THE BUREAU FOR INTEGRATION AND SOCIAL INNOVATIONS JOINS A NEW INITIATIVE FOR REFUGEE INTEGRATION

BISI is the Bulgarian partner in the new project Consolidating, innovating, and disseminating effective integration practices in Europe (CONSOLIDATE).

CONSOLIDATE is a multi-partner project dedicated to sustainable and effective strategies for mid- and long-term integration support for migrants that are embedded in multi-stakeholder partnerships with different levels of government and civil society.

In facing these challenges, CONSOLIDATE will set up communities of practice (COP) that take stock of the most efficient tools and transferrable best practices; and accompany – through financial and technical support – 12 local authorities in designing innovative policy pilots for more effective support in

• effective labour market integration for refugees and other newcomers;
• local support instruments for refugees towards housing autonomy;
• One Stop Shops as accessible and efficient model for coordinated service provision.

Furthermore, CONSOLIDATE will provide training to partner and external cities and identify best practice in responding to the cross-cutting challenges of

• collecting and sharing client data in integration support – addressing principles of the EU Action Plan such as multi-stakeholder cooperation and more evidence-based integration policies;
• developing women-centred approaches to integration – in line with the EU’s Action Plan assessment that women face specific integration obstacles that need to be considered;
• managing transition from emergency to a strategic approach to integration – responding to challenges of cities with little prior experience and taking up the Action Plan’s general governance principles, such as co-design and multi-stakeholder

Through its communities of practice, its training sessions, and its integration champions support, CONSOLIDATE will provide structured, tailored, and efficient support for cities in 12 member states; and further cities outside the project.

CONSOLIDATE will have an explicit but not exclusive focus on asylum seekers and beneficiaries of temporary and international protection. CONSOLIDATE  is geared to cities with less experience in developing integration strategies but will also include more experienced cities in its peer-learning work.

The project is coordinated by the Eurocities network, in partnership with Migration Work, the European Network of Migrant Women, and local authorities and NGOs from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Romania, Poland, Spain.