SPRING aimed to develop a toolbox relevant for diverse communities of practices working on integration and supporting these in identifying and accessing validated information on sustainable practices of integration. More specifically, the toolbox aimed to improve the innovation, effectiveness and sustainability of the work done by Europe’s integration stakeholders at national, regional and local levels.
By summarising this evidence and practical materials SPRING collected, created and disseminated usable and practical materials (examples of good practices, handbooks, pieces of training, templates, databases, contact lists). This work was co-created with and benefited stakeholders mapped and engaged in the project through participatory techniques. The SPRING online portal and repository, combined with the consortium’s communications task force, social media strategies and videos, made this evidence more accessible by curating the content and match the specific profile and needs of these communities of practice.
Most analyses of integration and migration policies only focus on effectiveness by either assessing good practice or questioning the intentions or measurement of these practices. SPRING went further to provide a unique overview not only of the available effective national and local policies and practices in different areas of life, but also of what practitioners have been able to transfer, adapt and upscale across Europe as well as how policymakers and practitioners can better evaluate their work together in the future. Trends and obstacles to innovation were a major focus of the whole project through outreach to communities of practice (WP1), synthesis of research and evaluations funded over the past years (WP2), analysis of transferability, upscaling and sustainability (WP3) and new methods for evaluation (WP4).
The SPRING consortium brought together some of Europe’s most well-connected integration researchers, think-tanks and stakeholder networks. Mobilizing their significant research, networks and communications capacities, the SPRING partners identified and engaged with the main researchers and communities of practice on integration: national and local policymakers and public sector, NGOs, business and grassroots initiatives (i.e. local volunteers, migrant leaders, and religious groups). These communities shaped the project’s activities through piloted participatory techniques for needs assessments, co-designing activities and the identification of solutions and policy implications.
