Look & Learn Visit Report: Site Visit and Conference in Notre-Dame de l’Osier and Grenoble, Isère (France)
The Share Network and Entraide Pierre Valdo organised a Look & Learn visit in Notre-Dame de l’Osier and Grenoble (Isère, France) on 27 and 28 September 2022 to exchange best practices and bottom-up approaches for the reception and integration of newcomers in rural areas.
Co-funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), the best practice exchange conference and visit was organised within the context of the Share SIRA project, which expands and strengthens social orientation and integration approaches in 10 rural regions in Europe. The project is implemented in collaboration with the abovementioned partners, as well as IOM Regional Office in Brussels, IOM Poland, IOM Spain, Fundación Cepaim and the Regional Development Agency of Karditsa (ANKA).
Building on the positive synergies of the SIRA multi-stakeholder cooperation platforms and pilot actions, the objective of the Look & Learn visit was to showcase place-based social orientation and inclusion practices for newcomers in a rural area, as well as to foster peer learning and exchange between EU countries. The visit to Isère is one of the two visits organised in the framework of SIRA.
During the two-day visit, a European delegation of 41 participants from Belgium, France, Greece and Spain, participated in a series of interactive activities and conferences. Participants, most of them engaged in the reception and integration of newcomers in rural areas in their respective countries, were drawn from national, regional and local authorities, civil society organizations, local development groups, academia, volunteer groups, and some were migrants and refugees as well.
Some key recommendations identified include:
Integration programmes should be designed for the benefit of the whole community, and integration policies should be mainstreamed in local development strategies and multi-sectoral efforts to improve the living conditions of all inhabitants of rural territories
Urban-rural synergies must be promoted to balance the deprivation of rural areas from services and administrations. Additionally, governments must be transparent and fair when providing services to citizens in all areas.
Migrants and refugees should be placed at the center of integration interventions and have the opportunity to actively participate in their host community
It is essential to support civil society organisations with expertise in integration, refugee protection and special needs in their role as mediators and facilitators between the local community, authorities and newcomers.