MILE training on inclusive and meaningful participation

As part of the project’s activities to promote the participation of migrants and refugees in local policy-making, MILE is currently organising free online training in four European municipalities: Riga (Latvia), Ripollet (Spain), Ioannina (Greece) and Birmingham (UK) around the topics of meaningful and inclusive participation, diversity in policy-making, migrant and refugee advocacy, interculturality and collaboration. Designed for representatives of municipalities, city councils, local service providers and local migrant collectives, the training is facilitated by New Women Connectors and will be carried out in November and December 2022. The outcomes of the training will be made available in 2023.

You can register for an upcoming training session here. For more information, please contact vcotterell@unitee.eu

Who is the training for and how is it organised?

The training is designed for members of migrant collectives and organisations working with migrant groups as well as individuals working in inclusion, participation or outreach departments of municipalities, local service designers, municipality advisors and consultants in migration and integration departments.

The training sessions include national and cross-country sessions. While municipalities and migrant communities follow a separate training, on one occasion participants from each municipality will take part in a joint training together with migrants and representatives of migrant collectives.

What approach does the training follow?

The training for municipalities and local policy-makers uses approaches such as co-creation and design-thinking to better understand and respond to the needs of a diverse population. It invites municipalities to rethink their current processes of participation and decision-making, uses case studies and best practices from different cities to present different approaches to involve migrants and refugees in local policy-making,and guides municipalities towards setting up a consultative body to engage migrants and refugees in local policy-making in a sustainable and inclusive way.

The training for migrant communities focuses on facilitating meaningful participation and inclusive representation through local migrant organisations. It aims to migrants’ barriers to local participation, help organisations understand the journeys and needs of different migrant groups in their city, increase the advocacy capacity and inclusiveness of migrant-led organisations and help participants build inclusive and sustainable migrant communities across Europe.

The training content

  • The policy cycle and how meaningful participation looks like in each of the steps of the policy cycle
  • Using the journey to highlight the diversity of migration and the different needs of migrants and refugees
  • How local services provided by the municipality or council can meet migrants’ needs
  • Intercultural management in the local context
  • Defining and addressing barriers of the participation in cities
  • Mapping migrant organisations’ decision-making structure and advocacy strategy
  • Finding sustainable ways for making local participation more inclusive migrants
  • Planning a migrant consultative body in municipalities
  • The steps of co-design and the relevance for inclusive participation and policy-making
  • Advocacy and community leadership for migrant and refugee collectives