Are newcomers European citizens?
Final report
The project «Are newcomers European citizens?» was funded with the support of the European Union under the Programme "Europe for Citizens" |
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Strand 2 – Measure 2.2 "Networks of Towns" |
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9 events have been carried out within this project: |
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Event 1.- Initial evaluation Participation: The event involved 40 citizens, including:
Location / Dates: The event took place in Carcaixent (Spain) from 21/07/2016 to 24/07/2016 Short description: The aim of the event was:
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Commune/Municipality Website link: http://www.carcaixent.es/va/general/page/informe-amac-projecte-nouvinguts-ciutadans-europeus | |
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Event 2.- Social and demographic impact of migration Participation: The event involved 200 citizens, including:
Location / Dates: The event took place in Feltre (Italy) from 04/08/2016 to 08/08/2016 Short description: The aim of the event was the deepening of the migrations of peoples. A first Conference (History of migrations) permitted to address the topic of the migrations and immigrations from a historical point of view, with a focus on the twin cities involved in the project; the Conference has allowed us to provide participants with a knowledge of the past, even recently, indispensable to face the new concurrent migrations. A second Conference (The social and demographic impact of the migrations) has allowed us to understand what the real impact of today’s immigrants in the twin cities in particular, in order to help the necessary and fundamental process of integration; among the speakers, especially important the role played by monsignor Gian Carlo Perego, then Director of the “Fondazione Migrantes” and now Archbishop of Ferrara-Comacchio. The theme was also addressed through the visit to two museums: the Ethnographic Museum of the Belluno Province in Seravella of Cesiomaggiore and the Interactive Museum of migrations of Belluno. The presence at the meeting of the Italian MEP Isabella De Monte has allowed us to start a confrontation even on the Treaty of Dublin. During the meeting also celebrated the official twinning between Feltre and Carcaixent, strengthening a fraternity more than thirty years. |
Commune/Municipality Website link: http://www.comune.feltre.bl.it/web/feltre |
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Event 3.- Good practices in integration policies and initiatives Participation: The event involved 268 citizens, including:
Location / Dates: The event took place in Eeklo (Belgium) from 23/02/2017 to 27/02/2017 Short description: The aim of the event was: Firstly, to give an introduction and overview to the participants about Belgian and local government policies in relation to refugees and migrants. Secondly, the event focused on the integration part of the migration and refugee situation. At the first day a conference was held with an introductory presentation about the migration and refugee policy in Belgium given by Mr. Vincent Van Peteghem, a member of the Federal Parliament in Belgium. The presentation was followed by a panel debate, with participants representing the Flemish Public Employment Service, the local Public Social Welfare Centre and a local social organisation working with poor people and often also foreigners. The purpose of the debate was to learn more about the specific and daily issues and problems with which those organisations have to deal with. But the opposite was also the case with examples of success stories and policies to help integrate migrants and refugees. Language and skills are very important but also the willingness to learn more, a good social network and help to overcome the first bottlenecks (search for a job, search for a house, introduction to a social network) are very important. Policies can be general by nature and structure but in practice they need to be Taylorized and used in a case-by-case manner. In the afternoon visits were made to companies and the hospital (AZ Alma) in Eeklo were employers or representatives of the company told more about the company policy towards migrants and non-Dutch speakers and gave real life stories about working with people with a migration or refugee background. The second day started with a presentation by Mr. Koen Loete, the Mayor of Eeklo. Mr. Loete explained how local migration and refugee policies work and he gave examples of which services were provided towards refugees and migrants by the town services and social services. Eeklo also has a civil servant who is responsible for integration to help people with all kind of daily problems and issues. The presentation was followed by some testimonies by migrants living in Eeklo. We also asked a Belgian woman to testify about her story because she lived for many years outside Belgium and she just (at the moment of the event) returned back to Belgium. In the afternoon a visit was made to Ghent, with a guided tour in the old migrant neighbourhood of Ghent (environment of railway station Ghent-Dampoort which was the industrial centre of the 19th century in Ghent). On the third day, a visit was made to the refugee reception centre of the Red Cross in Eeklo. The centre opened in 2002 and gives place to 109 residents. It gives shelter to families, singles and unaccompanied minors. Representatives of the Red Cross and residents gave a guided tour throughout the centre and gave insight in the daily working of the centre and the common rules and rights. Together with the Red Cross centre we organised a ‘drink and meet’ in the centre between the participants and the residents of the centre. The committee for international cooperation (CIS Eeklo) also organised a school competition in which pupils were asked to make a drawing about what they understand about migration and refugees. The drawings were presented to the participants via a photo exhibition. |
Commune/Municipality Website link: |
More links:
https://werkgevers.vdab.be/werkgevers/integratie-door-werk
https://www.ocmweeklo.be/index.php/sociale-dienst-mainmenu-39/wie-is-wie-mainmenu-40
