European Local Authority Integration Network
The ELAINE project (January 2016 - December 2017) connected five local and regional European organisations on the theme of migrant and refugee integration. It was funded with the support of the European Union under the Programme "Europe for Citizens" (Strand 2 – Measure 2.2 "Networks of Towns").
The project comprised five separate meetings on the topic of integration in five separate member states. Each meeting had its own focus with each participating partner sending 7 delegates, meaning that each conference was made up of about one third EU delegates and the remaining two thirds being delegates from the host country.
The Swedish meeting launched the ELAINE network in Kristianstad in April 2016 on the theme of migration and entrepreneurship. A summary of the conference can be found here.
In June 2016, the British conference was held in Ipswich on the theme of how the voluntary and statutory sector work together on migrant integration. Presentation from the event can be downloaded from the box to the right of this text. Please click here for the conference report.
The third conference was held in Vigo in the region of Galicia, northern Spain, in September 2016 on the theme of how culture and sport contribute to migrant integration. Delegates from Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk took part in two days of learning and sharing.
The fourth conference in 2016 was in Vejle, Denmark in November where the theme was around language learning. In all the partner countries apart from Spain and the UK, new immigrants rarely arrive with any knowledge of their new country's language. Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands therefore take the subject of learning the language very seriously and have in place a network of language schools to help new migrants acquire the language quickly. This is seen as a measure of how well a new migrant is likely to be able to settle, integrate and contribute to the economy. Please follow this link to access the resources from the Danish conference, including details of language courses which focus on employment skills, interspersed with internships to enable learning to be put into practice: Danish Conference
The fifth conference took place in Maastricht, the Netherlands in April 2017 on the theme of migrant health.
There was also a wrap up event in Brussels in October 2017.
The UK project team was made up of:
- Gosia Strona e: [email protected] t: 01284 758324
- Louise Gooch e: [email protected] t: 01284 758308
The ELAINE 2.0 project (September 2018 - August 2021) connected seven local and regional European organisations on the theme of migrant and refugee integration. It was funded with the support of the European Union under the Programme "Europe for Citizens" (Strand 2 – Measure 2.2 "Network of Towns").
The following events were organised as part of the project.
Event 1: Cambridge, England 17-18 October, 2018
The event involved 84 citizens, whereof 46 national and 38 international participants. They were: 9 participants from the cities in Skåne Nordost (Sweden), 11 participants from the city of Vejle and Köge (Denmark), 8 participants from the city of Catoira (Spain), 6 participants from Steinemark (Austria) 4 participants from Hannover (Germany) and 46 participants from the cities in Eastern England (United Kingdom).
Location / Dates: The event took place in Cambridge, England, 17-18 October 2018
Short description:
The purpose of this conference was to exchange learning and best practice examples with practitioners involved in the care of unaccompanied minors, and support both UK regional and European networking opportunities for attending delegates.
The conference was held over two days with an opening session on the evening of the 17th for the non-UK delegation and a full day conference on the 18th with both non-UK and UK delegates. Delegates came from a variety of professions including local government/municipality officers, social workers, non-government organisations, politicians, central government agencies, education and health.
Overall the East of England SMP consider this event to be a success. Feedback (formal and informal) has all been very positive with all participants rating the event as “excellent” or “good”. Regionally, we have seen practitioners in the field looking at their own practices and comparing these to practices in other EU member states. It has promoted opportunities for wider thinking and creating solutions. For example, UK practitioners have since fed back that they did not previously feel politically engaged in their work, however, since attending the conference; they report a better understanding of how political decisions are made and how this influences their work.
Event 2: Graz, Austria, 26-28 February 2019
The event involved 82 citizens, whereof 42 national and 40 international participants. They were: 9 participants from the cities in Skåne Nordost (Sweden), 10 participants from the city of Vejle and Köge (Denmark) 8 participants from the city of Catoira (Spain), 42 participants from Steinemark (Austria), 6 participants from Hannover (Germany) and 7 participants from the cities in Eastern England (United Kingdom).
