The Rle f Culture and the Arts in the Integratin f Refugees and Migrants: Member State Questinnaires Elaine McGregr and Nra Ragab Eurpean Expert Netwrk n Culture and Audivisual (EENCA) Date published: 14 June 2016
This prject has been financed by the Eurpean Cmmissin, DG Educatin and culture Directrate Culture and Creativity Unit cultural diversity and innvatin. Under cntract number: EAC - 2015-0184. The infrmatin and views set ut in this reprt are thse f the authr(s) and d nt necessarily reflect the fficial pinin f the Eurpean Unin. 2
1 Intrductin In late 2015, a wrking grup cmprising f Member State experts was established by EU Culture Ministers 1 t explre hw culture and the arts can bring peple tgether in the cntext f the refugee crisis. In February 2016, the grup cmmissined the EENCA t cnduct a literature review and preliminary mapping f relevant practices, related t the central questin: Hw can culture and the arts help t integrate refugees and migrants? The preliminary mapping identified 96 initiatives frm a range f Eurpean cities including Barcelna, Budapest, Berlin and Lndn. Ahead f the next meeting f the grup in June 2016, members f the grup agreed t cmplete a vluntary questinnaire identifying relevant initiatives in their respective cuntries. Nine Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary and Prtugal 2 ) have cmpleted the questinnaire t date. This the results f which are presented in this shrt summary reprt. The purpse f the reprt is tw-fld, the first is t prvide a summary verview f the initiatives identified. The secnd is t ffer recmmendatins fr systematising the cllectin f initiatives t infrm future analysis. 2 Analysis 2.1 What? Main characteristics f Initiatives In ttal 54 3 initiatives were identified acrss the seven cuntries 4. The majrity f initiatives (54%) were classified as multi-disciplinary meaning that they used a number f different frms f art in their implementatin. This finding was als reflected in the results f the preliminary mapping, where ver ne third f the initiatives identified were classified as Art and Culture (Diverse), meaning that they emplyed at least tw different frms f art in their implementatin (Table 1). Table 1: Number f Initiatives by Member State Preliminary Mapping Questinnaires Type f Initiative N. f Initiatives Percentage N. f Initiatives Percentage Multidisciplinary 37 38.5% 29 53.7% Theatre/Drama 18 18.8% 4 7.41% Visual Art 9 9.4% 3 5.56% Literature 8 8.3% 0 0.00% Gastrnmy 6 6.3% 3 5.56% Heritage 6 6.3% 4 7.41% Music 5 5.2% 3 5.56% Media 3 3.1% 1 1.85% Film 2 2.1% 5 9.26% Urban Design 2 2.1% 0 0.00% Dance 0 0.0% 1 1.85% Strytelling 0 0.0% 1 1.85% Ttal 96 100.0% 54 100.00% 1 Member State expert grups n culture are cnvened under the Open Methd f Crdinatin, and are knwn as OMC Grups. 2 The respnses frm France and Prtugal will be included in future analysis as submissin was made after the preparatin f the reprt. They have been included in the annex. 3 One initiative was excluded as it specifically fcused n using sprt t prmte integratin, an area being cvered by ther research. 4 Belgium (9 initiatives), Bulgaria (11 initiatives), Czech Republic (6 initiatives), Germany (9 initiatives), Denmark (5 initiatives), Finland (initiatives) and Hungary (5 initiatives) 3
The primary aim f ver ne third (38%) f initiatives was t prmte cultural awareness, hence, cntributing t mutual understanding and intercultural dialgue (Figure 1). A further quarter (24%) fcused n educatin (e.g. language acquisitin). The remaining initiatives fcused n the prmtin f well-being (thrugh selfexpressin and/r pst-traumatic therapy) (14%); bringing peple tgether in the same physical space (13%) and empwerment thrugh the prvisin f infrmatin n rights and entitlements (11%). Figure 1: Main aim f initiatives 5 Empwerment Bringing peple tgether Well-being Educatin Cultural awareness 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Almst tw thirds (63.0%) f the identified prjects were currently nging. Nine initiatives (16.7%) were planned fr the future and 11 (20.4%) had cncluded. The majrity (51.9%) were temprary r ne-ff initiatives with nly six initiatives (11.1%) percent labelled as permanent. The remainder were labelled as nging initiatives. 