C4R

Short description of the project

“Cities4Refugees” involves mayors and their municipalities, but also NGOs and other multiplier who are interested in improving the current situation for migrants and refugees coming to Europe, but also within Europe (like Ukraine).

Over seven different European countries and more than 1000 citizens will be involved directly through five physical meetings and two online-conferences.

Objectives are: increasing capacity-building for migrant and refugee inclusion in European cities and regions through the dialogue around best practice examples in different fields of integration and migration; focusing on the cooperation between municipalities from different countries and its local civil society groups around the topic of migrant and refugee inclusion in European cities; promoting new initiatives and strengthen existing ones between cities and civil society organizations on European Migration policy; promoting exchanges between citizens of different countries; ensuring an active citizen participation at the local level by an actively inclusion of local civil society; bringing together municipalities from all over Europe and giving them a common voice to contribute to reinforce the role of local and regional authorities in the European integration process; promoting a Europe of Welcoming and inclusion; promoting peaceful relations; extending and reinforcing the existing network of International Alliances of Save Harbours (see also: IASH).

Expected results: Through the exchange of best practices concerning the situation of migrants and refugees, new initiatives and concepts will be created and disseminated. Besides, awareness of the importance of reinforcing the European integration process based on solidarity will be raised between all involved citizens. A stronger cooperation between municipalities and its citizens from different European countries will boost active citizenship. Discrimination and racism will be counteracted and inclusion of minorities promoted.

Sea also flyer of the project: FlyerC4R

MEETINGS

1. Physical meeting in Zagreb/Croatia from 19.4.-21.4.2023

2. Online meeting, 27.6.2023

3. Physical meetingin Brussels/Belgium, 9.10.-11.10.2023

4. Physical meetingin Villeurbanne/France, 7.11.-9.11.2023

5. Online meeting, 21.03.2024

6. Online meeting, 27.06.2024

7. Physical meeting in Berlin/Germany, 09.10.-11.10.2024

FIRST MEETING IN ZAGREB/CROATIA: 19th to 21st of April 2024

Objectifs:

▪ Presentation of the project and the project partners
▪ Strengthen the cooperation between municipalities and its local civil society groups
▪ Promoting the exchange of best practices around the topic of migrant and refugee inclusion in European cities
▪ actively including local civil society groups the projects wants to ensure an active citizen participation at the local level
▪ reinforce the role of local and regional authorities in the European integration process.
▪ widen the network IASH, linking new members of the network.

The in-situ meeting in Zagreb started according to plan – with a welcome at the hotel, introduction and presentation of programme, external participants and their organizations, and going to a joint dinner with exchange of experiences and getting to know each other.

The first day – after the registration of all participants, Grodan Bosanac gave a welcome on behalf of the City of Zagreb and the City Assembly. Claudia Dombrowsky & Alina Lyapina presented the objectives of the C4R project, and Janne Grote & Tiago da Cruz presented the IASH network. Partner cities: Zagreb, Barcelona, Berlin, Munich and Villeurbanne presented their own experiences and the situation in their cities concerning migration/integration. A field visit to art studio Živi atelje Dajht Kralj was also organized – an example of good practice of social integration and migrant’s inclusion through artistic work.

The second day – a hybrid participation of colleagues from France and Albania was organized. Alina Lyapina, presented of EU migration/asylum legislation, and Grodan Bosanac was talking about exchange of information and best-practice on migration/asylum across Europe, e.g. in formal of a mailing list. An open debate about the content of the “Joint Statement” was held (Comments on Palermo Declaration; Working Group – to address the content of the “Joint Statement”). Also, future cooperation between IASH and the project C4R and planed future activities of the C4R project were also discussed.

Further information: event-description-sheet_cerv-rem-civ-netw_en_Zagreb

SECOND MEETING: Online on the 27th of June 2023

The first digital public event of the project Cities4Refugees took place online via Zoom platform on 27th June 2023.

The objectives of the event were:
▪ Presentation of the EU-program CERV, presentation of the project, its partners, contents, objectives and planned results
▪ Transfer of information: Inputs from each partner country on the specific topic chosen to assure that all involved participants will have the same knowledge and information. Exchange of existing good practices and methodologies between cities and civil society
▪ Raising awareness on the current situation of refugees and migrants coming to Europe, raise citizens’ awareness on the protection of democratic participatory ideas.

