From policy to practice – Migrant integration projects in 5 European countries

Abstract

This recent book titled From learning the language to political participation is the result of a vast research program named ‘European Integration Modules – Exchange of Experience’ carried out by the ICCR-Budapest Foundation. The aim of this initiative was to select and explore European good practices of migrant integrations, which can be used as schemes for implementing integration projects in Hungary. The rationale behind the program is quite straightforward. Lists of integration good or ‘best’ practices are not hard to find, however, as a rule, only short descriptions are available, which makes it hard – if not impossible – to get to know the details of a given project, or even harder to examine whether its success is related to a specific social or cultural environment. Moreover, questions may arise whether projects baptized ‘good practices’ by some experts are implemented exactly as it appears in the descriptions, or these portrayals omit the least successful aspects of a project.