Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Project
The project focuses on supporting local authorities to make their integration strategies more effective through three thematic communities of practice (COP) strategies covering:
1) Measures for early integration into the labor market
2) Local housing support tools to help refugees and other new arrivals become self-employed
3) One Stop Shops: an accessible and efficient model for the coordinated provision of services
Each COP will develop thematic benchmarks and conduct peer reviews to inform the planning and implementation of a pilot innovative initiative in each city. The project also focuses explicitly – but not exclusively – on the integration of refugees. It will address cross-cutting governance challenges through dedicated online training sessions on generating and sharing newcomer data, developing women-focused integration policies, and managing the transition from an “emergency response” to a strategic approach to migration. City workers will be trained to provide tailor-made personalized support to cities outside the project, selected through an open call as a unique peer support tool for less experienced cities.

Project under development of the Grant Agreement

Partnership
Eurocities Asbl, Migrationwork Europe Sccl, Reseau Europeen Des Femmes Migrantes, Dimos Athinaion, Association Bureau For Integration And Social Innovations, Comune Di Milano, Goteborgs Kommun, Stadt Wien, Stadt Dortmund, Stad Gent, Asociatia De Dezvoltare Intercomunitara Zona, Nantes Metropole, Gmina Lublin, Grad Zagreb, Centro De Iniciativas Para La Formación y El Empleo De Fuenlabada.

Aims
• Support the development and implementation of new and more effective local integration strategies
• Identify and disseminate best practices and key knowledge to improve local integration 
• Improve transnational engagement and cooperation between integration stakeholders
• Increases the involvement of migrants and their organizations at national level 

Actions
• Implement a pilot integration policy
• Guidelines developed in the project on thematic and transversal challenges
• Thematic communities of practice increase the technical capacity of integration policy makers to address key challenges 
• New champions trained to provide support and collaboration with new partners
• Discussion among experts from integrated cities on promoting more efficient local integration strategies and transferring best practices

Expected results
The project will have an immediate impact on a faster and more effective integration of migrants, and in particular refugees, through better local integration policies in the field of employment support; coordinate housing offers; and the creation of one-stop shops for migrants and refugees: in each of the 12 partner cities, innovative pilot actions will be planned and implemented with funding, project support (30.000 euro implementation grant) and systematic support from colleagues, who will improve support for the integration of migrants and refugees in these areas. Furthermore, the project will lead to greater involvement of migrants by adopting a co-design approach in planning the pilot actions in each of the 12 cities.