Concept & objectives:
The event was structure and conceptualised as a one-day event divided into three key moments:

1. Public panels
The opening panel, under the title Cities4Refugees: Cooperation for a Welcoming Europe had the following objectives of this panel are: i) give a framework of discussion around the project C4R and its objectives together with partners and allies ii) presenting existing and past best practices of city and civil society cooperation in the field of migration. Speakers of the first panel were:
● Jurica Gregurić – Department for the Promotion of Human Rights and Civil Society Sector for intercity and international cooperation and civil society in the City of Zagreb
● Birgit zur Nieden – Head of Unit „Participation in the Migration Society” of the Berlin Senate Department for Labour, Social Services, Gender Equality, Integration, Diversity and AntiDiscrimination
● Nikos Papakostas – Director of Inter Alia, civil society organization in Greece
● Christian Schmidt – Europe Must Act and FSTC representative
Moderator: Marta Cillero Manzano: Director at Fondazione Studio Rizoma

The second panel, under the title How does cooperation between (inter)national / European city networks and civil society in the field of (forced) migration look like? Chances and challenges, had the objective of gathering inputs regarding the cooperation between national and European city networks and CSO by two city networks and two CSO representatives. Speakers were:
● Janne Grote –representing IASH Coordination Group
● Léa Enon-Baron – representing ANVITA
● Tiago da Cruz – representing FSTC
● Sofia Dagna – responsable Plaidoyer et Mobilisation UEE-Union des Étudiants Exilés, Moderator: Lisa Lorbeer (Senate Department for Labour, Social Services, Gender Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination in the City of Berlin)

2. Breakout rooms-workshop sessions
During the breakout room sessions, participants were invited to bring in their questions to the panelists and bring in their own experiences in the topic discussed on the field of refugee and migration policies. Each breakout room had an assigned moderator that was responsible for making sure the discussion among participants was understandable, but also make sure that the conclusions of the discussions were reported.

3. Closing plenary
After the breakout session, all participants came back to the plenary session and each moderator presented 3 key messages of their group using the Miro Board tool, an interactive platform that allows users to graphically share outcomes of workshop sessions. Participants were given the opportunity to have a short interaction between the panellists and participants with regard to the key messages.
Once the outcomes of the breakout room sessions were presented, the host of the event closes the event (Marta Cillero, on behalf of Fondazione Studio Rizoma) presented the next steps for the project, upcoming public events and instructions on the evaluation form and documentation materials to be shared after the event.

Further information: WP_3_event-description-sheet_Online_June_2023_cerv-rem-civ-netw_en 

THIRD MEETING IN BRUSSELS: 9th to 11th of October 2023

Heading into the 2024 Elections – Solidarity cities reshaping migration in Europe

How can European cities strengthen the EU’s efforts to build a functioning and fair migration system? How can EU stakeholders support cities taking the lead to develop innovative and welcoming approaches locally?  Together we aim to shift the policy debate towards a welcoming strategy in EU migration policy.

Programme: HERE

Press release (in German): 20231017_PM

Further information: WP_4_event-description-sheet_BXL_cerv-rem-civ-netw_en

FOURTH MEETING IN VILLEURBANNE: 7th to 9th of November 2023

During this meeting, many aspects and projects of the French City of Villeurbanne were presented and an interactive exchange between citizens from seven different EU-countries took place.

Highlights of the meeting were:

• “The right to the city for all: European municipalities daring local citizenship“, the citizenship card for every body.
• Exhibition Opening: « ÉCLAIREUSES D’HUMANITÉ : Visages et parcours de femmes en Méditerranée » by SOS Mediterranée et « Ma Deuxième vie » by painter Bassirou Sigue
• “Practitioners’ Exchange on Irregular Migration” with Utrecht, Zurich, ANVITA (France) and the audience (Villeurbanne, Zagreb, Berlin, Barcelona)

One of the achieved goals of the event was to strengthen the cooperation between the city representatives of the Cites4Refugees partners, the IASH members and the allies of the IASH demands and principles, especially local civil society groups.

Further information: WP_5_event-description-sheet_Villeurbanne

FIFTH MEETING: Online meeting on the 21st of March 2024

It is the Cities, where protection seekers are welcomed, fostering environments where successful integration thrives. To lay the groundwork for a shared future, cities in all EU member states develop best practices based on their unique expertise and hand in hand with their civil society. These best practices are of significant value on the way to more solidarity in migration governance – and should therefore be widely shared!

„Local Innovation in Migration Governance: Sharing Best Practices in Cities“, March 21, 1.30 – 3.00 pm (online)

The event comprised 5 breakout sessions, in which city officials and partners presented best practices and an exchange on these practices was very fruitful:

• “Paving the way into a shared future: Re:Match facilitates municipal and protection seeker participation in distribution decisions“
• “Supporting refugees through digital streetwork: The „Social Media Bridge“ as part of Berlin’s network for the right to stay”
• “From the EU to the Civil Society Organisations: Zagreb’s experience with funding integration activities”
• “Accommodation in context-sensitive asylum centers: Utrecht’s Plan Einstein Overvecht”
• “Becoming local: Villeurbanne’s citizen card for all city inhabitants”

The event was hosted by the Berlin Governance Platform, representing the EU-funded project Cities4Refugees in cooperation with Moving Cities.

