Good Practice Criteria
Inclusivity & Participation
Does the practice ensure that its services are accessible and responsive to diverse groups?
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?
There is active participation in the project from individuals, institutions and organisations, including many volunteers. Those that complete the MigraCode course find themselves more appealing to recruiters and employers, and in a stronger position for labour market participation.
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?
MigraCode includes both its volunteers and students in the development of the course. Volunteer teachers are consulted on the inclusion of a new element or module, for example, to ensure it fits the curriculum. A feedback form is also made available at the end of every module for both teachers and students.
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
Is the practice relevant to the empowerment of migrants, the strengthening of their autonomy and the support of their long-term integration?
Participation in MigraCode gives migrants a stronger profile in the labour market and secures them more opportunities to secure work at tech companies. Apart from the coding course itself, MigraCode offers psychosocial, legal and mentoring support that contributes to their long-term integration, and raises awareness of racism and discrimination through social media and events.
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.
✓ Contribute to migrants’ engagement with the community for the common good.
✓ 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?
As the goal of many similar institutions and organisations is to promote the integration of migrants, MigraCode aligns well with these stakeholders. The project also implements various tools and methods that are in line with EU human rights standards, and could encourage institutional and legislative reform through setting a precedent for migrant involvement in the tech sector.
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?
MigraCode promotes upskilling for vulnerable communities to help them find new and better labour opportunities. This not only strengthens migrant communities as a whole, but also meets the demand for skilled talent in the tech sector and thus contributes to a more inclusive and diverse society.
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.
✓ Ensure the practice is based on indicators that are measurable, achievable, and relevant.
✓ 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?
MigraCode monitors the implementation and results of every course cycle. During team meetings, challenges are discussed and activities correspondingly adjusted. Jobs and other opportunities secured as a result of a migrant’s participation in the project are kept track of, feedback is requested from students and teachers, and student progresss is monitored through homework and final project results. Specific goals are set to measure student, volunteer and labour market success. The project also keeps in touch with those who ultimately hire their students, in order to measure the impact of the course on both the host society and on the integration of former students.
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.
Sustainability
Is the practice prepared to sustain its positive effects after completion?
MigraCode has a stable sustainability plan, developed through analysis of past courses and expectations for the future. As the project is run by the Open Cultural Centre, it is financially sustained by the centre’s budget. At the same time, due to the technical aspects of the programme, MigraCode can also strongly rely on stable CSR funding.
Good practice checklist
✓ During the design phase, anticipate opportunities to continue the intervention after completion.
✓ Prepare and apply a well-defined sustainability plan to ensure the continuation of positive effects / outcomes.
✓ Devote resources to building capacities during the implementation phase, in order to ensure that the necessary human resources, expertise and infrastructure are in place to sustain the services upon completion of the action.
Does the practice attract structural funding and support from new sponsors and individuals, or have the potential to develop a business model to generate its own resources?
MigraCode attracts donations and funding from other organisations and the European Union. MigraCode Barcelona is part of a larger European network also organised by the Open Cultural Centre, which aims to develop long-term, shared funding opportunities and educational improvements through transnational collaboration.
Good practice checklist
✓ Develop partnerships and relations with relevant stakeholders at the early stage of the action to ensure that the practice has strong support and potential partners for after the primary funding terminates.
✓ Identify new EU and national funding opportunities for long-term integration (e.g., shifting from project-based initiatives that are limited in time or dependent on one (external) donor to a comprehensive, multi-year strategy based on secured funding or diverse funding opportunities).
✓ Diversify funding opportunities and identify options for self-financing through business activities or social entrepreneurship.
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)
Migracode collaborates with various tech companies, NGOs and civil society actors. For example, some students know of MigraCode because they were referred to it by their local government.
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?
Since MigraCode promotes the integration of migrants, it is also likely that it contributes to improvement of integration support policies.
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.