Ben Gidley, COMPASEurocities, Integrating Cities, Amsterdam March 2012

1. Why does leadership and public communication matter?

2. Key findings from EIF projects: AMICALL, SPARDA, Concordia Discors

3. Some 'promising practice' examples

Common Basic Principle 1: 'Integration is a dynamic, two-way process of mutual accommodation by all immigrants and residents of Member States.' (2004)

More recently: highlighting 'strong commitment by the host society' – the importance of public attitudes

A 'toxic' topic European pattern:

negative attitudes – attitudes and 'salience' of attitudes

Evidence base: Transatlantic Trends, Eurobarometer, Pew Global Trends, European Social Survey...

Chart: Migration Observatory

Who counts as ‘a migrant’? Which groups are negative attitudes towards?

Mismatch between perceptions and realities, e.g. on numbers

Chart: Ipsos SPARDA First Wave report 2011

Chart: Ipsos SPARDA First Wave report 2011

Significant differences across the population

Age, education levels, social class, age cohort, gender, ethnicity, etc

A sizeable 'tolerant minority'

Significant variations, e.g.

Regional and local differences: not correlated to migrant presence – urban areas considerably less hostile

People more worried about national than local effect of migration

89%

69%

48% 45% 43%34%

27%

11%

24%

39%38%

55%

41% 54%

0% 7% 12% 18%2%

25% 19%

Patras Limassol Reggio Emilia Coimbra Dingli Valencia/PN Lyon

Negative Neutral Positive

Chart: Ipsos SPARDA First Wave report 2011

The projects:AMICALL (lead: COMPAS)SPARDA (lead: Council of Europe)Concordia Discors (lead: FIERI)

Projects funded by the European Union’s European Fund for the Integration of Third Country Nationals (European Integration Fund – EIF)

Research partners: Central University, Budapest (Hungary); COMPAS, Oxford (UK); EFMS, Bamberg (Germany); Erasmus, Rotterdam (Netherlands); FIERI, Turin (Italy); Complutense, Madrid (Spain)

Associate partners: Council of Europe; MPI Europe

Evaluation: Goldsmiths, University of London

http://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/research/urbanchange/amicall/

Experience – cities in some countries more sophisticated than others (eg. NL, UK: HU); also regional differences (IT, UK)

Framing – cities often use other frames, such as ‘social cohesion’ or ‘urban citizenship’, as more useful than integration (NL, UK); also target groups: immigrant, second generation, ethnic minority, national minority

Diversity/immigration within community: Length/type of experience (Rotterdam,

Budapest) Community feeling/strength (can vary over time)

LRA capacity Devolved competence to manage integration Human and financial resources LRA Structure and Organization Info/data availability

National/local level political orientation National political discourse National governance of immigration/integration

Events, emerging debates E.g. Sarrazin debate in Germany

The role of the media at national/local level Supportive, inflammatory, reinforcing?

Reaching new groups? – concern about only reaching those populations already engaged. Implication: understand targeting better?

Budgets – fiscal austerity: cities concerned about future resources for communications. Implication: how to sustain activities in light of austerity measures

Evaluation and Impact – evaluation tends to be difficult to do, and impact hard to ascertain. Implication: develop models for measurement and learning?

Individual leadership – importance of key officers/teams as champions (opportunity/risk). Implication: development of sustainable structures and strategies

Beyond myth-busting: strategic/embedded communications and place shaping. Implication: Communication and engagement as holistic process.

Community matters: understanding needs and issues, and considering the whole-of community effects. Implication: place-shaping and evidence-based approach.

Seven European cities

Evaluation: IPSOS Research Institute

http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/culture/sparda

Multiple approaches to communication Participatory campaigns and intercultural approaches Giving voice to migrants – using multiple media

channels and innovative use of public space Local partnerships

Difficulties of communicating aims and of evaluating effectiveness Importance of involving stakeholders genuinely Importance of strategic vision (full audience

spectrum) Threats

Contradicting forces, e.g. national media, ‘interference’

Resources

Research partners: TARKI, Budapest (Hungary); COMPAS, Oxford (UK); EFMS, Bamberg (Germany); FIERI, Turin (Italy); Autonomous University, Barcelona (Spain)

Associate partner: European Policy Centre (EPC)

http://www.concordiadiscors.eu/

Place matters: Integration (incl attitudes) is a property of space not of persons or society

Top-down narratives cannot survive without coherent policies in support

Bottom-up narratives cannot survive without stakeholders Narratives produced locally can influence media

narratives. Common (i.e. shared by residents and local policy community) narratives = necessary but not a sufficient condition, along with the presence of strong local stakeholders who interact with media.

When local stakeholders are strong, quarters seem to be more resilient to exogenous factors (media campaigns, city or national political campaigns, etc.).

Place-shaping: 'Wij Amsterdammers' ('We Amsterdammers'), NL. Also: Copenhagen (VI KBH’R campaign), Antwerp (‘This city is for everyone’), Zurich (‘Living Zurich’), Istanbul (‘Yours Istanbul’), Kirklees (‘Belonging to Dewsbury’) and Vienna (‘Feeling at home’).

Platforms for dialogue: Neu-Isenburg’s 'Living Diversity' initiative in 2010, DE

Beyond myth-busting: Barcelona’s 'anti-rumour' campaign as part of the Local Plan for Interculturality, ES

Participation, interculturalism and place-shaping: soup festival Richtsberg district in Marburg, DE – based on Lille model, FR; ‘Tutti sono diversi da tutti, per fortuna/Mondo tra i fornelli’ (Word by the oven), Reggio Emilia, IT

Dr Ben Gidley, Senior Researcher, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) University of Oxford ben.gidley@compas.ox.ac.uk http://www.compas.ox.ac.uk

Liz Collett, Director, Migration Policy Institute Europe ecollett@migrationpolicy.org http://www.migrationpolicy.org/europe/mpieurope/

Lilia Kolombet, Council of Europe Lilia.KOLOMBET@coe.int http://www.coe.int/

FIERI http://www.fieri.it/