Pilot projects
As part of its project support measures, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees funds innovative pilot projects that help to further develop the integration strategy.
Pilot projects can be projects carried out at a national level or local projects that help to acquire transferable methods and knowledge. Pilot projects are usually academically monitored. In this way, the BAMF acquires knowledge about the development and testing of methods and ideas in integration work, and then provides the results to the specialist public.
Pilot projects for civic involvement
In the period 2006 to 2009, in conjunction with voluntary welfare associations and the Internationaler Bund, the Federal Office funded 16 pilot projects in areas of civic involvement. The aim was to obtain new information in respect of voluntary involvement, in particular the involvement of immigrants in integration work, and to make a contribution towards better social cohesion in this way.
The documentation published in January 2010 describes the diverse findings that have been collected over the funding period from the pilot projects and provides a good insight into the project work and the conditions for successfully strengthening civic involvement by immigrants.
Pilot projects to improve participation by migrant organisations
Since December 2009, the BAMF has been supporting fifteen local and regional pilot projects for two years to improve participation by migrant organisations. In doing so, various opportunities for working with established providers and migrant organisations have been tried out. These range from mentoring projects to loose co-operation set-ups to closer co-operation ventures in the form of tandem projects, in which both partners work on an equal basis and map out integration.
The aims of these pilot projects are:
- to strengthen the potential and professionalism of migrant organisations: established providers can support migrant organisations and lead the way based on their wealth of experience and their professionalism, and also by providing good contacts and local networks.
- to improve integration work locally with stronger networks: target groups that otherwise would not be reached will be reached by working together with migrant organisations. Migrant organisations will function here as bridge-builders and experts in the needs of immigrants, and will contribute towards reaching them.
- contribution to (further) intercultural openness.
In order to make the knowledge gained from the pilot projects accessible to others, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees manages the projects in terms of their technical and academic aspects and works with the providers to draw up recommendations for action.
