New Policy Brief - Making local political participation structures accessible to migrants, MILE project

As part of the MILE project (Migrant Integration Through Locally Designed Experiences), researchers Pilar Orero and Chiara Gunella from Transmedia Catalonia authored a Policy Brief titled Making local political participation structures accessible to migrants. In this policy document, the two researchers draw upon data collected during the project in four municipalities—Ioannina, Riga, Ripollet, and Birmingham—along with data from the European context. They emphasise five critical steps that can assist municipalities in establishing more inclusive participation mechanisms to promote active involvement and representation of diverse voices in the policymaking process:

• Forming partnerships with migrant-led organizations to gain a better understanding of and effectively engage with migrant communities.
• Enhancing the accessibility of political participation structures, including the use of adapted language, culture-sensitive content, and translations.
• Exploring a variety of diverse and alternative forms of engagement, such as informal meetings or collaborating with specialized associations experienced in intercultural dialogue and mediation.
• Advocating for participatory budgeting to enable citizens to participate in the allocation of public resources within their municipality, fostering co-creation.
• Establishing clear and measurable success indicators for participation structures to assess their effectiveness in promoting inclusive political participation for all.

To access the complete policy paper and related materials developed by other project partners, please visit: https://mile-project.eu/policy-briefs/