SIforREF
Integrating Refugees in Society and the Labour Market Through Social Innovation

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SIforREF aims to enhance significantly existing refugee integration policies on the regional and local level. Our goal is that social innovative and inclusive measures become mainstream. This is not only an exchange of good practices; our task is to jointly design and implement methodologies and identify the social innovative conditions that must be met. The main outputs will be tools for evaluating and designing social innovative practices and pilots that result in inclusive policies.

To do so, the partnership will investigate and build on best practices and initiate a mutual learning process among central European regions, especially the five neighbourhood regions involved in the project.

Main objectives of the project:

Refugee integration: Enhance existing policies on the regional and local level.
Inclusive innovation: Advocate for the mainstreaming of social innovative and inclusive policies.

Download PDF file about the project.

SIforREF strives to make a difference in the lives of refugees in central Europe

Working approach

May 2019 - february 2020

1. Setting up
a toolbox

First, we design a method (which includes defining specific indicators) for measuring the social innovative approaches of policies and pilots to foster the integration of refugees (this is the output). Since the evaluation of the impact of migration policies on the integration of refugees is rarely implemented, we believe that it is crucial to begin our project with the development of an evaluation tool.

february 2020 - january 2021

2. Developing
a toolbox

Second, we aim to develop a toolbox to support policy makers, practitioners and NGOs as operators in the design and implementation of measures for the integration of refugees on the level of societal and economic participation. We will examine measures which indeed adopt a social innovative approach. We have chosen not to provide top down guidelines, but instead to co-create open guidelines with a diverse pool of actors engaged in the issue of refugee integration.

januaray 2021 - november 2021

3. Development
of pilots

Next, we test the developed toolbox - where open guidelines have been produced on how to design social innovative approaches for integrating refugees. Furthermore, we will determine if these can be successfully translated into 7 actual projects. These we will implement in Italy (one each in Bologna and Parma), Austria (two, both in Vienna), Germany (two, both in Berlin) and Slovenia (one in Ljubljana).

june 2021 - march 2022

4. developing
a joint strategy

Finally, we aim to achieve two main outputs: 1) local agreements among key public and private actors that recognise the relevance of refugee integration for the promotion of social cohesion and the need to jointly address this challenge through the practice of virtuous governance and social innovative approaches gained during the pilot activities. 2) a Transnational Memorandum of Understanding.

Publications

Best Practices

Reports

Academic articles

Transnational study visit results

Fact sheets

WORKING PAPERS

News & Events

Event

"Balkan Route and the European Border Regime"

on 23.03.2021 from 11.00 to 13.00, our Slovenian SIforREF Partners will host an Online communication seminar on this topic. It will take place via Zoom and students from partner universities are invited to participate. Please register with the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU).

News

summing up:
Our december newsletter

Newsletter №3

News

Italy- Covid-19 news

Arca di Noè Social Cooperative updated the #ReStopcovid19 campaign in 5 languages to explain the rules of the new DPCM Decree issued by the President of the Council of Ministers, extending the minimum precautionary measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 till December 3, 2020.

News

Article on police violence and the push-back of refugees in Slovenia

The article is available in English and Slovenian.

News

Documentary film Five Perspectives from our Project Partners Kulturno društvo Gmajna and ZRC SAZU

The film directed by Samer Arkawi, looks at the sadness, love, hope, success and welfare as experienced and narrated by five protagonists who migrated to Slovenia.

In the documentary, they share their experiences coming from four different countries of origin: Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan.

News

Dear Readers, Our September newsletter has just been published. Enjoy!

Newsletter №2

News

THE PANDEMIC HAS NOT STOPPED GOOD PRACTICES FOR The INTEGRATION of Refugees: THE SIFORREF PROJECT COORDINATED BY the University of Venice CA 'FOSCARI

More information here.

News

SIforREF has recently become a friend of the
Social Innovation Academy

The team of the Social Innovation Academy, led by Limitless® links well-known transnational social innovation advocates and institutes.

News

Regularisation of irregular migrants

The process of “Regularisation of irregular migrants” is ongoing and has been extended to the 15 of August 2020.

Here you will find data, FAQ and opinions:

www.vita.it

www.avvocatodistrada.it

www.stranieriinitalia.it

News

News and events from Bologna Cares – July 2020

This article (in Italian) looks at artistic practices and migrants’ empowerment, from the organisation Bolognacares.

Here the link to the article: Performing Resistance: pratiche artistiche di resistenza alla politica di invisibilizzazione

Events

World Refugee Day 2020

Our project partner ASP Città di Bologna celebrated the 20th of June, World Refugee Day 2020.

It was a big event that took place online and live. More than 15.000 participants were involved online and with live concerts, talks, readings and a contest on the topic of “Never More Freezing”

Additional information:

www.sociale.regione.emilia-romagna.it

events

SIforREF Pilot Workshop in Berlin

10 migrant entrepreneur women came together to reflect on their own experiences of establishing their businesses in Berlin.

eVENTS

IMISCOE Conference 1-2 July 2020

Members of the SIforREF team will participate in the first IMISCOE online annual conference. The conference was originally scheduled to take place in Luxemberg, but was moved online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

More information is here.

News

Submission to Horizont 2020

Berlin University of Technology along with several SIforREF project partners submitted a Horizon 2020 joint proposal in April 2020 that would continue the project's current research.

eVents

KICK-OFF MEETING

The Kick-Off meeting of the SIforREF project took place from 8-9 May 2019 at the University of Ca'Foscari in Venice, Italy. All project partners and associate partners met and spent two intense days discussing and planning the future of the project.

Workpackage 1: Setting up a toolbox

Workpackage 2: Developing a toolbox

Workpackage 3: Development of pilots

Workpackage 4: Developing a joint strategy

Best Practices & Transnational Study Visits

Best Practices are outstanding projects and innitiatives in regard to refugee integration within the cities/ territories of our partnership:
Berlin, Bologna, Ljubljana, Parma, Vienna.
Find them here: B est Practices

Transnational study visits between our five partner cities are an important aspect of the SIforREF project. The objectives of these transnational exchanges are to exchange knowledge and experiences, discuss the selected Best Practices, and get to know stakeholders from other countries.
Find the output here: Transnational study visits