Good Practice Criteria
Inclusivity & Participation
Does the practice ensure that its services are accessible and responsive to diverse groups?
CURANT is aimed at a range of target groups, including among young newcomer refugees and members of their Italian host society, and including people of all genders.
Good practice checklist
✓ Adopt a participatory, gender mainstreaming, age sensitive, inclusive approach and secure equal opportunities for beneficiaries.
✓ Make sure to provide precise and accessible information on how to access services in different languages, formats and through different communication channels
✓ Ensure that equality and diversity are an essential part of how services are delivered, taking into consideration different needs and capacities.
− Make reasonable adjustments to service delivery in order to take into account particular needs of the target group.
Does the practice involve the active participation of the receiving society?
The project places the receiving society at the centre of the support it offers. Both newcomer refugees and the local population are directly involved in the cohousing activities around which the project is built.
Good practice checklist
✓ Consider integration as a two-way process, and aim for change on the side of the receiving society.
✓ Foresee an active role for the receiving society in the design and implementation stages of the practice, and involve actions that encourage native communities and beneficiaries to work together.
Does the practice consult its beneficiaries and involve them in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the action?
Beneficiaries’ needs and perspectives are monitored throughout the project. They actively participate in project activities and in the evaluation of its impact and outcomes, but were not consulted during the initial design and creation phase.
Good practice checklist
– Organise consultation activities with migrant beneficiaries in order to co-create actions where possible and secure their feedback on the design and evaluation of the action.
✓ Provide appropriate feedback mechanisms by which beneficiaries can safely express their opinions on service quality.
– Use flexible and interculturally-adapted formats and compensate participants for their contribution.
Relevance & Complementarity
Are the objectives of the practice relevant to the needs of the migrants?
The objective of the practice is highly relevant to the needs of migrants, particularly in terms of their integration, language learning, and development of a social network. The project is delivered at the local level, and therefore has a relatively small target area. Cohabitation between members of the host society and newcomers allows for constant adaptation of project practices. Case management meetings are also scheduled to define case-specific strategies and address contextual issues.
Good practice checklist
✓ Identify and analyse the needs of the relevant migrants and prioritise methods which directly ask them about their needs.
– Identify and analyse gaps in integration support and design actions to fill these gaps.
✓ Aim for systemic improvement, satisfying the needs of the majority of target groups in the target area.
Is the practice relevant to the empowerment of migrants, the strengthening of their autonomy and the support of their long-term integration?
CURANT significantly promotes the long-term integration of young refugees at the local level through the individualised housing support it offers, and project activities are designed to promote their empowerment by encouraging their confidence and independence in the hosting context. CURANT directly addresses problems of discrimination, particularly in the housing system.
Good practice checklist
✓ Devise actions with the overarching goal of providing positive feedback and making migrants more confident, autonomous and independent.
– Contribute to migrants’ engagement with the community for the common good.
✓ Ensure that services contribute to the strengthening of the capacities of migrants/migrant communities.
✓ Include (or create the preconditions for) actions that facilitate long-term integration.
✓ Address discrimination and information gaps as obstacles to long-term integration.
Does the practice align with the priorities, strategic goals and policies of other relevant stakeholders, and contribute to the wider integration framework?
CURANT relies on a multi-stakeholder partnership network, with political and academic partners as well as partners from within civil society. All partners share strategic goals and policies that relate to the integration of newcomer refugees. As an ERDF-funded project, CURANT complies with European human rights standards. Its contribution to policy improvement is evidenced in the fact that the project activities have been continued – albeit on a smaller scale – since the project’s official closure in 2019.
Good practice checklist
✓ Ensure that all actions are in line with international and European human rights standards.
✓ Employ regional/local, national and EU/international level integration-related guidelines and tools.
✓ Make sure that the services offered contribute to the strengthening of the capacities of relevant institutions to support future development.
Effectiveness
Is the practice adequately planned and based on a comprehensive design?
CURANT relies on comprehensively planned field practices and project management activities, including monitoring and risk management mechanisms. Progress is measured according to specific indicators and presented in regular evaluation reports, and objectives and expected outcomes are adapted at the individual level.
Good practice checklist
✓ Aim for actions that achieve observable outcomes among the target group or contribute to changes during the implementation of the action.
✓ Make sure that the objectives and planned results of the activity are feasible and clear.
– Develop a communications strategy during the design phase of the action and pay attention to communication with host communities and local authorities.
− Develop a staff management plan to identify team members with the right skills to work with beneficiaries, and their needs for training and further qualification.
Does the practice regularly monitor implementation and evaluate its results?
Does the practice regularly monitor implementation and evaluate its results? CURANT relies on systematic monitoring: data on implementation and impact are collected, analysed and reported at different stages of the project. Over the course of the initial project, a risk-management team had regular contact with all migrant and non-migrant participants to ensure accurate monitoring. The long-term impact and sustainability of the project is evidenced by the fact that it has been able to continue beyond its original end date.
Good practice checklist
✓ Ensure regular monitoring of action implementation and compare actual performance to goals set during the design phase.
− Anticipate obstacles that might occur and plan alternative scenarios during the design phase of the action.
✓ Ensure achievement of intended outputs / outcomes.
✓ Determine whether practice outcomes are considered successful by beneficiaries, the host and practitioner communities, funders, and policymakers.
− Assess whether interventions contribute to long-term sustainable change.
Partnership & Collaboration
Does the practice establish communication and coordination with other relevant actors to foster the integration of migrants? (e.g., migrants, civil society, public authorities, businesses)
The multi-stakeholder partnership within which CURANT operates, as well as its particularly local focus, allows for the development of productive relationships with relevant actors. This strengthens its ability to further foster the integration of young migrants at the local level.
Good practice checklist
– Ensure the involvement and participation of key stakeholders in the development phase and create strategies to involve them in the action.
✓ Include multi-stakeholder consultation with professionals, institutions, and citizens, in order to promote the meaningful participation of refuges and migrants and support a joint sense of ownership of decisions and actions.
Does the practice contribute to discussion on the improvement of integration support policies?
The project’s outcomes and specific outputs serve to inform discussion on integration practices and policies in both the local and international context, and contributing to the development of effective practices in integration is among its main aims. The project’s academic partner reviews project practices and impact.
Good practice checklist
✓ Seize opportunities to contribute to the development of comprehensive integration strategies involving EU-level/national/regional/local authorities, service providers and civil society.
✓ Work with relevant partners to jointly review operations, practices, services, and integration outcomes.