E.g., 04/19/2024
E.g., 04/19/2024
Integration Futures Working Group

Integration Futures Working Group


(Jon Rawlinson)

The Integration Futures Working Group was established in 2016 to develop a fresh agenda for integration policy in Europe. It brings together senior integration policymakers and experts, civil-society officials, and private-sector leaders to create a platform for long-term strategic and creative thinking.

Through regular meetings and a forward-thinking program of original research, the working group aims to provide a safe space for off-the-record discussions on the most sensitive topics in integration policy. It also encourages integration policymakers to step outside of their everyday responsibilities to peer around the corner and move beyond crisis mode.

The Integration Futures Working Group has provided a critical platform for maintaining exchange and reflective thinking during the most testing moments for immigration and integration policy, including the 2015-16 spike in flows to Europe, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukrainian displacement crisis, and the recent rise in asylum arrivals.

In Spring 2020, MPI Europe launched a special program of work looking at how to minimize the corrosive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on integration dynamics, programs, and governance. Key areas of focus include community-building and solidarity at a time of physical distance, innovations to mitigate the economic fallout of the pandemic, and connecting public health and integration (including by addressing persistent health inequalities).

From 2016-2020, areas of discussion included values (how countries can define, adjudicate, and message values in a context of rising cultural and religious diversity); education (how schools can equip future citizens to live in diverse societies); labor market disruption (how integration policymakers can help newcomers thrive in fast-changing job markets); community resilience (how to build a “whole-of-society” approach to integration and empower communities to design and deliver integration services); and future welfare systems (how to ensure integration policy supports the long-term sustainability of social spending amid population aging).

Recent Activity

_ImmigrantStudents3CROP
Multimedia
February 8, 2018
Can New Digital and Pedagogical Innovations Help Bridge Education Gaps for Migrant Children?
Coverthumb EduMainstreaming2.0
Reports
February 2018
Mainstreaming 2.0: How Europe’s Education Systems Can Boost Migrant Inclusion
By  Aliyyah Ahad and Meghan Benton
Designing Civic Education for Diverse Societies
Reports
February 2018
Designing Civic Education for Diverse Societies: Models, Tradeoffs, and Outcomes
By  Per Mouritsen and Astrid Jaeger
In Search of Common Values amid Large-Scale Immigrant Integration Pressures
Reports
June 2017
In Search of Common Values amid Large-Scale Immigrant Integration Pressures
By  Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan and Meghan Benton
flickr UNHCR Exodus from the Bay of Bengal
Multimedia
May 11, 2017
The Tech Turn in Refugee Protection and Integration: New Solutions or Hot Air?
EVENT PH 2016.4.12 flickr European Union Plenary debate on Greece with PM Alexis Tsipras Marine Le Pen (ENF, France)
Multimedia
April 12, 2017
Immigration and its Discontents: European Elections and Future Policy
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Reports
November 2016
Towards a Whole-of-Society Approach to Receiving and Settling Newcomers in Europe
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Meghan Benton
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Reports
October 2016
Digital Humanitarianism: How Tech Entrepreneurs Are Supporting Refugee Integration
By  Meghan Benton and Alex Glennie

Pages

coverthumb tcmbenton
Reports
October 2016
Digital Humanitarianism: How Tech Entrepreneurs Are Supporting Refugee Integration
By  Meghan Benton and Alex Glennie

Pages

Recent Activity

Video, Audio, Webinars
February 8, 2018

Can New Digital and Pedagogical Innovations Help Bridge Education Gaps for Migrant Children?

Amid the arrival of hundreds of thousands of children during the migration crisis in Europe, school systems are increasingly being called upon to find innovative ways to address growing diversity and support children with migrant backgrounds. This webinar offers lessons for integration and education policymakers to ensure the whole education workforce is equipped to support diverse learners and better realize the broader role schools play as integration actors.

Reports
February 2018

Mainstreaming 2.0: How Europe’s Education Systems Can Boost Migrant Inclusion

Rising numbers of young immigrants and refugees entering European schools following the 2015–16 migration crisis strained system capacity and injected new urgency into debates about how to support diverse learners and their families. This report examines the challenges facing European education systems and identifies key lessons to improve migrant inclusion in schools and integration more broadly.

Reports
February 2018

Designing Civic Education for Diverse Societies: Models, Tradeoffs, and Outcomes

Across Europe, civic education programs are being asked to solve a range of social challenges—from dwindling political participation to the protection of immigrant and refugee youth from alienation and radicalization. While these challenges are shared across countries, the programs designed to address them vary considerably. This report explores differing models in Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Reports
June 2017

In Search of Common Values amid Large-Scale Immigrant Integration Pressures

Amid high levels of immigration, the roles of religion, culture, and identity in liberal democratic societies in Europe have come under the microscope. Few have found it easy to identify a core set of shared values and to communicate them evenhandedly to newcomers. Amid clashes over burqas and belonging, this report explores the tradeoffs policymakers face in defining, instilling, and managing disagreement over values.

Audio, Webinars
May 11, 2017

The Tech Turn in Refugee Protection and Integration: New Solutions or Hot Air?

This MPI webinar explores the recent “tech turn” in refugee protection and integration, and considers whether the tech community's interventions in this area are likely to have a lasting impact. Speakers discuss the most promising innovations and their broader implications for policymakers. They discuss the challenges and opportunities for governments as they seek to work with new actors such as tech companies. And they also consider the broader digital infrastructure needs of refugee camps and services—including the crucial issue of Internet and mobile connectivity for refugees.

Video, Audio, Webinars
April 12, 2017

Immigration and its Discontents: European Elections and Future Policy

Public anxiety about immigration and the fast pace of social change has reached a boiling point in many parts of Europe, contributing (in part) to the ascent of populist far-right parties. This discussion focuses on how the French election is unfolding, what we can learn from Brexit and the Dutch elections, and what these results portend (if anything) for the next round of political contests in Europe. Experts consider how governments can manage broader public concerns about rapid social change, economic opportunity, and security in ways that can reduce public anxiety over immigration and restore the public's trust. 

Reports
November 2016

Towards a Whole-of-Society Approach to Receiving and Settling Newcomers in Europe

With the seemingly endless flows of asylum seekers and migrants abated, at least for the present, Europe is now faced with the long-term and complex challenges of integration of these newcomers. This report examines the political, social, and economic contexts and immigration histories of European countries and how the current integration challenges are complicated by existing challenges of fragmentation and social unrest. Still, the authors find some cause for optimism.

Reports
October 2016

Digital Humanitarianism: How Tech Entrepreneurs Are Supporting Refugee Integration

Tech communities in Europe and North America have been spurred into action by the refugee crisis, developing apps and other tools that can be used along the journey, immediately upon arrival, and for longer-term integration into the host society. This report maps several types of emerging tools and considers how policymakers responsible for refugee integration might play a more active role in supporting the most promising.

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