2.2 Where? In future mapping exercises, it wuld be useful t further disaggregate lcatin, as the current categrisatins are nt mutually exclusive. Fr the purpse f this reprt, lcatin has been recded t reflect initiatives that established in ne specific lcatin (lcal); in ne specific regin (reginal); in different lcatins within a Member State (natinal); and acrss cuntries (transnatinal). Almst half f the initiatives (48%) were based in a specific place, be it a twn r city, r in a specific lcatin e.g. refugee receptin centre. A further third (30%) were reginal initiatives, the majrity f which were part f a brader strategy in the state f Lwer Saxny in Germany (see Bx 1). Apprximately ne fifth (18%) f the identified initiatives were natinal meaning that they fcused effrts acrss a cuntry. Fr example, Embdied Dialgue: Encuntering the Other thrugh Mvement and Dance (Finland) is a prject that is explring hw pre-linguistic experiences, via multi-mdal expressins are cnnected t reflectin, language and cncepts and the team will develp a mdel that can be applied by different prfessinals in schls, receptin centres and ther institutins wrking with asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. Only tw transnatinal initiatives were identified f which ne, Mazing Cities is an artistic cllabratin between (refugee) children frm Helsinki and (refugee) children frm Düsseldrf (Questinnaire). Tgether with a team f artists, the children will create a transnatinal media installatin, which will be lead t guided city turs (via 5 Sme initiative reprted multiple aims 4
Skype) led by the children themselves. This specific example draws attentin t the intersectin between arts, culture and technlgy n the ne hand, and integratin n the ther. BOX 1 Reginal gvernment initiative Since 2010, the Department fr Culture at the Ministry fr Science and Culture f Lwer Saxny (MWK) has been engaged in the tpic f intercultural dialgue and in the prcess f intercultural pening f cultural rganizatins. In rder t fster sustainable integratin f refugees int cultural rganizatins MWK intends t initiate the fllwing activities: 1. Funding f an internship prgramme fr refugees in cultural rganisatins 2. Intercultural Labs and wrk grants fr artists with a refugee backgrund 3. Cntinued educatin package diversity 4. Wrk grants Mdern Mnuments Men fr refugees in the field f Archaelgy 5. Refugees and Music: integratin f prfessinal musicians int the musical sectr 6. Culture Peple (Visual Arts): grand prvisin fr visual artists 7. Funds fr additinal prjects initiated by cultural rganisatins Emphasis is put n participatry and discursive prcesses in which cultural wrkers, artists, cultural rganizatins, cultural plicy makers and cultural administratrs are invlved in the intercultural develpment. Beynd lking at the level f implementatin, it wuld als be interesting t cnsider whether initiatives are implemented in urban r rural lcatins. Frm thse initiatives cded as urban r rural, the majrity (11 initiatives) were identified as urban. One initiative was identified as rural. The initiative, Are yu Syrius? (Bulgaria) has engaged in cllecting and distributing fd t refugees at brder crssing pints such as Tvarnik and Röszke. Arts and culture, thrugh rganizing cncerts, has been a way f drawing attentin t the issue and fundraising. 2.3 Fr whm? With regard t the main target grups the participants f the survey were able t select frm different categries referring t the legal status, length f stay and scidemgraphic characteristics such as gender and age. Similar t the previus mapping, many f the initiatives had a brad target audience, with 32 percent stating that they invlve the cmmunity as a whle. Furthermre, bth asylum seekers (15%) and refugees (16%) were mentined explicitly as target grups. When it cmes t scidemgraphic characteristics, the nly grup that was mentined mre than nce was yung peple (10%). Wmen, men and lder peple were nly mentined by ne initiative and were therefre include in the ther categry (see Figure 5). 5
