CONNECTION

CONNECTION – CONNEcting Cities Towards Integration actiON – promotes transnational learning and implementation of integration policies by bringing together 14 cities in “communities of practices”.
Cities taking part in this project exchange best practices and develop policy guidelines for a wider audience on the four following themes/communities of practice:
CoP1. How to develop a strategic approach to integration, participation and interaction?
CoP2. How to build a gender dimension into integration policies?
CoP3. How to build pathways to employment for migrants?
CoP4. How to design one-stop-shops as an integrated response to integration needs?
Seven participating cities which are less experienced in integration are not only developing action plans with the support of the other participating cities but are also receiving grants and support to implement a new integration scheme in their own context. In addition, eight more experienced cities will have one staff member trained as an ‘integration ambassador’ with the capacity to autonomously train other cities in integration policies beyond the lifetime of the project.

European partners

Coordinator: Eurocities (BE), the network of major cities in Europe
Expert organization: MigrationWork (BE)
Cities: Antwerp (BE), Athens (EL), Dortmund (DE), Gothenburg (SE), Madrid (ES), Paris (FR), Rotterdam (NL), Sofia (BG), Tampere (FI), Torino (IT), Utrecht (NL), Warsaw (PL), Zagreb (HR)
Regional partners: ANCI Piemonte (IT), Thessaloniki Region via ANATOLIKI S.A. (EL).

The project in Torino

The City of Torino participates within the CoP1 cluster together with ANCI Piemonte, Thessaloniki Region via ANATOLIKI S.A., Paris and Zagreb.
In conjunction with ANCI Piemonte, which involved the cities of Asti, Cuneo and Settimo Torinese, Torino will act as a mentor city towards its Piedmontese counterparts through a staff exchange involving city staff from the Intercultural Center and the Social Inclusion Area

Practical steps

In CONNECTION, 14 core cities and 8 fellow cities work in clusters on each theme with other stakeholders to develop best practices in integration and overcome shared challenges.
Seven of the cities use the project to implement a new integration policy that brings concrete and immediate benefits to migrants and their receiving communities. Each cluster develops practical tools for other cities to achieve the same.
The mutual learning and exchange of practices is done through different activities:

• Workshops: each cluster member visits each other to see how policy initiatives are implemented, and to learn about good practices through brief presentations, site visits, workshops and peer-to-peer discussions.
• Staff exchanges: within one community of practice, two cities are paired up to exchange in turn staff for five days. The exchange in the more experienced mentoring city is aiming to generate ideas and look into the mechanics of different policies. The second exchange in the city implementing the policy, will look at adapting the lessons learned in the community of practice to the local context.
• Work on a how-to-guides for integration policies based on agreed European standards.
• Developing a roadmap (or ‘action plan’) for seven partner cities, with the endorsement of their public administration and involving relevant local stakeholders, and implementing new policies on the ground through a ¼ million euro of EU grants.
• Integration champions training: CONNECTION also trains eight “integration champions”, city staff equipped to train others in integration best practices. These champions hold two international workshops during the project and keep the results alive once the project comes to an end.

Numbers

• 7 new policies implemented in 7 EU cities through ¼ million euro of EU grants
• 14 staff exchanges implemented in 14 EU cities
• 14 thematic cluster visits
• 8 integration champions
• 4 new how to guides: key recommendations for change
• 4 Integrating Cities videos illustrating key points from the guides
• 1 Integrating Cities Conference X (October 2022): multi-stakeholder dialogue involving EU officials and representatives from local governments, volunteer organisations and migrant groups
• UE contribution to the City of Torino: € 30.979,71