WHAT’S NEW?

Building inclusive cities

As part of the Eurocities 100daysEU campaign, city leaders are urging the new European Commission to recognise them as key integration stakeholders and provide direct funding to support their work.
EU institutions must include local leaders in migration policymaking and provide emergency funding to address rising demands. With the right support, cities can ensure integration is not just about shelter but about creating inclusive communities for everyone.

Next visits under CONSOLIDATE

In 2025, the CONSOLIDATE project participant cities will continue to host and meet! These visits will serve as a platform for cities to share experiences, discuss challenges, and co-create strategies to improve social services to foster inclusion. Here is the updated calendar:

  • Nantes to explore One-Stop Shops in January.
  • Athens to focus on employment in February, followed by Gothenburg for housing.
  • Ghent in March to continue work on One-Stop Shops, and Milan for employment.
  • Vienna in May to address housing, alongside Cluj Napoca for One-Stop Shops.
  • Fuenlabrada in June to wrap up with employment.

Stay tuned for updates on outcomes from each visit!

Call for tenders!

We are seeking an external evaluator to assess the impact and methodology of our project CONSOLIDATE. Key tasks include:

  • Evaluate the CONSOLIDATE project’s objectives, effectiveness, and impact.
  • Analyse the mutual learning methodology and provide lessons learned.
  • Assess knowledge transfer formats and compare them with CONNECTION and UNITES methodologies.
  • Deliver recommendations for future projects.

Apply by 17 January!

We wrapped up UNITES!

Under UNITES, we have developed an open-access online course for integration practitioners and a How to Guide to support cities in crafting inclusive policies. Our 8 partner cities – Düsseldorf, Prague, Oulu, Grenoble, Athens, Bologna, Zagreb, and Zaragoza – co-designed and developed its local integration strategy in partnership with stakeholders and migrant communities. We organised the 11th Integrating Cities Conference, a platform for dialogue and exchange to amplify these efforts across Europe.
The UNITES project has proven that co-design is key to building more inclusive cities!

We’re thrilled to unveil the 6th Integrating Cities Report!

This is a comprehensive look at how European cities foster inclusion and integrate migrants into their communities. The report highlights the pivotal role of local governments as policymakers, service providers, and employers in shaping local solutions to global challenges, innovative practices from cities around Europe that demonstrate how they improve housing, employment, education, and social inclusion for migrant communities, and includes key recommendations for empowering cities to collaborate with national and EU institutions, ensuring that resources and strategies effectively address local needs.

Our take aways from the 11th Integrating Cities Conference

Belonging to a place generates a connection that shapes our identities. Should migrants integrate to belong to a place? What does integration truly mean? The 11th Integrating Cities Conference, celebrated in Bologna as part of the UNITES project, featured thought-provoking debates on the power of language, raising ideas behind concepts such as ‘migration background’, ‘migration experience’, ‘expats’, or ‘third country nationals’, highlighting how these concepts shape perceptions and policies around migration and inclusion.

Five new cities sign the Integrating Cities Charter

Bologna, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Grenoble Alpes Metropole, and Vilnius signed the Charter in 2024.

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Embarking on the CONSOLIDATE journey

With the recent surge in Ukrainian refugee arrivals echoing the challenges of the past, CONSOLIDATE has emerged as a project that responds to the needs of cities in the field of migration, building on the knowledge acquired in previous projects. Working hand in hand with 12 partner cities, CONSOLIDATE is at the forefront of pioneering policy pilots in:

🪂 Transforming labour market integration for refugees and newcomers.
🏡 Empowering refugees with housing autonomy support.
🙌 Streamlining one-stop shops for efficient and accessible support services.