Figure 2: Main Target grup 6 Other Lnger term New arrivals Migrant artists Yunger peple Refugees Asylum seekers Whle cmmunity 0 5 10 15 20 25 2.4 By whm? As in the preliminary mapping exercise, independent cultural rganizatins, public cultural institutes and ther independent rganizatins such as humanitarian r charitable rganizatins were identified as the mst cmmn actrs when it cmes t the establishment f cultural initiatives that target asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. Only in a few cases, internatinal r Eurpean rganisatins as well as gvernment authrities and ther public bdy such as educatin, health, scial authrities were identified as the lead rganisatin. Hwever, public authrities and public bdies are ften partners in the implementatin f prjects (Figure 3). Figure 3: Lead and Partner rganizatins 7 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Lead Organizatin Partner Organisatins 6 Multiple selectin was pssible thus the ttal number exceeds the number f reprted initiatives. 7 Multiple selectin f rganizatins was pssible, s the number exceed ttal amunt f initiatives. 6
Funding Almst tw thirds (63%) f the identified initiatives did nt prvide infrmatin n funding. Fr the twenty initiatives where funding infrmatin was available, it is clear that the majrity f prjects are relatively mdest in size, with a budget f 50k t 150k (40%). The large-scale initiatives include a prgramme f the state f Lwer Saxny that aims at supprting sustainable integratin f artist with a refugee backgrund thrugh the prvisin f wrk grants and the prmtin f intercultural exchange between displaced and lcal artists. Anther example is the prject JEDEN SVĚT (ONE WORLD), an internatinal human rights dcumentary film festival, which was initiated in 1999, and has becme ne f the biggest nn-prfit rganisatins in Central Eurpe. Figure 4: Budget 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 < 50,000 50,000 150,000 150,000-250,000 250,000-500,000 > 500,000 Fr ver half f the initiatives (55%) there was n infrmatin available n funding surces. Fr the rest, the results indicated that funding cmes frm a diverse range f surces, such as public funds frm lcal, reginal r natinal gvernments (13%), private funds like dnatins, crwdfunding r fees (10%) and Eurpean funding (7%) and t a lesser extent frm internatinal rganisatins (3%), independent cultural rganizatins (3%) and ther independent rganizatins (3%). Mrever, five initiatives were prgrammes that ffered funding streams prviding funds fr cultural initiatives r wrk grants fr artist with a refugee backgrund in rder t prmte their inclusin in the cultural sectr. The State f Lwer Saxny prvides fur f these funds with a ttal budget exceeding 1.5 millin (Bx 1). Sme initiatives indicated uncertainty with regard t the funding, as they were still awaiting apprval fr their future prjects r searching fr new funding pprtunities because the funding perid f their prjects has recently ended. This pints t a ptentially precarius funding envirnment fr prjects in the scial and cultural sectrs. 2.5 Evaluatins and Factrs fr Success Given that nly ne in five f the reprted initiatives had cncluded it was nt a surprising finding that the majrity (59%) had nt been evaluated. Hwever, almst ne in fur initiatives stated that an evaluatin is in prcess. Fr five initiatives (9%) 7
n infrmatin was available. With regard t the fur initiatives where an evaluatin has been carried ut, nly limited infrmatin was prvided 8. In 2012 the IOM Infrmatin centres fr Immigrants in Sfia and Burgas was evaluated by the Eurpean Cmmissin as a gd practice in the field f integratin. The Migrant Service Centre mdel exists in many cuntries (ften als supprted by Eurpean funds) and culd be an ideal lcatin/partner fr smaller, temprary initiatives. The centre in Sfia has rganised multicultural events that seek t bring different cmmunities tgether. Often these activities were implemented in cperatin with cultural mediatrs frm lcal migrant cmmunities. As with many f the ther initiatives, the infrmatin centres prvide a functinal space within which arts and culture can be used t prmte dialgue and create netwrks which can in turn supprt integratin. Tw initiatives stated that they are cnducting nging perfrmance evaluatins f the implemented initiatives. Fr instance, the cultural rientatin prgram fr refugees and asylum seekers Cultural "Adequatin" in Sfia aims at enhancing the capacity f refugees and asylum seekers t actively and effectively functin in Bulgarian sciety, prviding them with pssibilities fr access t cultural gds and facilitating the understanding f multicultural differences in the sciety at large. The activities f the initiative include cultural rientatin sessins, museum visits, cmics and street art wrkshps, Bulgarian flklre dances