance as a concept, otherwise we will never reach business investors.
Before the end of the conference, a final reflection on this year’s key themes took place. Elizabeth Collett from MPI Europe led the discussions, which centered around shared responsibility and cooperation between all relevant societal actors. Social innovation is really about establishing new partnerships on different levels. The importance of championing localism in order to address integration issues cannot be stressed enough. The narrative in regards to refugees needs to change and highlight success stories instead of endorsing an “us vs. them” mentality.
Tags: Europe