Welcome to PLACE! A European project aiming to turn the migrant crisis into an opportunity for growth by favouring migrant-led innovation

Welcome to PLACE! A European project aiming to turn the migrant crisis into an opportunity for growth by favouring migrant-led innovation

Why PLACE? PLACE shows real-life experiments that change the way in which we perceive migration, capacity, otherness, ambition, economy. A rich diversity of views, ideas and backgrounds will rekindle the flame of innovation and start moving Europe ahead with increased dynamism. Patrick Hoffmann, PLACEmaker The Human Safety Net, Generali PLACE PRODUCES SUCCESS STORIES IN 3 AREAS New leadership To take advantage of newcomers unique perspectives on problems that are present in host societies To favour agency by those with less opportunity to innovate and start-up: over half of PLACE Innovators are women To enable host civil society to collaborate through volunteering, probono and mentoring of teams To build a Europe-wide platform where PLACE Innovators are connected, made visible and which facilitates their European mobility as doers New data and new narratives To view migration through the lens of economic and social development, beyond a humanitarian response To share narratives of newcomers as pragmatic builders of our future societies, far from the stereotype of migrants as recipients of aid To actively join forces with other countries to create a European response, beyond national perspectives. New services, products and jobs To see new services and products emerge on the market that solve yet unsolved challenges- of which migration To create a pipeline of projects led by newcomers to feed local entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems To prepare the local entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems to engage with migrant-led innovation.

What is PLACE? PLACE is providing newcomers to European cities and people from the host civil societies with opportunities to create sustainable business services and products in response to market needs and to the challenges they face. PLACE is a European collective with a strong local anchorage in capital cities. PLACE creates enabling physical environments/safe spaces where: newcomers feel empowered to take action and can make innovation happen as entrepreneurs: PLACE Innovators the host civil society can contribute to migrant-led innovation: PLACEmakers Each PLACE Lab is a complete experiment and is conceived according to the needs of PLACE Innovators and the opportunities that have emerged from the PLACEmakers ecosystem. Offers from PLACEmakers include coaching and buddying, spaces for labs and co-working, as well as financial backing. PLACE is a very powerful concept, especially in the sense that it is flipping the normal integration process around. Martin Calnan, PLACEmaker École des Ponts Business School

What are PLACE labs? PLACE labs are immersive: typically 20 hours over two days. They are very fast-paced and hectic events that make a lasting impression on participants and crew. Participants work in small teams on themes and with people that they have freely chosen within the group, based on their entrepreneurial interest. Facilitation plays a pivotal role. Although the style of the labs is informal and fluid, each step of the journey is highly facilitated. Participants learn service-design and prototyping, which enable them to test their product or service in unexpected ways and confront them with their users at the earliest stage possible Our make things, not slides handson approach helps participants feel active, competent and precise in what they are developing. Prototypes are also very convincing for showcasing early business ideas to external stakeholders, which ensures they are based on actual market needs. Participants work on shortterm activities to build each step of their idea, making sure each brick laid is sound, at its best and importantly, comes from them. After all they are the experts. PLACE teams have expertise in multicultural and multilingual groups: rather than cancelling differences, diversity is used as a leverage in the group to make ideas stronger. PLACE is a journey. A way to improve yourself, to feel yourself, to even find yourself. You have to join PLACE! Sousana Alkilani, PLACE Innovator

Who are PLACE innovators? * AGE 21 years-55 years GENDER 51 % Female 49 % Male 15 NATIONALITIES Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, France, Gambia, Tibet, India, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, UK ADMINISTRATIVE SITUATION 59% Refugees 19% Asylum seekers 4% French 7% Foreign students 11% Other BACKGROUNDS Law Cooking/baking Health services Business Education/teaching Sports etc Themes on which people decide to create start-ups vary. So far, these include: food technology crafts education health services integration music and cinema circular economy PLACE is spontaneous. It s not academic or stereotypical in any way. There are always people coming in and out, it s alive. Karam Mohammad, PLACE Innovator *Extracted from the 1st pilot in Paris. Demographics may vary but diversity is always sought.

Be a PLACEmaker! PLACEmakers: //pleısmeıkǝ(r)z / Noun. Plural. Doers across sectors who are turning Europe into a place where migrant-led innovation happens naturally. PLACEmakers are the enablers of the PLACE pilots in European cities: together, they provide the conditions for the experiment to take place, and follow the experiment closely to grow from its learnings. PLACE is a platform of experimentation which serves and is fed by actors across all sectors, coordinated by the PLACE Network team. The life of the collective is regularly fed by: occasions to meet like-minded influencers across sectors sharing of best practices around migrant-led innovation regular shareable contents for communications opportunities to be practically engaged in the labs, including training on innovation, interculturality, mentoring connections across Europe on migrant-led innovation PLACE is a dynamic. Erwan Katter, PLACEmaker Archery co-funding mentoring spaces and venues incubation capacitybuilding scholarships networks PLACEmakers have the practical opportunity to grow their capacity in terms of innovation, collaboration, inter-culturality, and of course impact. Osama Abdelmoghni, PLACEmaker BMW Foundation,

Current PLACEmakers include: PLACEmakers are made up of an active mix from all sectors public, private and civil society. What we need are open networks. Randianina Peccoud, PLACEmaker

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Join the action! Get in touch: placemakers@place.network www.place.network/placemakers @network_place @PLACENetwork #placemakers #migrants #innovation