German
Integration and Equality of Opportunity
- Making a wave
Integration and equality of opportunity are two central themes of the neighborhood management program. Young people and individuals with an immigration background deserve special attention and support.
Read more on these subjects and further focal areas and projects.
Integrative approaches
The integrative approach is of crucial importance to the “Socially Integrative City” program. One unique factor in district development is the overlapping of very different problems from widely diverse fields of public policy. In “districts with special development needs,” social issues coincide with architectural issues, and integration problems coincide with educational problems.
In order to successfully promote district development, cooperation transcending the different administrative departments is required. Building an efficient management system of coordination, cooperation, and participation is indispensable. Investments in the urban architectural environment should ultimately be linked with support to other areas so that districts can develop and flourish—not only architecturally, but also socially, ecologically, and economically.
Integration and equality of opportunity are two major themes of the Neighborhood Management program. Different approaches and funding opportunities are designed to encourage people from other countries to become active in working for their neighborhoods, and to help both younger and older residents to obtain qualifications that translate into jobs on the labor market.
In the field of education major deficits sometimes exist—especially among people with an immigration background. Those without a secondary school diploma or good German skills have significantly lower chances of finding regular employment. Promoting adult education and language learning is therefore top priority in districts with a high percentage of immigrants.
Along with the focus on education, emphasis is also placed on improving the local economy. The employment situation can be promoted, for example, by helping area businesses develop concerted advertising strategies. In December 2004, representatives of the Berlin Neighborhood Management areas met with economic experts to develop common strategies. Cooperation with the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce has been organized to promote the integration of local residents into the labor market.
On the national level, numerous neighborhood projects can be found in the different Neighborhood Management areas. Their strong social commitment and involvement at the local level promotes the integration of all community residents into local processes and structures. On an annual basis, the “Socially Integrative City” competition selects exemplary projects to receive special honors. One of eight prizes awarded nationwide in 2004 went to the restructured Erika Mann Elementary School in the Pankstraße area of Berlin, and a further project in the Moabit West area received public honors in January 2005.
For Berlin’s Neighborhood Management areas, funding is provided not only through the “Socially Integrative City” program but also through “Local Capital for Social Purposes” (LOS). This nationwide program allocates funds to so-called “microprojects” active at the local level in fostering the participation of all social groups in the development of their neighborhoods and especially in promoting these groups’ integration into the local labor market.
Open to young people
- Boys attending the group meeting MoaMeet
Photo: Neighborhood management Moabit West
All efforts to strengthen democracy and increase solidarity and prosperity in society need to integrate young people in particular. Their active participation in decisions and activities at the municipal level and thus also in Neighborhood Management is essential.
Young people are fellow citizens just like the other age groups within communities, and all the different forms of social participation should be available to them as well. By supporting and encouraging young people’s active participation, municipalities and regions not only contribute to the social integration of young people but also help them find ways to deal with the pressures they face and rise to the challenges of modern society.
The Standing Conference of the Districts and Regions of Europe created the foundation of a youth-oriented policy as early as March 1992 with the adoption of the European Charter for the participation of young people in public life (New version of the Charter 2003, PDF, 45 kB).
The Program in Practice: “District Mothers”
Many parents have problems providing adequate support to their children in the area of education and training. Here it is necessary to take steps and institute measures that start all children off with equal opportunities. The “District Mothers” project aims at reaching parents with a migration background better and transmitting linguistic and social competencies. In special courses, “district mothers” of non-German origin are trained to visit families and discuss with them various education-related issues and how best to provide targeted support to children and young people.
Expanding on the positive experiences with the “District Mothers” project in the Schillerpromenade Neighborhood Management area, an overarching pilot project is underway to establish a network among all nine Neighborhood Management areas in Neukölln. This project will anchor the orientation and counseling services provided by “district mothers” in the framework of a sustainable structure managed at the borough level. During the three-year pilot phase, the four partners involved will cooperate closely to design sustainable structures.
The network character of the pilot project is to be further enhanced through the supportive involvement of the borough, allowing synergies to unfold regarding project organization and networking and public relations work.
The project corresponds to the new approach to model projects within the “Socially Integrative City” support program of the Federal Ministry for Transport, Building, and Urban Affairs. The “District Mothers” program brings together in exemplary fashion a number of different approaches from the integrative action concept of Neighborhood Management: men and women with immigration backgrounds attend a compact “training program” that places them in a position to speak directly with families from their own community about different topics (immigration, language, work, health, law, education, and targeted support to children and young people). This program is able to reach social groups that are generally outside the educational and public welfare system, and encourages families with a migration background to open up to their neighborhoods.
urthermore, the women themselves improve their abilities to meet the task of supporting their children’s education and schooling. The abilities “district mothers” develop in this program remain useful to them, and may set the course for future careers as well.
A cooperation agreement on the implementation of the “District Mothers” pilot project was concluded between the Senate Department, the Borough of Neukölln, the Employment Office of South Berlin, and the Neukölln-Oberspree Social Service Agency of the Evangelical Church. The agreement defines the general and concrete goals and stages of work, and stipulates the different tasks and the cooperation among all participants. The signing at the federal government’s Integration Summit on July 14, 2006, emphasizes the exemplary nature of this project in the Socially Integrative City program. The Federal Ministry for Transport, Building, and Urban Affairs additionally provided a large portion of the funding, and is providing ongoing support in the realization of the model project.
The financing of the “District Mothers” pilot project comes from the Socially Integrative City program funds and borough funds. The budget shows total costs for the three-year duration of the project in the amount of €913,437. Of this, the borough covers €345,882. A further €567,554 are to be financed through a grant from the Senate Department for Urban Development, one-third of which is federally funded. This funding pays for the education of the 166 “district mothers” and their work in the neighborhoods, which in 2007 and 2008 reached a total of approximately 2,288 families in the Neighborhood Management areas of northern Neukölln with information and advice. The pilot project is being evaluated on an ongoing basis, and the results of the evaluation will help to determine the further orientation and structure of the project.
(Translation: Deborah Bowen, Monika Scheele Knight, H. Hübner)