Location / Dates: The event took place in Graz, Austria, 26-28 February 2019
Short description:
The Styrian Association of municipalities planed and coordinated this Austrian meeting in cooperation with the department of culture, Europe and foreign relations of the government of Styria. The meeting started on February 26th with the reception in the town hall of the city of Graz.
There the Styrian Association of municipalities as well as the integration council of the city of Graz gave a brief introduction on their work.
On 27 February the international conference on “Building sustainable and inclusive communities” with all international guests and participating mayors and community
representatives from Styria took place in Leibnitz. More than 80 interested participants listened to a big variety of keynote speakers.
Event 3: Catoira, Spain, 18-20 June 2019
The event involved 104 citizens, whereof 70 national and 34 international participants. They were: 6 participants from the cities in Skåne Nordost (Sweden), 5 participants from the city of Vejle (Denmark), 4 participants from the city of Köge (Denmark) 70 participants from the city of Catoira (Spain), 4 participants from Steinemark (Austria) 7 participants from Hannover (Germany) and 8 participants from the cities in Eastern England (United Kingdom).
Location / Dates: The event took place in Catoira, Spain, 18-20 June 2019.
Short description: The conference in Catoira, Spain in June 2019 was the 3rd international conference in the ELAINE 2 project, funded by the Europe for Citizens programme. The aim of the Spanish conference was to focus on gender dimensions on integration and migration.
The conference was planned and facilitated by AYUNTAMIENTO DE CATOIRA.
Event 4: Vejle, Denmark, 21-23 October 2019
The event involved 76 citizens, whereof 43 national and 33 international participants. They were: 8 participants from the cities in Skåne Nordost (Sweden), 43 participants from the city of Vejle and Köge (Denmark), 5 participants from the city of Catoira (Spain), 6 participants from Steinemark (Austria,) 6 participants from Hannover (Germany) and 8 participants from the cities in Eastern England (United Kingdom).
Location / Dates: The event took place in Vejle, Denmark, 21-23 October 2019
Short description:
The conference in Vejle, Denmark in October 2019 was the 4th international conference in the ELAINE 2 project, funded by the Europe for Citizens programme. The aim of the Danish conference was to focus on the cultural values and norms in play in integration matters, plus giving inspiration on how to create communities and a sense of we.
The conference was planned and facilitated by the Danish partner, VIFIN (resource center for integration) in Vejle Municipality, with inputs from Køge Municipality and the other partners of the project.
Event 5: Hannover, Germany, 17-19 March 2020 (cancelled because of Corona)
Location / Dates: Hannover, Germany, 17-19 March 2020
Event 6 – Final conference, Corona edition, online from Kristianstad Sweden, 5-6 May 2021
The event involved 62 citizens, Where of 18 national and 44 international participants. They were: 18 participants from the cities in Skåne Nordost (Sweden),9 participants from the city of Vejle and Köge (Denmark) 7 participants from the city of Catoira (Spain), 8 participants from Steinemark (Austria), 8 participants from Hannover (Germany) and 12 participants from the cities in Eastern England (United Kingdom).
Location / Dates: The event took place in online from Kristianstad Sweden 5 May 2021.
Short description:
The conference was a summing up of the conference with a corona twist. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a worldwide increase in morbidity and mortality. Despite
the widely adopted message that the virus ‘does not discriminate’, preliminary evidence suggests that the interaction between COVID-19 and the social environment does, pointing to higher morbidity and mortality among low socioeconomic status and minority groups in some countries. During this talk professor Rostila will show empirical evidence on disparities in COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in Sweden and show whether migrants lower socioeconomic status and disadvantaged living conditions contributes to such disparities.
Event 7 – Extra Core group meeting, online, 19-20 August 2021
Participants:
Austria, 1 representative
Denmark, 1 representative
Spain, 2 representatives
Sweden, 3 representatives
UK, 2 representatives
Short description: We held a two-day extra Core group meeting to talk about future cooperation.