Good Practice Criteria
Inclusivity & Participation
Does the practice ensure that its services are accessible and responsive to diverse groups?
Not only is this practice a good example in provision of accessible and responsive services to diverse groups via a participatory and inclusive approach, it also represents a new model of social integration – one based on social, economic and environmental sustainability. A community manager and cultural mediator are involved in the project to ensure accessibility for target groups, and an Italian language course is offered to facilitate the active participation of asylum seekers and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection.
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 Salus Space practice is promising in terms of its encouragement of the active participation of local people. 30% of participants are local residents, and activities at the centre regularly involve the local community. These include cultural spectacles, events, and markets selling local produce.
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?
All project beneficiaries are actively involved in the organisation of community life and in the work of the project monitoring committee. Regular planning and decision meetings are held to which all participants are invited. During the testing phase of the project a community manager was used to collect feedback (opinions, suggestions and complaints) from residents.
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?
Refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection encounter many obstacles upon leaving Italy’s reception system, including in relation to housing access, discrimination, and social network building. Salus Space provides solutions to these difficulties by offering temporary accommodation options, personal networking opportunities, and promotion of active integration at the local level.
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?
By actively involving migrants in the management of its new community model, the practice empowers them to overcome obstacles to long-term integration, such as information gaps and social inequalities. The practice is built on a generative welfare model based on circular economy mechanism.
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?
alus Space analysed gaps in integration support and proposed a new model of integration wherein reception centres acquire a new centrality and refugees are supported to feel part of the host community. The new model was created in close cooperation with the Municipality of Bologna and the ASP Public Agency, building on knowledge and experience gained through the previous involvement of ASP in co-housing projects.
Good practice checklist
✓ Make sure that the services offered contribute to the strengthening of the capacities of relevant institutions to support future development.
✓ Employ regional/local, national and EU/international level integration-related guidelines and tools.
Effectiveness
Is the practice adequately planned and based on a comprehensive design?
The project adopts a holistic view of health that integrates social and cultural aspects with environmental and economic. All aspects of housing, living, and green space were planned using co-design techniques. Communication is an important dimension of the project: it is seen as essential not only for creating mutual awareness but also from a circular economy perspective.
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?
Monitoring activities, conducted largely by the Institute for Social Research (IRS), have been part of the project since its inception. Certain beneficiaries have also received monitoring training. During the planning phase, focus groups were used to identify both potential future obstacles and the specific needs of those using the centre. Since the beginning, a community manager and cultural mediator have been used to facilitate monitoring activities.
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?
Since the main objective of the project is to create an innovative and replicable model of reception and integration for refugees, it has been necessary to ensure adequate conditions for its autonomy in the longer term. The adoption of a circular economy approach and the development of sustainable infrastructure and partnerships have strengthened the project’s community, and various actors hope to continue the activities once the initial EU-funded phase is complete. This phase has always been considered a ‘stepping stone’ towards a self-sustaining, autonomous project in the longer term.
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?
everal new EU- and national-level sources of funding have already been offered to secure continuation of the practice, although an explicit project aim is the development of a business model for generation of its own income.
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)
The successful running of the practice is the result of partnership and cooperation between both public and private actors since the very beginning, and ensures that every activity is beneficial to the entire Salus Space community. Business support organisation Microfinanza srl has also been supporting the development of a strong business model and the competences essential to economic autonomy.
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 practice represents improvements to co-housing practices previously developed by the Municipality of Bologna.
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.