Integration is dialogue, not a monologue

A solution by World Café Europe submitted to Building Social Labs for Integration!

Is the refugee crisis really over? The first wave met urgent needs. A challenging second wave awaits refugees: integration into European society. Our initiative brings citizens and refugees together to explore new approaches for integration. This prototype of a dialogue process will cultivate connections and friendship. Feedback will define a scalable model to be used in neighborhoods in Europe.

(Pitched: 14/04/2018)

One Page Summary

We live in a connected world. Yet our ability to truly connect with refugees in Europe seems to be a challenge. What can we all do to make the personal connection with each other and, by so doing, foster sustainable integration?
As a German participant in a large scale dialogue of 200 Munich citizens and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia stated „Contact and conversations with foreigners, getting to know refugees and those who live in Germany, is very, very important.“ Talking can bring us all together.
Our initiative „Integration is dialogue, not monologue“ aims to prototype an approach in which citizens and refugees design and host large scale dialogues about fostering integration in their neighborhoods, cities and regions. We aim to test the approach in a neighborhood of Munich which has traditional roots as well as a large immigrant population and refugee housing. Both the results and feedback from this testing phase will serve to improve the overall process in order to repeat an improved dialogue experience in other neighborhoods in Munich. During this citywide roll-out, the process will be continually improved until it is ready to be scaled to other cities and regions throughout Europe.
Many would argue that „just talking“ with each other is not an innovative approach. But in the 21st century we all experience daily and understand the wisdom of the crowd through the internet and mobile apps. The potential for collaboration and innovation is clearly evident. The refugees who fled to Europe demonstrated agility and innovation. Whether they survived the perilous waters of the Mediterranean or walked through countries by foot, they used available information and resources to address ever-shifting challenges. This ability lies at the heart of any successful innovation. Our initiative aims to tap into this incredible resource and life's wisdom to explore avenues for integration throughout Europe. Together the wisdom of these refugees, local citizens and dedicated helper groups will identify realizable ideas to foster integration in Europe.
World Café Europe’s team will serve as mentors to this co-creation process. We bring more than 10 years of experience of conceptual develeopment and realization of large scale dialogues about issues that matter throughout Europe to this initiative. Know-how in project management, social media, videography, visualization and analysis deepens our ability to develop innovative and results-oriented approaches for dialogues of all sizes in a broad spectrum of sectors.
However, the core team of the initiative „Integration is a dialogue, not a monologue“ will be the citizens, helper groups and refugees themselves. Together with World Café Europe’s team, they will co-create the dialogue and be coached/mentored to facilitate them in their local neighborhood.
What is our plan?
Phase 1 A Kick-Off event will be hosted to remind citizens that our common task to integrate refugees into Munich society has only begun. Both social media and public relations will be used to raise the awareness for both the topic and the Kick-Off event. 
Phase 2 A Call for Action using a variety of social media channels as well as analogue media formats (postcards, local press etc.) will be made to motivate citizens and refugees to actively participate in the initiative.
Phase 3 Tandem Teams, consisting of 1 local citizen and 1 refugee, will be formed. These teams will collaborate with World Café Europe to co-create the dialogue experience.
Phase 4 The Tandem Teams will be coached and mentored by World Café Europe’s experienced team in the facilitation of the dialogue experience. Tandems will also coach one another via Peer-to-Peer Coaching.
Phase 5 After the planning and preparation has been completed during the previous four phases, the tandem teams will be ready to set-up and facilitate the dialogue with local residents and refugees, helper groups, and immigrants.
Phase 6 After the dialogue has taken place, a series of de-briefing meetings will be held with the Tandem Teams and World Café Europe to discuss the dialogue design, results and recommendations as well as the overall project management and processes.
Phase 7 Building on the deliberations and the conclusions of the team’s reflections, these considerations will flow into the creation of a strategic plan to create a robust framework for scaling the initiative to additional Munich neighborhoods as well as other cities and regions throughout Europe.
At the core of this initiative is the mix of refugees and Europeans in conversation with each other. Together they will discover and recognize the emergence of new approaches for integration. Providing a forum for such meaningful conversations to occur throughout Europe is a simple yet elegant innovative approach. The result? The creation of realizable ideas which reflect the needs of Munich‘s diverse neighborhoods and, ultimately cities and regions in Europe as well.