Further information: WP_6_event-description-sheet_online-meeting_March-2024

SIXTH MEETING: Online meeting on the 27th of June 2024

Over 101 citizens (199) from more than 7 (min. 20) countries participated in this meeting. Every involved project-partner knew the program and his/her tasks and responsibilities. The moderation of the meeting and the communication in the chat was assured by BGP. Important aspects are documented. During the online event we engaged with political and admnistrative representatives from municipalities, activists, civil society, EU institutions working in the field of migration. We wanted to give the opportunity to interested stakeholders, activists, civil society, and municipalities that can not easily join the in situ activities to engage in the discussion and exchange of best practices of reception of refugee receptions in cities. As part of this working package we also wanted to highlight municipal and civil society expertise by amplifying their assessments of the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum.

The event started with welcoming words by Lea Rau (Berlin Governance Platform), explaining the context of the event and the need for exchange about cities’ and civil society’s assessment of the New Pact. Katharina Bamberg, Head of Migration at Eurocities, spoke additional welcoming words, highlighting the importance of acknowledging cities’ voices in policy making. Speakers were introdced and asked to complete the sentence « I believe in the voices of cities because… ».

The core of the online meeting was a panel discussion, moderated by Lea Rau (BGP).

Speakers :

• Maria Prsa (Munich & International Alliance of Safe Harbours)
• Niels Tubbing (Eurocities Working Group on Migration and Integration / EU Urban Partnership on the Inclusion of Migrants)
• Michele LeVoy (Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)
• Lefteris Papagiannakis (Greek Council for Refugees)
• Tiago da Cruz (From the Sea to the City)
• MEP Birgit Sippel

Structure : The panel was structured in three parts. Each speaker got the chance to speak at least once in each part. The discussion was supported through follow up questions asked by the moderator and questions asked in the chat.

1. Impacts on the Local Level: What changes do or should cities anticipate from the new CEAS?
2. Implementation Considerations: What should national governments keep in mind about local implications when crafting CEAS implementation plans?
3. Strategic Cooperation: How can city networks collaborate strategically in light of the CEAS reform, and who stands to benefit from such cooperation?

Further information:WP_7_event-description-sheet_online-meeting_June-2024

SEVENTH MEETING IN BERLIN: 9th to 11th of October 2024

The final Cities4Refugees conference Cities as Change Makers in European Asylum and Migration Policy brought together representatives and experts from municipalities, EU institutions, civil society, city networks and academia in Berlin. It highlighted the impact of the Common European Asylum System on European cities (CEAS), their role in implementing the new rules and their responsibility in upholding a humanitarian and human rights-based approach.

The event included three days of activities.On 9 October 2024 all cities4refugees project partners met to reflect on the whole project and the past two years of collaboration, it included a self-evaluation and an outlook on the following two conference days. In the morning of 10 October 2024, the participants visited the center for social-psychological support for traumatized refugees by the civil society actor “Zentrum Überleben”, one of Berlin’s well established organizations providing social-psychological support in the city and receiving funding by the Berlin Senate for its work. The meeting allowed for an exchange of one best practice example.
The two-day main conference started after the on-site visit. The concept followed two didactically different concepts:

1. a more participatory, best-practice-oriented approach on the first day of the conference with mainly representatives from the working level from civil society actors and city and city network representatives. This exchange was organized in three panels on the topics of ‘Role of Cities and City Networks in the CEAS Implementation Process – Potential and Limitations’, ‘Introducing City-ID Cards – Potential and Challenges for Cities’ and ‘Cooperation Between Civil Society and Administration in City Networks – Participatory Administrative Approaches’. The first day ended with a joint conference dinner in an informal setting to intensify the dialogue between the participants.

2. a more policy driven discussion on the second day of the conference (11 October 2024) with welcoming words, amongst others, by Berlin’s Senator for Labour, Social Services, Gender Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination, a keynote speech by the Head of the Department of Human Rights Policies Germany/Europe of the German Institute for Human Rights, Members of the European Parliament on each panel as well as civil society and city representatives in each panel. The three panels covered the topics of “CEAS Impact on European Cities – Fair Solidarity Mechanism, Organization of Distribution in Europe and Financing of Host Municipalities”, “CEAS Impact on European Cities – Children, Young People and Families in the Border Procedures” and “CEAS Impact on European Cities – Potential increase in irregular migration”.
Overall, the concept of the three days was a success and enabled intensive networking between different stakeholders, the exchange of best practice examples and the inclusion of various local and international civil society stakeholders as well as migrant and refugee organizations.