Western Europe has in recent decades grappled with the challenges of building cohesive and equal societies in the face of increasing diversity and new flows of migration. Various models for integration have been tried and tested across Western Europe, and though the investment of time and money has been significant, the results have been mixed, with inequality remaining rife and hostility to immigration on the rise. What little has been done to evaluate such initiatives has mostly been limited to basic studies to fulfil funder reporting requirements, focusing on monies spent, activities conducted, processes and outputs rather than on whether projects, programmes or policies have delivered their broad intended outcomes.

In this briefing, ISD will present the results of a one-year project (supported by the Open Society Institute – Brussels) setting out a new framework for understanding and measuring what works in integration projects and initiatives. As part of this project, ISD has undertaken research in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden to identify best practices, lessons learnt, and the tools and resources required for successful integration programmes. Drawing on these case studies, the briefing will set out key elements for success in integration and recommendations for governments to achieve these ends.

Speaker: Vidhya Ramalingam, The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and Professor Shamit Saggar (discussant), University of Sussex