A conference entitled Supporting the integration of foreigners at the local level (KapaCITY) will take place from 24 to 25 February 2021 online (via Zoom).

The conference will, using the findings of three years of the KapaCITY project, provide answers to the following questions related to local integration in Slovakia:

• What kind of local integration policies exist in Slovakia?

• Who are the migrants that live in particular localities of Slovakia?

• Which approaches should municipalities employ in order to involve migrants in participatory and proactive ways?

• How should integration be communicated to the public and how should information be provided to migrants?

The conference will present key outcomes of the KapaCITY project, mainly good practices that have been adopted by municipalities in the areas of migrant service provision and migrant participation in local integration policies and measures.

Main themes will be: local policies and the profile of migrants in Slovakia from regional perspectives; challenges related to the preparation of municipality employees in working with migrants; participation and proactive involvement of migrants in municipalities; communication on integration with the public; and service provision to migrants.

The closing section of the conference will consider the directions in which local integration in Slovakia should be directed, and upcoming roles and challenges for municipalities.

Although the conference will focus on Slovakia, experiences from other countries and localities will be provided as examples to participants. The event will welcome proactive migrants involved in policymaking at the local level as well as host-country natives from the Czech Republic, Sweden and Austria.

Find further details and the event’s full programme here.

Find out more about KapaCITY here.

Sources: https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/event/online-event-kapacity—supporting-the-integration-of-foreigners-at-the-local-level, https://www.hrl.sk/en,

www.ceeidentity.eu/center-research, https://www.nadaciamilanasimecku.sk