We Are Community

We believe that the opening of a refugee shelter in a municipality can go down well, if people already living in this municipality and refugees jointly shape the steps of arriving and welcoming. Also, we think that this engagement will ultimately benefit their living-together and social cohesion in the municipality as a whole.

We want to follow-up these assumptions through this action research project. Action research means intervening in daily life situations by exploring and understanding them with those concerned - so that they may take the opportunity to change or shape their daily life on the basis of common reflections.

The project 'Wir sind Gemeinde - Flüchtlingsintegration durch Stärkung der Dorfgemeinschaft' is structured in three core elements:

Process facilitation: in order to make space for the actual needs and interests of people, we will not proceed along a pre-defined plan or concept, other than listening and providing what is necessary for the participants and their dialogue with each other to unfold. For this purpose we will make use of approaches as used in 'the Art of Hosting' and community work.

• We create communicative spaces for supporters to reflect on their experiences, to learn from each other and to organize their activities. Especially for volunteers it is important to take care of themselves and their resources.

• We support, organize and facilitate events (workshops, small or big group discussions) for everybody interested and wanting to participate. These events will be about appreciative dialogues that also allow for fears and worries to be voiced and heard. 

• We support the self-organisation of supporters and refugees and we make an effort to cooperate with the formal structures of the municipality for this purpose in order to bring together 'citizens' participation' and 'politicians' participation'.

Research: we will follow-up on the unfolding communicative processes and the experiences of the participating individuals through participatory research methods so that they may offer valuable insights for the exchange with other municipalities and the broader public. Through the participatory approach we will actively involve those concerned in the research process.

Develop informative materials: Based on the insights gained, we will conceptualize informative material with relevance to practice for the general public but especially for other municipalities, supporters and refugees wanting to learn from the experiences in this project.

The quality of our work is ensured on three levels:

• process facilitation through experienced moderators, trainers and community workers. 

• scientific expertise in participatory research approaches through researchers of the Institute for the Sociology of Law and Criminology. 

• Professional experience with and personal engagement for supporting refugees.

'Wir sind Gemeinde' - Step by Step: 

1. step: accessing the field

Find and establish cooperation with a municipality close to Vienna, where a refugee shelter is about to be opened and where people want to go about this opening through a participatory approach. 

2. step: assessing the current situation

Form a steering group consisting of volunteers who want to join our project as local partners. Ideally, this group will consist of people working within the administrative structures of the municipalities, others working for NGOs, engaged citizens and asylum seekers, who are ready to also engage in the research activities of the project. In cooperation with this group and through additional interviews with inhabitants of the municipality and political decision-makers, we will get an overview of existing actors and activities, structures, resources and problems with and for the support of refugees. 

3. step: beginning the process facilitation

Process facilitation: in cooperation with the local partner-team we will hold a first workshop during which we will develop an accompanying plan, which will be re-assessed and adapted whenever necessary. 

Research: participant observation at this first workshop, interviews and reflective meetings with the participants and the process facilitators. 

4. step: implementation phase

Process facilitation: during this phase we will host concrete communicative events for explorative dialogues and the planning of concrete actions, always taking into account the concrete needs of the participants and prioritizing their own expertise. 
Whenever necessary, we will work together with translators to ensure the participation of people with different language skills.

Research: participant observation and interviews with participants and process facilitators; analysis of empirical data; regular reflective sessions with the local team.

5. step: producing informative material

Research: processed data will be reflected back people in the municipality and especially to the local team. Through common discussions we will develop insights and recommendations with practical relevance to others.

The informative material will then be produced and disseminated.

Project initiators: 

Katrin Kremmel (researcher at the Institute for the Sociology of Law and Criminology who worked with participatory research methods during the last four years)

Veronika Hofinger (scientific coordinator at the Institute for the Sociology of Law and Criminology)

Michael Nußbaumer (sociologist, moderator, team trainer, editor of the TAU-Magazin)

Christian Lechner (trainer in non-violent communication, community-organizer, process-oriented psychology, editor of the TAU-Magazin)

Johannes Polt (community worker, social worker, teaching at Fh-Campus-Wien and trainer for impro-theater)

(Illustration: Bianca Tschaikner www.biancatschaikner.com)