Diversity and integration

The European foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions (EUROFOUND) has published a good practice guide to better housing and integration of migrants in Europe.

 

This study underlines the importance of cities.as active bodies and key stakeholders in the integration of migrants in Europe. According to the study, the precondition for the success of any initiative in this field is to strengthen the scope of action at municipal level, to ensure an appropriate adaptation to local characteristics.

 

Recommendations are addressed to local, regional but also national level. According to the authors each level can act to help cities deal more effectively with the challenge of integrating migrants into the local community.

 

Typical challenges for migrants include a limited command of the language of the receiving country, a lower socioeconomic status, social exclusion, lack of knowledge on housing-related rights and responsibilities, as well as discrimination and exploitation on the housing market.

 

The guide has been produced in cooperation with the Cities for local integration policy European network (CLIP).

 

In November 2007, CEMR and the Association of Netherlands Municipalities have organized a conference on the integration of migrants at local level.