Our approach
We’ve defined six key elements to driving the successful adaptation and improvement of welcome and integration at a local, regional, national and EU-wide level.
Multi-level governance
Given the complexity of policies around welcoming and inclusion of refugees and migrants, achieving meaningful and sustainable change requires the involvement, cooperation and coordination of a large number of actors and organisations.
A core component of our work revolves around connecting actors in local communities with those working on welcome and inclusion at regional, national, European and international levels.
We’ve developed tools and resources to support collaborative planning and sharing of best practice across all levels of governance, ensuring the voices and experiences of local actors are present in ‘bottom-up’ policy design and implementation for welcome and inclusion.
Why so complicated?
Responsibilities, competences and budgetary resources are spread across various levels of government: (national, regional and local authorities and other statutory bodies), and across the civil society organisations, local initiatives and communities with which they collaborate.
European policy and funding adds yet another level to this multi-level governance framework.
Multistakeholder approach
We know the value of the knowledge, experience, resources and capacities of actors, organisations and individuals working on or with an interest in welcome and inclusion for refugees and migrants, particularly at a local and regional level, in supporting better policy creation and action.
Through the network we bring together diverse sets of stakeholders and support them in creating both common goals and tailored output, relevant to their specific locations and needs.
We undertake regular mapping to ensure we engage all relevant stakeholders in our work, and aim to create sustainable cooperation structures and relationships that continue beyond specific Share activities.
Who are they?
At local and regional level, Share stakeholders are public authorities (regions, cities and municipalities of all sizes), civil society organisations, health, education and housing providers, refugee and migrant-led organisations, local volunteer initiatives, faith-based organisations, universities, private business, and refugees and migrants themselves.
Capacity-building
We work with a diverse range of communities across Europe.
While many have extensive experience of welcoming and supporting migrants and refugees, others may be at the beginning of their journey. At Share, we work to capture existing expertise and knowledge and make it accessible to others through our training activities, tools, resources and sharing of best practice.
Beyond this, we disseminate information on EU policy and funding to promote access and influence for stakeholders working at local level. By building and propagating skills and expertise across the network, Share capacity-building ensures sustainability beyond specific activities and interventions.
What’s the importance of capacity building?
Capacity-building is a process in which organisations and individuals are provided with tools and opportunities to develop the skills, knowledge and resources they need to do their jobs effectively. Welcome and inclusion of migrants and refugees can be improved and expanded when all stakeholders are able to build their capacities in a supported way.
From the ground up
Where welcome and inclusion really takes place is in the cities, towns, small and rural communities where refugees and migrants live.
At Share, we believe that both policymaking and funding decisions for welcome and inclusion should be guided by experiences and evidence from local communities.
The knowledge, expertise and best practices developed in communities at local level are central to the testing new approaches and propagating successful integration practice.
How do we do it?
We start at the grassroots level, using the expertise and capacities of local stakeholders to test, improve and build sustainable partnerships for welcome and inclusion. We also ensure that the voices of grassroots actors in local communities, in particular those of refugees and migrants themselves, are at the centre of all our advocacy work which is heard at an EU level.
Place-based approaches
Approaches to placement for newcomers differ greatly both within individual countries and across Europe. Some newcomers are received in densely populated urban areas with more developed services and stronger migrant and refugee communities, while others are placed in more remote areas. A one-size-fits-all integration solution is not feasible.
At Share we have identified place-based or territorial approaches, in which support frameworks for welcome and inclusion in smaller and rural communities are coordinated at a regional or sub-regional level, as a best practice to guide the ongoing participation of smaller communities.
How does placement affect integration?
For welcome and inclusion, the most relevant differences are seen in aspects such as housing and living conditions, access to mainstream services, levels of employment, existing migrant and refugee communities, and available resources for integration.
These disparities are often most evident when comparing smaller and rural communities with urban centres.
Our participatory strategy
We develop, promote and support participatory and co-creation approaches for welcome, integration and inclusion at the local level. We also advocate for the inclusion of participatory approaches for integration and inclusion in relevant EU policy and funding schemes.