An article about how the Brno City Council is taking steps to create a coherent strategy for the integration of foreigners, in line with the wider social inclusion plan.
When PELICAN was kindly invited by the Brno City Council to take part on the discussion about Strategy for the Integration of Foreigners in the City of Brno II (continuation of the same group last year, with the aim of creating the Strategy for the Integration of Foreigners of the City of Brno for 2020-2026) with the topic of “Communication and Diversity management”, he did not hesitate to confirm his participation.
Not only that he has, thanks to the rich experience from a European educational and integrational projects, to say a lot on the topic, but he is also a good listener – and is always willing to jump into new projects, or even initiate them on the basis of confirmed analyses and expected positive results.
“Strategy for the Integration of Foreigners of the City of Brno for 2020-2026 is a crucial strategic document that the city has been missing for a long time. Its aim is to describe the key issues and challenges in the field of integration of foreigners, which the inhabitants of Brno face, and find solutions.”
The key element for a document to be created is the discussion (working) groups. Their goal is to create a space for opinions and experience of both institutions and organizations that meet with foreigners, foreigners themselves and professionals and citizens affected by the topic. Therefore, participants in these workshops /discussions (non-profit organizations, Brno residents, officials, academics, politicians) can significantly influence the direction in which the city will focus in the field of integration of foreigners.
Based on the data collected by the city over the past two years, 8 working groups have been set up, each of them is dealing with a specific topic. In the first block, which took place in the autumn of last year and which PELICAN also participated in, were discussed topics of mainstreaming integration measures across public space, among other topics, for example, sounded the acquisition of Czech language by foreigners and the development of professional, intercultural and other skills of public institutions workers. Based on the discussion, the final report “Data and Facts about Foreigners in Brno” was created. The resulting analytical part and the set of defined priority objectives is a fundamental step towards creating a Strategy document.
The second block (II) of the discussion was focused on the results of this report. Quantitative parts of the survey and the significance of the resulting data for mutual communication and diversity managements were discussed, but attention was also paid to the results of qualitative research. Participants were particularly interested in blind spots, whether it still makes sense to focus on other areas of the topic under consideration. The priority objective of the discussion was to clarify the goals and ideas of the participants in the discussion group in relation to mutual communication and diversity management. To put it simply, we were looking for connections between the different participants, on the basis of which we tried to create common visions, goals and priorities for the Strategy program.
The need of effective learning of Czech language for foreigners – especially language courses on topical topics – was discussed, not only to help the foreigners to learn the language of the host country, but also to learn them the language which will help them to practically exist in the new society. The big topic was also effective communication with any linguistic or ethnic groups at municipal level. It is important to look at the challenges from the opposite perspective – crucial then is not only to integrate the newcomers, but also not to forget the office workers, who often do not know / do not have the tools / there is a language barrier to deal with the different coming culture.
Migration is a common phenomenon, especially in large European cities. Focusing on all aspects and finding blind spots is the only way to prevent future problems such as creating closed communities and places where it can be dangerous.
Language school PELICAN / Association PELICAN
