Our UNITES project – focused on co-designing integration strategies with migrants – is now officially concluded. We can now reflect on what we achieved (and what we didn’t) in this AMIF-funded initiative, in collaboration with Eurocities and eight cities across Europe.
We started with one simple starting point: migrant integration strategies are better when co-designed with migrants themselves. We saw co-design as a powerful tool for bringing diverse groups together, rebuilding trust, and revitalising democracy. However, we also recognised that co-design takes resources as well as political commitment, and is still not the norm. Opening up to suggestions and scrutiny by migrants requires a shift in culture and approach which is still not the norm in the integration space.
Through training on pioneering practices in the field and by providing a safe space for partners to share challenges and ideas, all UNITES city partners implemented co-design pilots. At the end of the project, over 90% of participants told us that the project will have a lasting impact on their cities.
Here’s an overview of what each city did:
Athens relaunched its Migrant Integration Council (MIC), making it a more representative and meaningful body tasked with co-designing the city’s first integration strategy.
Bologna reviewed how local education services contribute to diversity and equality goals through an audit panel that brought together migrants and city representatives.
Düsseldorf recruited and trained Community Connectors to gather the views and needs of various migrant communities, feeding these into integration policies. Their first task was to evaluate the city’s advisory services for migrants.
Oulu hired a Ukrainian community researcher, gathering over 100 responses to align the city’s integration strategy with the needs of the newly arrived refugee community.
Grenoble Alpes Métropole piloted AGORA, a participatory panel of 16 refugees trained to help plan Metropole services.
Prague organised workshops with migrants to contribute to the city’s biannual integration action plan.
Zagreb commissioned a needs assessment through surveys and focus groups to inform the city’s future integration strategy.
Zaragoza reached out to non-organised and newly arrived migrants to identify their needs and feed them into the next integration strategy, alongside input from NGOs and the administration.
Though some pilots did not fully embrace co-design principles, they have nonetheless laid a foundation for further development. Many UNITES partners reported discovering new ways to engage with migrants to encourage contributions to policy-making. Trust was built, and new spaces for collaboration were created – spaces that will continue to be used in the future.
Some cities have even become ambassadors for co-design in their countries. In Greece, the network of cities working on migration has been reactivated, and a meeting was held with 32 municipalities and the Ministry to discuss migrant participation. Grenoble has begun exchanging ideas with like-minded cities in France’s ANVITA network for hospitable cities and territories.
All UNITES partners helped share what we learnt with practitioners outside the project. For those who want to take a first look at how to use co-design in integration strategies, we produced a short How-to Guide that is available in five languages on the Eurocities UNITES website and which features inspiring examples to guide practitioners.
For those eager to dive deeper into co-design, we’ve launched a new Massive Open Online Course on Co-designing Integration Strategies that features the protagonists from our project and ends with an official certificate from Eurocities.
As with any initiative, there are areas for improvement. In the case of UNITES, one key area was the involvement of politicians. The current political climate, with rising anti-migration sentiment, can hinder the adoption of solutions that involve migrants in shaping integration processes. UNITES could have benefitted from a “political workstream” to bring together policymakers and demonstrate how co-design and participation are essential for countering those who claim that “migration doesn’t work”.
Ultimately, we hope that the tangible and intangible legacy of UNITES – both in the tools we created and the changes made in partner cities—will inspire politicians, civil servants, and NGO workers to explore the potential of co-design. It’s a powerful tool for making migration work for future citizens and for our societies as a whole.
