Stimulating integration
Would spatially concentrating refugees on the micro-level help stimulate their integration? Carla Huisman has been awarded an NWA Idea Generator grant of € 50.000 to study this. Over the course of a year, she will compare the networks of Eritrean refugees living in mixed projects in Amsterdam with the networks of those living more isolated in Utrecht.
Dutch integration policy is based on the geographical dispersal of refugees as soon as they are granted asylum. Some recent projects, however, allow for refugees to live spatially concentrated, while they are mixed with Dutch tenants. An unforeseen by-product of this approach is that it allows refugees from the same country of origin to live very close to each other. This could facilitate mutual support. The question is whether this concentration, originally born out of necessity, is in fact advantageous for integration outcomes? To find out, the networks of Eritrean refugees living in mixed projects in Amsterdam will be compared with the networks of those living more isolated in Utrecht. The Amsterdam Federation of Housing Corporations and housing corporation Eigen Haard are the societal stakeholders for the research.
The Idea Generator supports out-of-the-box thinkers with creative, exciting and innovative research ideas which are developed in cooperation with societal stakeholders. This round, for the first time, applicants assessed each other’s proposal and together decided which ideas were granted.