and theatre and cinema visits. After each wrkshp individual feedback frms were distributed. The results cnfirmed that the prgramme was psitively received by beneficiaries. Anther imprtant finding was that the participatin f interpreters was crucial fr the success f the prgramme and that a supprt netwrks f refugees frm different ethnic rigins, cmmunity representatives and Bulgarian natinals has been established ver time. The secnd example, als in Bulgaria, is the Harmanli Refugee Camp Play Schl, which is a centre fr play based learning and play therapy fr children with a refugee backgrund. The assessment and evaluatin f lessns are dne n a weekly basis thrugh discussin with parents, children and experienced prfessinals and the ideas and results that arise frm evaluatins lead t a regular adaptin f the schl perfrmance. Despite limited frmal evaluatins, learning by ding and adapting methds t suit different audiences was nted in the descriptin f several f the identified initiatives, and als the reasn why many initiatives were described as multidisciplinary. This pints t the imprtance f flexibility in prject design when targeting a brad audience and, at the same time, t the pssibility that specific art frms suit specific target grups mre than thers. Fr example, Crss-Art Cllective Piste in Finland fund circus arts t be a very suitable art frm fr their grup and allwed a cmpetitive and highly physical grup (t find) psitive ways t cperate with each ther (Questinnaire). In the preliminary mapping, phtgraphy was identified as a way that migrants can explre their new envirnment and transcend language barriers. Mre research t understand the factrs which lead t ne particular art frm being mre effective in a given cntext culd be explred in future research. In rder t d this, rather than cding initiatives as multidisciplinary, it wuld be mre useful t knw the specific art frms used. This pints t the necessity f a mre qualitative apprach t understanding the rle f arts and culture in the integratin f migrants and refugees. It wuld als be interesting t explre the extent t which evaluatin cmpnents are established within future prjects. Fr example, Culture Peple in Germany (funding apprval pending) wuld be an interesting prject t evaluate impact. The prpsed funding platfrm wuld prvide wrk grants t supprt refugees in the state f Lwer Saxny (Germany) t implement prjects in cperatin with rganisatins in the cultural sectr. Frm an integratin perspective, it wuld be interesting t identify the effects f such a prgramme, and t assess the factrs that cntribute t success and/r 8 Tw evaluatins were requested, but were nt available fr the authrs at the time f writing. 8
failure. This culd be dne by fllwing the ten individuals selected alng with ten individuals wh were shrtlisted but nt ffered a grant (the cunterfactual grup). 3 Recmmendatins Overall the initiatives identified by Member States cnfirmed many f the findings f the preliminary mapping highlighting the psitive cntributins f art and culture t the integratin f migrants and refugees. Hwever, several questins remain unanswered and these culd be drawn ut thrugh expanding the scpe f data cllectin n initiatives. Fr example: As highlighted thrughut the reprt, there is need t refine the categries used t capture the varius characteristics f the initiatives: Where? Rural r Urban Lcal, Reginal, Natinal, Transnatinal Public Space, Receptin Centre, Cmmunity Centre Wh? Migrant status (asylum seeker, refugee, new arrival, lnger term migrant, native) Sci-demgraphic characteristics (age, gender) Occupatin (e.g. artists) By Whm? Add measurement t capture the extent t which initiatives are driven by vlunteers. What? Rather than cding as multidisciplinary thus limiting the wealth f data captured, cde the different methds used and classify as multidisciplinary after the fact. Budget Amunt Surce (Public, Dnatins) Evaluatin Available: Yes/N Status (n evaluatin planned, planned, nging, cmpleted) Language Methd (prcess, impact, audit) Given the sparsity f evaluatins, it may be useful t include perceptin- based questins n success factrs and challenges in future research. This infrmatin culd als be gathered thrugh semi-structured qualitative interviews with key infrmants actively engaged in initiatives which may be f added value when it cmes t evidence-based plicy making. 9