Osservatorio per l'integrazione: Partner List

PROPOSAL OF COLLABORATION ON THE ISSUES OF IMMIGRATION,
SOCIAL INCLUSION AND SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
BETWEEN
CIRAB – INTERDEPARTMENTAL RESEARCH CENTRE ON THE ADRIATIC
SEA AND THE BALKANS, MARCHE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY – Italy
DEPARTMENT FOR THE STUDY OF MEDITERRANEAN SOCIETIES – BARI UNIVERSITY – Italy
INSTITUTE OF STUDIES ON MEDITERRANEAN SOCIETIES – CNR – Italy
CENTER FOR RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION (CRDC)- VALONA – Albania
CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STUDIES (CESS) – TIRANA – Albania
FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCES – UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE - Serbia
FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCES – UNIVERSITY OF BUCAREST - Romania
INSTITUTE OF POLITICAL SCIENCES AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR – ROMANIAN ACADEMY – BUCAREST, Romania
MISKOLC UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF ARTS, DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY – Hungary
UNIVERSITY OF THESSALY – LABORATORY OF DEMOGRAPHIC AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS (LDSA) – Greece

Background

The issue of immigrants’ integration is becoming more and more relevant in the EU agenda. It is now a shared belief that integration is important for a good outcome of the EU enlargement; The EU has acknowledged the importance of immigrants’ integration, an attitude proved by the 2005 document “A Common Agenda for the Integration, Framework for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals in European Union”. Such a document is an attempt at harmonizing integration policies at the European level.
In such a context, in the last four years, several initiatives on immigrants’ integration have been carried out in the Marche Region, in particular within the framework of the following projects: ENI – Experiment in Newcomers Integration -, funded by the Interreg III B Cadses Programme, of which the Marche Region is lead partner, and SIOI – Social Inclusion of Immigrants, funded by the INTERREG III A Programme, of which UNIVPM is lead partner.
Both projects deal with the integration of immigrants at the local level, with an area-focused approach. With such initiatives, shared solutions have been sought for shared problems in a specific geographical area, by means of best practices.
The SIOI and ENI experiences have undeniably proved that the role of local institutions in the field of immigrants’ integration is of paramount importance.
The implementation of integration initiatives, indeed, is first and foremost at the local level. On the other hand, the consequences of bad integration may also affect the national and European levels.
A real integration needs a systemic change, that may be attained through the creation of strong and credible local coalitions, in which all the relevant actors at the local level are involved.
The method of active participation of key local subjects, experimented within the ENI project, and the research activity performed within the SIOI project, highlighted the following:
  • the importance of further issues of interest, such as social inclusion and sustainable local development;
  • the importance of collaboration between universities, institutions and the third sector, in order to develop the necessary knowledge to elaborate solutions for the identified issues;
  • the need of instruments that guarantee continuity of observation and survey but that are also capable of identifying operational and concrete solutions, to provide answers to local development, social inclusion and migration at the local level, in view of a networking of the various local institutional and social actors.
The hereunder agreement is entered into with the aim of:
  1. promoting cross-university cooperation in the field of research on the issues of immigrants’ integration, social inclusion, sustainable economic development;
  2. fostering the implementation of new local cooperation projects aimed at social inclusion, especially of immigrants, and at a sustainable local economic development.
In order to facilitate the collaboration and circulation of information and studies on social inclusion (with particular reference to immigrants’ inclusion)
and on local sustainable development, the parties undertake to:
  1. Increase the exchange of experiences and results of research, workshops and courses;
  2. Keep one other updated on the conferences, debates and workshops organized by the respective structures (Departments, Faculties, etc.) and guarantee the exchange and circulation of documents and publications stemming from the aforementioned activities;
  3. Promote exchanges of researchers and students, through their participation in courses, conferences, workshops and conventions organized by the Universities and Research Institutes part of the agreement.
Furthermore:
The participating Universities and Research Institutes are willing to promote the creation of a permanent network of universities, institutions and relevant organizations to facilitate the management of immigrants’ integration at the local level, with the aim of:
  1. Rationalizing existing information at the local level on immigrants' integration, which are currently disjointed and inconsistent;
  2. Elaborating and implementing effective integration policies;
  3. Fostering the implementation of effective and innovative policies on immigrants’ integration, inspiring the creation of centres of knowledge and supporting local actors in the management and planning of services and actions;
  4. Streamlining the planning of interventions by all the public and private subjects in the field of immigrants' integration.