The Share Network publishes policy brief on building inclusive territories

Share's new policy brief builds on the EU's political momentum on integration and rural development. It advocates and provides a roadmap for the participation of rural territories and communities as actors in the reception and integration of refugees and migrants.

Integration and the future development of rural territories are at the heart of several major  EU policy initiatives launched in 2020-21, such as the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021-2027, the Long-term Vision for the EU’s Rural Areas, and the Territorial Agenda 2030.

At Share, we welcome these initiatives that recognise the key role of local communities in welcoming newcomers and supporting the development of their territory. We also value that they highlight the importance of place-based and multi-stakeholder approaches to policymaking. However, we urge that EU policies and their implementation recognise integration and rural development/revitalisation as complementary priorities, and provide the means and opportunities to realise the benefits that migration can leverage for rural development.

Our policy brief on Building Inclusive Territories taps into this momentum. In it, we propose an Inclusive Territories approach to guide the participation of rural territories and communities as integration actors, which promotes: 

• Integration policies and practices that are rooted in place-based solutions and tailored to the specific situations and capacities of individual territories

• Bottom-up integration policymaking and programming driven by multistakeholder partnerships that value all people and contributions.

It is time for migration to be mainstreamed across existing policy frameworks, and it is crucial that this includes those for rural development and revitalisation.