http://www.wijkcentrumdekring.be/ http://www.wijkcentrumdekring.be/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/TAALKABAAL-flyer-najaar-2016.pdf |
Event 5.- Refugees: Exchange of best practices to combat xenophobia Participation: The event involved 93 citizens, including:
Location / Dates: The event took place in Kiskunfélegyháza(Hungary) from 06/09/2017 to 10/09/2017 Short description: The main aim of the event is to show the situation of Hungary and our town which is different from the average one. In the earlier decades as the gateway to Europe lots of refugees from Russia,Romania and Serbia crossed the border of Hungary because of the dictatorship or genocidium, thousands of people asked for and got refuge. With the help of the different presentations and personal meetings the guests and the local people could get to know what the government working closely together with the relief organizations could do. It was demonstrated how the newcomers could find their homes or they could get prepared for the journey to find their final destinations. Nowadays in the Hungarian universities there are a lot of foreign students who are supervised by a separate organization of the university. They communicate with each other in a common language that is in English. Most of the older ones work in different workplaces, the native language of most of them is Hungarian ( Romania,Serbia). The volunteers, the students and the members of the relief organizations could see and experience directly the meaning of aid giving, acceptance and tolerance. The most important result of the meeting is the presentation of the local work and conditions and giving information to a wide range of local people. |
Commune/Municipality Website link: https://kiskunfelegyhaza.hu/europai-unios-projektek/migracios-projekt/ |
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Event 6.- Immigration and integration: two challenges for Europe in the twenty-first century. Participation: The event involved 200 citizens, including:
Location / Dates: The event took place in Carcaixent (Spain) from 01/11/2017 to 05/11/2017 Short description: The aim of the event was:
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Commune/Municipality Website link: http://www.carcaixent.es/va/general/page/informe-amac-projecte-nouvinguts-ciutadans-europeus |
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Event 7.- Integration policies with children and young people Participation: The event involved 135 citizens, including:
Location / Dates: The event took place in Newbury (United Kingdom ) from 29/03/2018 to 02/04/2018 Short description: The aim of the event was:
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Event 8.- Integration or cultural crash? Participation: The event involved 343 citizens, including:
Location / Dates: The event took place in Bagnols-sur-Céze (France ) from 09/05/2018 to 13/05/2018 Short description The aim of the event was:
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Commune/Municipality Website link: https://www.bagnolssurceze.fr/fr/culture/jumelages.htm |
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Event 9.- Final evaluation Participation: The event involved 231 citizens, including:
Location / Dates: The event took place in Zamosc (Poland ) from 12/07/2018 to 15/07/2018 Short description: The main aim of the event was to evaluate the project activities and their impact on the project participants and the local communities. The main tool of assessment was a questionnaire produced by a member of the Polish group which was completed by members of all the committees and sent for analysis before the meeting. The results of the questionnaire were presented to all the participants by its author who demonstrated that there were different attitudes towards foreigners depending on the country and age of the respondents. It also turned out that there was a positive correlation between the fact of participating in the project and the attitudes of the involved persons. The results were discussed by the participants who also were free to express their personal opinions on the project and its topics. Apart from evaluation, the meeting also had a wide informative and educational function. It was done through lectures given by local historians (3 speakers), meetings with political and local government figures and visits to places related to the area's multiethnic past. The topics presented during the lectures included the changing ethnic structure of the local population in the town's history, the destructive effects of World War Two and present day economic and political immigration from the ex-Soviet territories, especially Ukraine. The speakers who addressed the meeting included the mayor of Zamosc, who talked about the economic and political aspects of immigration and emigration from the region as well as two members of the Polish parliament who represented opposing political parties and presented their points of view on the question of immigration at a more general level. The members of the audience asked questions and voiced their opinions which made the meeting very productive. The participants were also met by the head of a local higher education college who talked about foreign students studying in Zamosc. His talk was complemented by a talk by an Ukrainian student who is currently studying in Zamosc. There was also a meeting with a few foreign workers most of whom were youth volunteers from Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Hungary who talked about their experiences as foreigners living in Poland. The meeting was reported on the website of the city office and on local television which was an efficient way of dissemination. Apart from the members of the hosting organisation and the hosting families, there was a big number of local inhabitants who were informed about the project in detail through direct talks and leaflets produced by the organisers. The activities which involved members of the local community and helped disseminate the project included opening of an exhibition on Zamosc cultural heritage, opening of an exhibition of works by Tamas Szuts (head of the Hungarian team), visit to a local WW2 resistance museum and a visit to the Nazi Death Camp Memorial Site at Belzec. |
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