The Integration Conference “From Security to Solidarity: Challenges of Integration in the Times of Crisis” took place in November 2023. The event proposed an in-depth exploration of integration-themed topics, providing a platform for discussions and best practices exchange, drawing from narratives both within and outside Europe. The Integration Conference is designed for experts in the field of integration, policymakers, scholars, but also enthusiasts, practitioners, representatives from the third sector and the general public.
The conference opened with an overview of the results of the project “Improving Communication with Migrants for Crisis Preparedness” led by Tanya Escudero, that served as a transition to move from the covid crisis to the current war crisis.
More about the Integration Conference and agenda here.
Abstract: The project “Improving Communication with Migrants for Crisis Preparedness: Lessons Learned From COVID-19”, which was carried out by researchers in Estonia, Finland and Latvia, sought to map obstacles in communicating with communities with low command of the official language and identify good practices that could be implemented in future emergencies.
The results show that, in addition to the underlying distrust of state institutions among the population, there have been several obstacles that have further aggravated the situation and perhaps put society at risk, including insufficient information available in non-official languages or the slow provision of this information; conflicting or confusing messages from official sources; the viral spread of misinformation in different spheres, such as social media; a lack of cooperation between governments and other stakeholders; and monolithic strategies that are not adapted to the needs and concerns of specific communities, such as the approach adopted during the vaccination campaign.
The resulting reports are available for open access here.
