The Osnabruck Integration Pilot Project: Concepts, Implementation, and Outlook

The Osnabruck Integration Pilot Project, begun in October 2005, aims to improve & expand support services for new immigrants through use of educated & certified volunteers. There is an asymmetry in the information provided to new immigrants, who rely largely on already present family & ethnic associates as information sources. Based on a series of interviews with project participants from October 2005 through March 2006, this article evaluates the beginning phases of the project, examines interim conclusions in selected areas, & offers suggestions for further development. Within the framework of the project, successful qualification of volunteers shows signs of being a comparatively cost effective way to create networks from which positive effects on volunteer engagement can be expected. This pioneer work is based on broad consensus of participants. Integration efforts understood in this association could lead to an optimization of municipal integration processes in different politically relevant integration areas & thereby help to more effectively configure integration of immigrants in areas outside the administrative tax capacity. L. Reed